Never thought I’d be writing this, but the Miami RedHawks are currently the only undefeated team left in college hockey at 6-0-0 after sweeping Lindenwood in back-to-back 5-4 overtime wins.
Related: 5 Takeaways From Miami’s 4-0-0 Start to the Season
Saturday night’s 5-4 victory was led by a four-point performance from Quinnipiac transfer Ryan Smith, who recorded a hat trick and an assist to close out a five-point weekend. Max Helgeson and Justin Stupka added the other two goals for the RedHawks, while Matteo Drobac stopped 33 of 37 shots and made several massive saves late in the game.
For Lindenwood, Olivier Houde scored twice, while Louis-Philippe Fontaine and Adam Raesler each found the back of the net. Klayton Knapp stopped 15 of 19 shots before exiting with an injury midway through the second period, and Liam Beerman came in to stop 11 of 12, allowing only the overtime winner.
Brayden Morrison made his season debut for Miami, slotting in at fourth-line left wing as one of seven returning players from last season’s roster.
There are still no further developments with freshman netminder Shika Gadzhiev, who has yet to be cleared by the NCAA despite already taking college courses, according to John Lachmann of viewfromtheglass.com. Even without him, Drobac continued to roll, improving to 6-0-0 on the season.
First Period
Lindenwood opened the scoring when Houde fired a wrister over Drobac’s right shoulder.
Smith answered soon after, breaking out on a two-on-two rush and ripping a shot past Knapp to tie the game.
Miami was outshot 13-6 in the opening period, but the tempo picked up from there on out.
Second Period
Smith struck again early in the middle frame, cleaning up a rebound and snapping it past Knapp to give Miami a 2-1 lead.
That lead didn’t last long, as Fontaine evened it up for Lindenwood with a shot past Drobac that was reviewed for offsides but ultimately stood, making it 2-2 just three minutes into the period.
Lindenwood then took advantage of a poor Miami line change, springing a three-on-one rush where Houde buried his second goal of the night to give Lindenwood a 3-2 lead.
Helgeson responded for Miami, tipping in a long outside wrist shot from Smith after an extended offensive shift to make it 3-3. The goal came against his former program, as Helgeson began his college career at Lindenwood when they were still part of the ACHA (Division 2).
After the game, head coach Anthony Noreen said that sequence represented exactly how he wants Miami hockey to be from here on out.
“That is what we want Miami hockey to look like. That right there encompasses who and what we want to be. Nothing pretty, but we get it, we hang onto it, we make a pass, we get it, we hang onto it, we make a pass. We do not throw it away; we make them defend, we get an offensive zone change, we win a race, we win a battle, we play. That is our hockey.
When we get this thing to where we really want it to be, that is what it should look like night in and night out. Easy for us to coach, but the hard part is the five guys on the ice doing it and then being willing and selfless enough to do all the work to get in the offensive zone and then change to get fresh legs out and trust the next guy is coming. That is what real hockey teams do.”
Stupka then regained the lead for Miami, wristing in a rebound to make it 4-3. Sometime during that play, Knapp left the game with an apparent injury, and Beerman entered in relief.
Before the period ended, Raesler tied it once again (4-4), poking in a loose puck past Drobac, who nearly made a remarkable post-to-post save.
Six total goals were scored in the second period, with Miami holding a 17-10 edge in shots on goal in the period.
Third Period
Both goaltenders came up big in the third, as Drobac and Beerman each made key saves to keep things tied at 4-4 and sent the game into overtime.
Overtime
With just over 90 seconds left in overtime, Ilia Morozov drove hard to the net and missed on his first chance, but chased down his own rebound and stayed with the play. From there, he slipped a perfect pass across to Smith, who buried the game-winner. The goal completed Smith’s hat trick, his fourth of the weekend, and capped off a dominant two-game performance.
Noreen praised Smith’s compete level and work ethic following the game.
“Thought he responded really well. I thought he had some really good moments last night, but I just thought he had really good jump today, really good fight. We talked about it yesterday at this same time, and we all felt like he was the guy that was knocking on the door the most, that was bound to break out and have a weekend like he did last night and tonight.
He has been so competitive in practice, and he is a kid that works on his game. I do not want to sound like a broken record when I talk about these guys, but maybe he is the guy that works at it the most. He is a dog. He is in the shooting room, he stays on after practice, he does everything he is supposed to do and a lot more. You love when those guys get rewarded.”
Miami once again showed no quit throughout the night, and Noreen said he was proud of how his group handled adversity.
“There were a million times where we could have come apart, and I felt like in those moments, we actually got more calm and came together. It is nice as a coach to not have to insert yourself and calm the guys down or feel like you need to call a timeout or settle them. I did not think there was any of that. I think there is just good team leadership right now, which we love.”
Expect Miami to be ranked this upcoming week (at least they should be) and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Smith earn NCHC Forward of the Week honors after his performance this weekend.
The game also marked the first time in Miami hockey history that neither team took a single penalty, a stark contrast to Friday night’s matchup, which saw a total of seven penalties.
Miami was outshot 37-31 but blocked 15 total shots, including three from Smith and two each from defensemen Vladislav Lukashevich and Michael Quinn. Miami also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 56.7% of draws, led by Ethan Hay, who went 15-for-20 (75%).
There’s no reason for Goggin Ice Center not to be packed next weekend as NCHC play begins, with the Arizona State Sun Devils visiting Oxford. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM EDT on Halloween night and 6:05 PM EDT on Nov. 1.
