Box Score
6-2. Wow. Great offensive production from the Nanooks tonight. Two of the Nanooks' highest scoring games this season have come against the Buckeyes, and a good statement to hopefully generate some momentum going forward.
The Nanooks were able to spend a lot more time setting up in the offensive zone, and with their puck movement, they were able to open up those shooting lanes and get some looks from Heeter, who had a lot of trouble containing rebounds. Getting bodies down low around the net and getting traffic is where the goals are at, and they definitely did that tonight.
Cody Kunyk, who has admittedly been a bit of a stranger to box scores in recent history has really got it going now. Cody is a playmaker, and when he gets hot, he can make things happen. Tonight, was a good indication of that and hopefully a taste of things to come. The whole Yaremchuk-Kunyk-Beck line played an outstanding game tonight, accounting for half of the total scoring. It'll be interesting to see if this line is left intact. The coaching staff have done a great job mixing things up to try to find chemistry, and these 3 guys are definitely clicking together.
Scott Greenham also had another phenomenal weekend allowing just 2 goals on 67 shots, a performance that should earn him goalie of the week honors from the conference. To rant for a bit, Scottie is one of the most underrated goaltenders in the country. To produce the stellar performances that he posts, and not get the credit he deserves bothers me slightly. The humble being that he is will tell you it doesn't matter much, the results are really what matters. Although I agree, but some of the other accolades would be nice to see. I'm sure this will spur a flame war in the comments section later on about how much better someone else is, but whatever. Greenham gives his team a chance to win every night by (taking a page from coach Ferguson's book here...) stopping the shots he's supposed to, and a lot of the shots he's not.
Tonight's game was a display of the potential the team possesses. Keeping this momentum moving forward will be essential for the Nanooks to succeed going down the stretch. These 6 points move the Nanooks into sole possession of 5th place, up from 8th coming into the weekend. The Ferris State Bulldogs make the trip to Fairbanks this week to stifle the Nanooks' momentum. If we see a similar outing like we've seen these last few games, all I can say is, bring 'em on.
1 comment:
I like your comment about Cody Kunyk. I think what this years squad has lacked the most is a go-to playmaker. I've posted this several times on USCHO, but the last two years it was Dion and I think the team this year was a little bit rudderless on the offensive end while learning to live without him. It sounds to me like Kunyk is starting to step up into that role; hopefully he continues to do so because we painfully need it.
We only moved up one spot, to 21, in the PWR which is a little bit concerning. We may be a little too far down to sneak in as an at-large, but all you can do is play the games and see what happens. As it stands now, two more of our series are against TUC's: Ferris State, and (hold your breath for this one) UAA.
But regardless, the team has played noticeably better since sputtering against WMU and it was nice to finally see them rewarded with a couple of W's. I'm cautiously optimistic we've turned the corner, and not a moment too soon. And also props to Greenham for a heck of a weekend. Go Nooks.
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