Maine seeking boost Goal production down in NCAAs

loading...

ORONO – Scoring goals isn’t easy at any level of hockey these days.

And the further a team advances in the playoffs, the more difficult it becomes.

Successful teams always seem to have a top-notch goalie, a solid corps of defensemen and conscientious two-way forwards.

The University of Maine has been victimized by a lack of goal production in its last five NCAA Tournament losses, scoring just five goals on 164 shots on goal.

The Bears got another taste of that frustration in Friday night’s 2-1 double-overtime loss to Boston College in their Hockey East semifinal. Maine had 40 shots.

So what can the Bears do to produce more offense in their NCAA Tournament opener against the University of Minnesota in the Gophers’ Mariucci Arena on Saturday afternoon?

“After watching tape of the Boston College game, we were skating through the third circle instead of stopping there,” said Maine junior center Derek Damon referring to an imaginary circle between the faceoff circles in the offensive zone. “[Assistant coach] Grant [Standbrook] is always telling us to stop in that third circle. He’s right. But until we get that in our heads, we aren’t going to score many goals.”

Sophomore center Michel Leveille said, “It’s important not to leave the front of the net because there can be turnovers and because it’s important to take the goalies’ eyes away. All the teams involved in the tournament have good goalies so you have to take their eyes away.”

Leveille added that Standbrook has emphasized that “even if you leave the third circle for a split second, you need to sprint back instead of slowly gliding back.”

Maine sophomore left wing Josh Soares pointed out that “you don’t see many pretty goals in the playoffs. You have to do the dirty work in front of the net and bang them in.”

Another remedy is to have a more productive power play.

Maine’s power play has been inconsistent all year but had an impressive quarterfinal-round performance with six goals in 14 chances against UMass Lowell. However, BC killed off all six Bear power plays last Friday and limited Maine to seven shots on goal.

Maine’s power play is operating at a 16.5 percent success rate.

“BC had real good penalty killing units. We had trouble getting it in their zone and setting things up,” said junior right wing Greg Moore. “We’re going to have to have a good breakout and good [offensive] zone possession when we get it in. From there, we’ve got to get pucks to the net, take the goalies’ eyes away and crash the net for rebounds.”

BC has the second best penalty killing percentage in the country at 88.4 percent.

“We’re going to work on it the whole week,” said Leveille. “Playing on a big ice [Olympic-sized] surface will give us a little more time to make plays. Hopefully, that will help us and we’ll be able to get our shots through.”

Maine coach Tim Whitehead could elect to juggle his lines to try to produce more offense but the players don’t feel it’s necessary.

“I don’t think he needs to tweak the lines that much. We’ve been successful [with the current line combinations]. We’ve been getting to know our linemates so you don’t have to think too much on the ice. You know where your linemates are,” said Leveille.

Damon said, “Michel, Greg and Josh are playing so well right now.

“Our line [Mike Hamilton, Keith Johnson] has a lot of speed but we haven’t been getting the bounces and we haven’t been getting to the net. That’s partly my fault,” he added. “All four lines have clicked. It’s tough with [Rob Bellamy] down with an injury because that line [with Keenan Hopson and Billy Ryan] was really clicking. It’s a tough decision for coach.”

There were changes precipitated by injuries to LW Brent Shepheard (abdominal strain) and Bellamy (broken hand). Bellamy won’t play Saturday but Shepheard practiced Monday and might return.

“He skated today but didn’t have contact. We’ll see where he is on Wednesday. Today was encouraging,” said Whitehead whose Bears have Tuesday off.

Defenseman Tom Zabkowicz took Bellamy’s spot on his line and Ben Murphy was inserted onto a line with Jon Jankus and John Ronan to replace Shepheard. Shepheard had been with Leveille and Moore but Soares moved up from the Jankus line to that line.

Whitehead said he feels his Bears have to release their shots more quickly, especially the defensemen, and stop being too selective. He wants them to keep the shots low to generate more rebound chances and to do a better job driving the net on rushes.

The Maine players said they won’t sacrifice defense for offense.

“We don’t ever want to leave Jimmy [goalie Jimmy Howard] out to dry. Good team defense has always been our focus,” said Damon. “We have enough gifted guys offensively who can step it up and start performing better and we have to.”

Mushaluk handling adversity

Junior defenseman and co-captain Jeff Mushaluk has been the forgotten man.

He struggled early in the season and was benched; he got back into the lineup for nine games and then was suspended for three games for violating team rules. He hasn’t played since.

His last game was Dec. 29 but he still practices diligently every day in case he is called upon.

“It was difficult early on. But right now, I know my role on the team and I try to bring a good attitude to the locker room and support the guys and their approach the games on the weekends,” said Mushaluk. “I keep my cardio up. I make sure I go to the gym in the morning. I have the same work ethic I had when I was in the lineup. These guys are still my friends and teammates.”

He was named an assistant captain before he even played a game at Maine after transferring from Lake Superior State and sitting out a year.

He played regularly a year ago and was on the first power- play unit for 10 games but didn’t produce and blames himself for “not capitalizing on my opportunity to impress people.”

He began putting too much pressure on himself, he said, and that only made matters worse.

His suspension came at an “unfortunate time” as the team had begun playing well.

He has been playing forward in practice, the first time he has ever played forward, and has been pleased with the way he has played.

He said he is ready to play anywhere if called upon.

“If that day does come, I’ll be happy just to be part of the team,” said Mushaluk who has no regrets about his decision to come to Maine. “I’ve been fortunate to be able to stay here and support the team.”

He can graduate in May and has an uncertain future next year.

“He has been very respectful to his teammates and has been very mature [handling the situation]. He has looked good in practice,” said Whitehead.