MTU stunk last night, putting it succinctly. Denver came at MTU in
the first period and never let up. MTU continued to play a half
step out of phase, never really gaining momentum. I expected Dave
Fisher, our SID, to post the box but since he hasn't as of this
reading of my mail, I will provide an "unofficial" version.
 
DEN  1 2 1 - 4
MTU  0 0 2 - 2
 
1st Period
 
DEN Ricci (unassisted) 3:04
 
Penalties:
 
MTU Peterson, K holding 00:45
MTU Jensen cross check 4:05
MTU Mikesch, P. roughing 4:05
DEN Andersson, roughing 4:05
DEN Smith, holding 4:34
MTU Prokopetz, tripping 15:22
MTU Dupont, interference 19:58
 
2nd Period:
 
DEN Ortiz (McMillan, Smith)  8:32
DEN Hollingshead (Ricci) 12:15
 
Penalties:
 
DEN Andersson, interference 0:39
MTU Roy, holding 0:39
MTU Dupont, roughing 9:54
DEN Elders, roughing 9:54
 
3rd Period
 
MTU Mikesh, P, (B. Peterson, J. Mikesch) 1:21 ppg
DEN Bjork (McLean, Hollingshead) 15:34
MTU Peterson, K, (Savage, Seale) 15:57
 
Penalties:
 
DEN Hollingshead hooking 0:14
DEN McLean holding 1:09
MTU Savage roughing 3:40
MTU Sutton, too many men on the ice, 5:19
MTU Dupont cross check 19:32
 
Goalie Saves:
 
DEN Mullin     12  11   9 - 34
MTU Caravaggio  6   7   9 - 22
 
Commentary:
 
The first half of the 1st period was dominated by Denver playing
the puck in the MTU zone. While MTU was able to shoot more shots,
Denver's Jim Mullin was able to get in front of all of them. MTU
consistently had a problem keeping the puck in the opponent's
zone. Defensive play was particularly weak at the points and the
center. Denver's Angelo Ricci recovered the puck from an MTU
player and managed to beat Luciano Caravaggio from the right on
an eight foot shot three minutes into the period.
 
The second period started with Denver gaining momentum while on
a power play from Dupont's first period faux pas. While successively
shutting down Denver's powerplay, MTU failed to make anything
happen in the Denver zone. At the 8:32 mark, OrTiz overpowered
MTU players in front of net and slid a shot past the MTU goalie.
At 12:15, Hollingshead got credit for a deflected shot into the
goal. While I scored the shot similar to the ref's, the being
knocked in by the goalie, others commented that Denver kicked the
shot in. Only the tape will tell the truth. MTU was not without
chances. At one point, Mullins was on the ice, and MTU took
three shots at him. Unfortunately, no one could lift the puck
and the result were harmless rebounds off of Mullins.
 
While MTU was able to score twice during the 3rd, the game was
never really close. Denver continued its game control
effectively by breaking up MTU passes and by moving the puck
into the MTU zone. Pat Mikesch scored a powerplay goal
early in the 3rd. But MTU was unable to sieze momentum.
Bjork beat his man at 15:34 and drove the puck thru the
goalie. In a small spark of life, Kyle Peterson succesfully
shot a rebound past Mullins 23 seconds latter. However,
Denver stood firm for the remainder of the game. After
pulling the goalie for the last minute, MTU was forced to
put the goalie back on the ice when Dupont was called for
cross checking. Pulling the goalie proved very risky
since Denver was able to maintain the puck in the MTU
zone even though shorthanded. Only the presistent harrassment
of MTU's players prevented Denver from scoring an open
netter.
 
MTU appeared tired and slow. It was as if MTU was fighting
the time zone change rather than Denver.
 
Next week we play a home and home against Northern. Northern's
playing tough having gained couple of points from St. Cloud
this weekend. Northern is returning several players who have
given MTU problems in the past, most notably Harding. I am
looking forward to this series as I think it will be our
stiffest test yet this season.
 
Walt Olson
MTU