It has been quite the turnaround for the Miami RedHawks, who picked up their first NCHC sweep of the season with a commanding 6-2 win over the visiting Omaha Mavericks on Saturday night.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Miami’s 3-0 Shutout Win Over Omaha
Miami now sits 24th in the NPI, knocking on the door of the national rankings and firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. There is still plenty of work to do down the stretch, but the RedHawks have positioned themselves well at 14-8-2 overall and 5-7-2 in NCHC play. They remain seventh in the conference standings, but are now within striking distance of the upper half with more opportunities ahead.
David Deputy recorded his first collegiate hat trick, while Doug Grimes, John Emmons, and Max Helgeson added the other goals. Matteo Drobac stopped 19 of 21 shots to earn his 13th win of the season.
The RedHawks blocked 10 total shots, including three from Michael Phelan, who added an assist, and Michael Quinn finished with three assists to bring him to 13 on the season (17 points overall).
“Good weekend to be a RedHawk. One of the things we have talked about a lot, and there is a ton of pride in that room, is checking some boxes,” said head coach Anthony Noreen. “Some things that maybe have not been done in a while, may have not been done in years, may have not been done in ten years. There was a lot of pride in closing this out, doing it on our home ice in front of a group that has supported us.
There were a lot of tough nights here last year, at least since I have been here, and we have people who have supported this group through it. To have a weekend like this says a lot about the direction of the program and a lot about Miami. I loved the way our guys kept the foot on the gas.”
Miami wasted no time, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and stretching it to 4-0 before Omaha pushed back. Noreen praised the maturity of his group.
“It is very easy after last night’s win to let them get the momentum, and I thought we jumped on them and did a really good job right away. That is a really good hockey team. They are going to have their pushes, as they did. But I loved our jump, our physicality, our energy from the opening drop.”
Here are three takeaways from Saturday night’s win.
Special Teams Trending Up
Miami’s special teams were dominant this weekend, a massive piece of their success and something that will be crucial with top-level teams ahead in St. Cloud State, North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, and Western Michigan.
The penalty kill has now gone six straight games without giving up a power-play goal. Noreen broke down why.
“It is a combination. Lio has had a great plan from the beginning of the year. Guys getting used to it, getting comfortable with it, understanding our general plan. He has had really good plans going into different games. And then buying from the guys, shot blocks, pressure at the right times. Drobac has made saves when we needed them. We have gotten blocks when we needed them.”
Miami took only three penalties all weekend. One was a coincidental call that resulted in four on four. The PK went 2-for-2 and is now up to 80 percent on the season and trending up.
“A real key this weekend was not going to the well too many times. We were really disciplined. There were times where maybe we could have responded to something and we did not. We drove our legs, did not use our sticks, stayed out of the box. That helps your kill.”
The power play also finally got back on the board after a good stretch without scoring.
“The power play, even on that first rep, I do not know how that one did not go in backdoor. They were dialed tonight. They have been knocking on the door. Really happy for Troy and that unit. The shorty was massive. And our defending, some really good defending and sacrificing that led to offense.”
Deputy In Full Throttle
Deputy has been all over the ice the past few games, knocking on the door on multiple breakaways, and he finally cashed in on Saturday night. All three of his goals came on special teams, two on the power play and one shorthanded.
Deputy talked about the shorty that put his team up 4-0 at the time.
“Yeah, I think we talk about getting out and getting pressure on the PK a lot. And I was just able to get out, and Ethan Hay made an unbelievable play to get that puck and get it up to me. I have had quite a few breakaways this weekend that I have not scored on, so it is nice to see one go in finally. But yeah, Hay made that play happen.”
Deputy plays on the top penalty kill unit, which has now gone six straight games without giving up a power-play goal. He credited the structure and buy-in for the penalty kill’s success.
“Yeah, I think coach Lio prepares us really well, and we have a bunch of guys that are completely bought into what he wants us doing on the PK. And that is their best players on the ice, so if we can shut them down, it creates momentum for us, and that is what we want to do.”
Noreen also spoke about Deputy’s development and adversity after a tough start to his college career.
“A guy we were really excited about committing. When I was in Tri City, and he was in Omaha, you are seeing him a lot. A kid who has always dreamed of coming to Miami. His dream school. That is special.
He did not have it easy early. Hurt before camp, works back, gets hurt opening night. Hard to make that up. We always felt like his best game was still coming. And now you are starting to see it. He has been good from the first game he was in, but these last couple of weeks, that is a difference maker. And he does it with pride in the big picture, representing his family, this place, what he is part of. It is bigger than him.”
Depth Steps Up
With Matteo Giampa out, Miami needed depth scoring, and they got it from all over the lineup.
“It has been a lot of guys. A big message after last weekend, where you get shut out Saturday, was putting guys in positions to put pucks in the net, building them up, building confidence. And it came from a bunch of guys. Walks gets another one that gets overturned. We need depth scoring. Troy always says we are at our best when we are rolling our lines and rolling our D and trusting our depth and conditioning. Tonight was another one of those games.”
One of the biggest contributions came from John Emmons, who slotted in as the extra forward and appeared in his third game of the season. He scored a big insurance goal in the third period to make it 5-2 and played a strong defensive game, hard on both the forecheck and backcheck. It was by far his best game as a RedHawk.
“He impacted the game. We know that is something he is capable of. Johnny is someone you want. He has not always been in, but he makes you talk about the things he does every day. How intentional he is, how hard he works in practice, what he does in the classroom. It is easy to root for a guy like that. He had a couple of chances, and it was really good to see him get rewarded.”
Miami now heads into a bye week, which comes at a good time for the roster to rest up, heal, and potentially get Giampa back. The RedHawks return to action on the road at St. Cloud State on Jan. 30-31 for a big-time series.
