Durham, NH- It was the home opener for UNH and the Whittemore Center was packed to the brim to welcome a struggling Colorado College team. UNH dominated the opening stages of the game but were unable to get quality chances at the CC goal. At 16 minutes, 57 seconds of the first Maxim Gaudreault scored shorthanded, off a 2 on 1 rebound, to give UNH a lead it never relinquished.

Gaudreault would score a similar goal in the second period to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Cody Bradley responded a minute and  a half later to bring Colorado College to within one. But UNH’s freshman duo of Andrew Poturalski and Shane Eiserman scored goals 12 seconds apart to give UNH a three goal lead. UNH scored another two in the third, while CC added another to give New Hampshire the 6-2 win.

UNH improved to 2-2-0 on the young season, while Colorado College dropped its fourth straight decision to fall to 2-4-0. The Tigers were outscored 12-4 i its two games over the weekend.

What I Saw

• Colorado College had tons of trouble in the neutral zone. Errant passes, which led to odd man rushes became the norm. For CC, these fundamental breakdowns at the red line are something that have to be of concern going forward. As the confidence fell, the more odd man rushes UNH had. A lack of confidence seems to be the biggest issue, which causes key mental gaffes that lead to these glorious opportunities for its opponent.
• UNH’s freshmen look poised and collected. It started in net with Adam Clark, as the freshman seemed to eat every puck that came close to him. The forwards of Andrew Polturalski, Shane Eiserman and Warren Foegele all played with confidence. The results on the scoreboard showed. Dick Umile is going to rely on these players, as the season goes along, and tonight showed these players will be impact players for the Wildcats. The line of Foegele, Tyler Kelleher and Andrew Polturalski was dangerous every time on the ice. For UNH, this can only be good news.

What I Thought

• CC was fundamentally bad in many aspects of the game. Other than Jacob Slavin, there wasn’t much that stood out for the Tigers. The mistakes not only plagued the defensive side of the puck but it also effected the offensive zone. When opportunities arose, they hit the side of the net. shot high or found the chest of Adam Clark. Again, as the game went on CC got fewer opportunities. When UNH scored to make it 3-1, CC seemed to crumble for brief moment and let UNH get further away. The rebuild that was expected in Colorado Springs is in full swing.
• New Hampshire dressed a patchwork defense, that is seemingly in progress. CC was unable to take advantage of it. UNH’s top five defense consists  of: one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen. Those five looked good at times, but they didn’t have to be great because CC was unable to take advantage of the defense’s mistakes. Give it credit though, it gave up few odd man rushes and played smart hockey.

What They Said

UNH coach Dick Umile said:

“I liked the effort of the team tonight. I like the personnel of the team and the fact they are going to play hard and play fast. They were tenacious on the puck. We scored a couple of goals because of that.”

“The freshman overall, whether they are scoring goals or playing defense, have a done a good job for us. They have fit in and have been playing important roles on our team, to gives us the balance we have.”

Colorado College coach Mike Haviland said:

“It was a tough weekend for us. We felt we played much better down at BC last night, we had more chances. We have a little issue that we have to get cleaned up… once we get a goal scored on us it ends up being two or three right away. BC did it to us, and so did these guys.”

“UNH really stretched us out and used their surface to their advantage.”

What Else You Should Know

UNH plays UMass-Lowell in its conference opener next Friday, at the Whittemore center. It will be an early conference test to see just where they are.

Colorado College travels to Miami for a pair next weekend. The Tigers have lost four consecutive games heading into next weekend.

Saturday, October 25th, 2014 - 11:34 pm | Blogs, Hockey East, NCHC, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings