Breaking down UND’s sweep of Miami; the play of the special teams should be a concern for the UND coaching staff. UND is traveling to St. Cloud State this weekend to take on the St. Cloud State Huskies two-game conference series. To beat the Huskies, UND has to play a flawless, disciplined game. Especially, in the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Statistically, UND is solid on offense (ranked 13th nationally) and defense (ranked 7th nationally). UND is scoring goals when they’re playing five on five hockey, but they’re not cashing in on the power play. This past weekend, UND went 1-7 (14.2%) against the RedHawks on the man-advantage. That needs to improve. (Stats from College Hockey Stats)
I imagine that the UND coaching staffed is concerned with their power play and penalty kill numbers. UND can’t afford to get into penalty trouble against the talented, offensive minded Huskies. The Huskies power play is clicking at 21.4 percent. UND has killed 34/43 (79.1) of their opponents power plays. On the power play, UND is clicking along at a rate of 7/49 (14.3).
If UND wants to be successful this season, they need to improve their penalty kill numbers. UND has many new players playing on special teams and their special teams numbers should improve as the season progresses and those players again experience and get more comfortable.
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