Union and Dartmouth both picked up wins, over Merrimack and Robert Morris respectively on Saturday night. Because the Ledyard Bank Classic has predetermined matchups, the format is setup with a point system (2 points for a regulation/ot win, 1 point for a shootout win) with goal differential being the tiebreaker if one or more teams are tied. Dartmouth and Union do not play on Sunday night in a de facto championship game, so we will be relying heavily on the system put in place.Union defeated Merrimack 3-2, while Dartmouth defeated Robert Morris, 5-1.

Union received goals from Matt Wilkins, Nick Cruice and Brett Supinski, which included two power-play tallies. Merrimack took the momentum in the third period but were never able to recover from being down two goals entering the third. Dartmouth took a scoreless game after a period and ran away with it late. It outshot the Colonials 37-18 and recieved goals from five different skaters. Hypothetically Dartmouth has the advantage going into Sunday night’s matchups, after winning by four. The Big Green face Merrimack, while the Dutchmen face Robert Morris.

Merrimack Needs Consistency

Merrimack started its game with Union in a good way. It scored a goal early and it was outshooting the Dutchmen 6-0. But it all changed when Union got a power play and scored to tie the game at 1. Union would go on to score three unanswered in the first and second periods, to take a 3-1 lead after two periods. Down two, the Warriors came out with a vengeance in the third period. It had many good opportunities throughout and it got within a goal at 3-2. It outshot Union, 12-4 in the period and it seemed as though it may just tie the game, but it was not to be.

The result and the inconsistent effort was much like it has been receiving in recent weeks. Mack has just one win in its past nine games, but in all but one of those games it had the majority of chances in the third period. Ya, there are score effects and all that but the inconsistency is a tad concerning. If there is one silver-lining it was the return of Brett Seney, who missed time. He was often times the best player on the ice.

“He is dynamic,” Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said. “Often times when things aren’t going well, it takes one good play to settle everyone down and a lot of those instances it is a certain player. That is probably what stemmed the tide in the third, is all of a sudden Seney’s energy. I think that kind of righted the ship for us but we just needed it a bit earlier.”

The Warriors began the year 6-1-4. It was receiving consistent performances and its penalty kill was pretty good. Fast forward to now and those aspects of the game are missing. In the early portions of the game it was the better team and in the third period it was by far the better team. Merrimack can take home a title, but needs the most help and it has maybe a one percent chance of winning it. More consistency would have gotten them a win against Union.

“What we are struggling with is a bit of mental toughness,” Dennehy said. “Most of the teams play are going to be good teams and push-back. We can’t get away from how we play. We got away from what we did in the first ten minutes. It took us way too long to get us reorganized.”

Dartmouth Got the Win It Needed

Dartmouth, in all honesty, was downright awful at times in the first half. Its defense was oft over-matched and it gave up north of four goals per game. Tonight, it was the better team on the ice and systematically it was the Dartmouth team I have gotten used to watching all these years.

Two seasons ago, Dartmouth had similar issues in the first half of the season. It became one of the better teams in the ECAC by seasons end, as its defensive confidence grew. My thoughts were focused on this late in the game, as it overpowered its opponent. I expected Robert Morris to win, by one or two goals, but I did not expect a Dartmouth domination. This happened and now I wonder if the result will be an anomaly, which it may very well be.

“It (defensive play) was an area that we wanted to get better at over the break,” Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet said. “It was definitely a focus for us. The defensive system is 200 feet, not just in our own zone. It is fore-checking, neutral zone and d-zone coverages. I thought the experience we gained playing such a tough schedule and I think it was good for us. We learned from it.”

One of the things I was most impressed with by Dartmouth’s effort tonight, was its ability to find the open man and get it them. Jack Barre had a beauty of an assist early in the game and Nick Bligh had one on a later goal. For Dartmouth, who played a murderous row schedule in the first half, it got the result it needed. It has a chance to win its tournament for the first time since 2008.

“It would be great,” said Gaudet. “but we just want to come out and play a good, solid hockey game. Just stay focused playing a shift at a time and put another good game together.”

Robert Morris had a bad Game

Robert Morris has beaten great teams this season. It defeated Michigan on the road and last week it won the Three Rivers Classic, after wins against Penn State and UMass-Lowell. Tonight though, it looked to be on fumes after last week’s two phenomenal efforts. In all honesty, my take on its performance tonight comes down to the fact it had its worst game of the season after a week where it was great.

“Tonight it came out to the fact we got outworked,” RMU coach Derek Schooley said. “Anytime you get outworked in a hockey game, you will probably lose it. We turned too many pucks over tonight and they took advantage of their chances”

One poor effort shouldn’t change what we think about the Atlantic Hockey power, as it continues to look like the big favorite in the AHA season. Robert Morris is still in good shape in terms of the Pairwise as it sits 21. It probably needs a win on Sunday to have any chance to make it into the top 16, but either way it should win its tournament. But there is that added comfort of being in the top 15 that would be nice for the AHA school.

One should expect the Colonials to put about a better effort against Union on Sunday afternoon. At 11-5-3, it has one of the better records in college hockey. We expected RMU to be pretty good this season and it has been. Lest not forget those other big wins and be blinded by a single porous effort.

“We had a tough week of travel,” Schooley said. “But we can’t use it as an excuse to get outworked. Getting outworked is effort based. We can use all the excuses in the world, but Dartmouth did the job and we didn’t.”

Union Received scoring from Unlikely Sources

One of things that Union needed most this season, was to find people to put the puck in the net. Against Merrimack, it received goals from Nick Cruice, Matt Wilkins and Brett Supinski. Cruice’s goal was his first of the year and the other two were third goals of the season. It needed these efforts, as Mike Vecchione, Spencer Foo and Ryan Scarfo were quite quiet on the night.

Union has been hot of late, as it is now unbeaten in six games and has one four in a row. The biggest difference has been defense and getting consistent scoring from all the lines, but even Bennett admits it could be better. He would like to see three lines getting on the scoresheet and argued tonight he only had two. For them, the depth guys continue to gain confidence and it shows.

“It is good when all our lines weren’t working,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “Hopefully we will have at least three lines going tomorrow, instead of two. I just felt that some guys just didn’t have it tonight and they will regroup and go at it again tomorrow.”

Last season, The Dutchmen lost its 26 goal scorer, Daniel Ciampini, to graduation and have yet to find a single guy to replace him. But then again, Union is better now than it was last season, as it has more depth than it did a year ago. Whether or not Union stays hot will be an interesting follow in the second half. It needs Dartmouth to lose and a win. If Dartmouth wins the nightcap, Union will need to blowout RMU in the 4pm game, by greater than four goals depending on the Big Green’s margin of victory.

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016 - 2:59 am | Atlantic Hockey, Blogs, ECAC, Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings