Rocky Mountain Low
Men's hockey swept at Denver as home-ice chances take a blow.
by Joey Burns
February 14, 2006
Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.
This movie, in which Andy Garcia leads a group of criminals who botch a final job and are killed one-by-one by the mob boss who hired them, parallels the tone the Minnesota State men’s hockey team was left with after being swept by No. 9 Denver last weekend.
The series began in a way typical of Minnesota State-Denver match-ups — with fast and frenetic scoring and limited defense. In the first period, both teams combined for eight goals, 22 shots and 32 minutes in penalties.
This up-and-down slugfest of a period set the tone for the rest of the weekend’s action, with the key moment being after the Pioneers’ fifth goal when Mavericks’ head coach Troy Jutting pulled net minder Dan Tormey — who saved only five of 10 shots Friday night. Replacing Tormey was Chris Clark, seeing his first action since MSU’s 6-3 loss at North Dakota Jan. 20.
“That is something I don’t think [Tormey] can think about too much,” said defenseman Kyle Peto. “We didn’t help him out too much in the defensive zone.”
The Mavericks only managed two more goals the entire weekend — one in the second period of each game.
The Pioneers scored a total of 12 goals on the weekend, winning 7-4 Friday and 5-1 Saturday. Paul Stastny scored three goals and assisted three more on the weekend on the way to being named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Offensive Player of the Week.
Stastny and Co. relentlessly attacked MSU to exploit the amount of penalties the Mavericks committed — 85 minutes total, 53 of which came Saturday.
“They have a very talented power play,” Peto said. “They can move the puck around really well on their special teams and we knew that. We just didn’t stay out of the box.”
Although they were unable to win either of the games, the things that really hurt the Mavericks are what happened en route to those losses.
Not unlike the elimination of Garcia’s gang in the movie, one-by-one players were continuously removed from Jutting’s line chart over the weekend.
The Mavs’ David Backes was unable to play Saturday due to lingering effects from an injury sustained Friday. It was the first game in the junior’s Maverick career he has missed.
At the end of the first period Saturday night, MSU senior Ryan McKelvie went down with a broken leg — a huge impact on the Maverick roster that has already lost the likes of Mick Berge and Christian Toll for the future.
Then, there were the game misconducts that removed Brock Becker and Chad Brownlee from Saturday’s game as well.
The Mavericks will be without Brock Becker this Friday against St. Cloud State, due to a game disqualification he received in the third period on Saturday alongside a five-minute major for cross-checking.
Matt Carle — who leads the WCHA in scoring — had six assists on the weekend, including five in Friday’s victory for Denver and was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week.
The Mavericks Steve Wagner had a goal and assist in Friday’s loss, while Joel Hanson also added two assists. Sophomore Austin Sutter scored the lone MSU goal on Saturday night — his seventh of the season.
The sweep decimated MSU’s chances at having home-ice advantage in the first round of the WCHA Tournament. The only chance that remains is to sweep the final two series of its season — St. Cloud State and Wisconsin — and hope for some help.
The Mavericks trail fifth-place Colorado College by four points and are three points behind sixth- place North Dakota. The top five teams host the first round of the WCHA Tournament.
Making it harder for the Mavs is their schedule. MSU will not play games the final weekend of the regular season, meaning it must finish ahead of its competitors, and hope for help as the season winds down.