Entering tonight’s game, the MCLA Trailblazers were without captain/D Connor Nagy due to a lower body injury sustained from the game last night and Matthew Castillo was healthy scratched after his ejection last night. Defensemen Joshua Romanowski and Colin Ogborn would draw into the lineup. Following the 5-1 loss to St Michael’s on Friday night, MCLA started the second game of the back-to-back much better. Within the first minute of the period, the Trailblazers established possession in the offensive zone. 2:45 in, St Michael’s had a takeaway and a great scoring chance but were denied. The next several minutes, both teams exchanged offensive zone possession time. MCLA continued to set a physical tone starting with a huge hit from Shane Green and then an impactful hit from Gallagher that led to a chance off of the rush forcing an offensive zone face off. Jack Bortle ripped a shot off the face off but St. Michael’s goalie Evan Plunkett stopped it. 8:24 into the period, Colin Ogborn made his way to the sin bin but MCLA’s PK got to work and didn’t allow St. Michael’s power play to set up while having several clears. Towards the end of the power play, St. Michael’s had  two scoring chances, one through a screen off the face off, but Gover came up huge. St. Michael’s built off of the momentum of the power play and hemmed MCLA in their own zone for some time. 13:26 in, Mat Gover made a huge save off of 2-on-1. Less than a minute later, the Trailblazers drew two minor penalties within 14 seconds of each other and went on a five-on-three power play. They manufactured several scoring chances, including two Shane Green one-timers as well as two scoring chances from Bortles and Murphy but Plunkett would be perfect. Towards the end of the power play, Shane Green made a great entry getting the puck to Easton Moore, who would take it to the net. St. Michael’s established offensive zone time again but Gallagher made a great stick lift and found Bortle in the neutral zone but St. Michael’s stopped it. 17:45 into the period Gover robbed a streaking Quinn McCarthy to keep the game at zero. With under 2 minutes left, the Trailblazers drew a slashing penalty. Schifferl launched two shots on the power play but both were blocked and the period ended tied at zero. 

St. Michael’s killed the remaining time on the penalty to start the second period. A minute in, Gover made a lunging save and the puck deflected over the net. About 2:30 into the period Brunner had a takeaway that led to a scoring chance but Plunkett swallowed it up off. Easton Moore won the faceoff to Schifferl who shot the puck off of the faceoff but was denied. Over the next several minutes, St. Michael’s dominated offensive possession time. Gover channeled his inner Jonathan Quick with a sprawling split-save on a one-timer stick side. Under heavy fire, one of MCLA’s defender’s sticks broke leading to extended time in their own zone. Eventually, the Trailblazers got the puck into the offensive zone and Bortles created a scoring chance with a hit on the wall on a Purple Knights’s defender. St. Michael’s manufactured another scoring chance but Green broke it up with a diving stick on a loose puck near the net. 8:29 into the period, Saint Michael’s finally broke the 0-0 tie when Glass slapped in the puck that deflected wide of the net previously. For the next several minutes, both teams went back and forth trying to set up in the offensive zone. Yet again, though, St. Michael’s was ultimately the team to establish possession time in the offensive zone again and had several scoring chances that were denied and ultimately led to matching minors in 4-on-4. 13:17 in, Gover struck again making another save on a 2-on-1. While the game was still 4-on-4, defender Romanowski utilized his strength and skating by throwing a huge hit on the puck carrier, forcing the forward away from the net. St. Michael’s manufactured another scoring chance but was robbed again by Gover flashing the leather. Schifferl made an incredible takeaway at the point where he skated it into the offensive zone and unleashed a wrist shot. Off of the offensive zone faceoff, Schifferl fired two shot attempts that eventually led to Easton Moore with a wrap-around attempt that would be kept out. 15:46 in, Moore was called and skated to the penalty box. MCLA’s PK came up huge again, though, as we saw blocks from Quinn Murphy and Gavin Glaubitz, as well as some pass breakups and several clears down the ice. The Trailblazers had a few looks at the end of the period but weren’t able to capitalize. 

St Michael’s came out blazing to start the third period, 2 minutes in, Gover made a stop on a driving forward. A few minutes later, Gallagher sacrificed the body to block a point shot that led to an MCLA scoring chance. St. Michael’s offense went to work again, despite Spencer Craig blocking the shot in front of the net, St. Michael’s went up 2-0 with a netfront redirection by Ty Bloom. Gallagher made another takeaway but MCLA struggled to set up in the offensive zone. At 8:33, St. Michael’s SJ Lecomte scored their third goal of the game with a wrist shot on the strong side while the backside defender for MCLA got hit to the ice by Purple Knight’s forward who didn’t have the puck. After a save by Gover, there was a brawl that led to a 5-minute major and game misconduct by a St. Michael’s player and a two minute minor for Ogborn. The Trailblazers failed to set up in the offensive zone and develop any quality scoring chances. With a little under 4 minutes left in the game, the Purple Knights’ Matti Tauriainen scored St. Mike’s fourth goal of the game and finished 2-0 on the back to back against MCLA. 

I thought this was a much better performance by the Trailblazers, as they did all of the small things better and more consistently throughout this game. All four lines were engaged in every zone. Schifferl and Moore created a lot of the Trail Blazers’ scoring chances, especially off of offensive zone faceoffs. Bortle, White, and Rhoss were several forwards who also made a noticeable impact off of the rush. Gallagher utilized his frame in his two-way game and impacted the game in every zone. On the PK, Murphy and Glaubitz made some great blocks and stick checks. Working against the absence of Connor Nagy, Shane Green looked like a man possessed, as he ate a lot of ice time and made plays all night in the defensive zone using his strength while also contributing to creating offense off of the rush and his role on the power play. Mat Gover had another game of timely saves against high danger scoring chances and the ability to absorb pucks and get much needed whistles. I thought Craig, Romanowski, and Ferris made a physical impact and the defense did a better job of clearing out the front of the net from last night but they got away from that in the 3rd period. The power play looked more natural than last season and they did a better job of moving the puck. I would like to see them do a better job of establishing a netfront presence and taking away the goaltender’s eyes. I give credit to St. Michael’s penalty killers for their commitment to blocking shots. Their goaltender Plunkett was locked in all night and the defense did a great job of collapsing on the puck and controlling their gaps. If the Trailblazers can connect on more of their passes behind the net and in the slot, they have a real chance to score a lot of goals this season.