OXFORD, Ohio – In a game that took several turns, the Miami hockey team came out of its series opener with No. 1 St. Cloud State with a 4-4 tie on Friday night.
Friday's result was the third time that Miami (9-6-2, 3-3-1-0 National Collegiate Hockey) has gone to overtime. St. Cloud State (11-1-1, 4-0-1-1 NCHC) won the sudden victory shootout in one round to nab the second conference point.
The game got off to a frenetic start immediately as Robby Jackson broke in on goal and fired a shot that Larkin got a piece of, but the puck trickled behind him. While play continued for nearly two minutes until a whistle, officials looked back at the play and determined the puck went in, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead with just 1:08 gone by.
Miami didn't hang its head and answered off the ensuing faceoff as the puck got worked from the half wall to
Scott Corbett, who used a defender as a screen and buried his second goal of the season on a shot from the slot.
Gordie Green and
Josh Melnick both drew assists on the tally.
St. Cloud State went on the first of three first period power plays with just 3:04 expired and Jackson netted his second of the evening on a wrister from the slot with 15:44 left in the opening frame. SCSU went on another power play at the 4:57 mark, but this time it was MU who found the net as
Ben Lown's forechecking pressure forced an errant pass into the middle and
Monte Graham blasted a shot through Jeff Smith's five-hole for his first career goal, tying it up with the shorthanded tally.
With just over nine minutes gone by, Nick Perbix had a path to the net and took a shot that
Ryan Larkin stopped, but a collision to the RedHawks' netminder forced him out of the game as
Jordan Uhelski came off the bench and into the crease.
Another Huskies' power play put them back in front after they kept play alive in the offensive zone. The puck went across to Sam Hentges and he finished the play with 6:24 to go in the opening frame.
Undeterred, the RedHawks had the final say of the frenzied frame as
Gordie Green chipped the puck ahead to
Karch Bachman, who stepped into a slapshot that picked the corner over Smith's glove for his seventh goal of the year to leave the score even at 3-3 after 20 minutes.
Jonathan Gruden also picked up a helper on the tally.
St. Cloud State spent long portions of play peppering shots at Uhelski in the early stages of the period, but Miami was supporting its senior goaltender by clearing away rebounds and traffic. The RedHawks went on their first power play with 4:49 to go. Smith made one save and the Huskies blocked a handful of shots to keep the score tied and then withstood some sustained possession by the Red & White in the offensive zone. A turnover in the neutral zone eventually sprung Patrick Newell down the left wing, where he worked the puck into the middle and scored on the backhand to give SCSU a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.
Miami battled back in the third, with shots on goal an even 11-11 for the final 20 minutes. The RedHawks got a power play 30 seconds into the frame, but only got one shot through to Smith, which he stopped as SCSU maintained its lead. The score remained 4-3 in favor of the Huskies with under eight minutes left when
Casey Gilling sealed the puck at the half wall, banked a pass to himself after reversing the play and scored from a sharp angle to even it up at 4-4 with 7:06 left in regulation.
MU created the rest of the chances in regulation, with Bachman getting a crack at his second of the night with a partial breakaway down the left wing late, but Smith shrugged the shot aside. With 33 seconds left, SCSU committed a penalty to put the Red & White back on the power play, but the Huskies cleared the puck a couple times to send the contest to overtime.
The RedHawks got one shot on goal during the carry over power play that Smith again kept out. Miami got one more shot in the extra session, which came on a 2-on-1 rush by
Christian Mohs down the left wing, but Smith again was there to keep the game tied on the official scoresheet.
Both teams had rushes up the ice during the 3-on-3 overtime session, but Uhelski and Smith were both up to the task as the contest wore on into the sudden victory shootout, where Smith stopped Gilling and Blake Lizotte scored to give SCSU the extra NCHC point.
The Huskies outshot the RedHawks by a 44-30 margin and went 2-for-3 on the power play while Miami finished 0-for-3. Green finished with a pair of assists to lead MU's offense while Uhelski stopped 31 of 33 shots in relief of Larkin, who had nine saves on 11 shots in the first 9:06. Smith finished with 26 saves at the other end.
These teams battle out for a series win on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.
