During the series against the Tigers, the Hawks put an incredible amount of rubber on net, outshooting the Tigers 89-43. While fans don’t want to hear about a hot goalie, Tigers’ freshman goaltender Alex Leclerc was nothing short of amazing stopping 83-of-87 shots. For the weekend, Leclerc put up some fantastic numbers (1-1, 2.02 GAA, .954 save percentage). There’s not much you can do about a hot goalie. Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat and give credit where credit is due. Leclerc was a brick wall, all weekend long.
On the other end of the ice, UND senior backup goalie Matt Hrynkiw played five-of-six periods stopping 32-33 shots. None of this seems to matter. After Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the last-place Tigers, UND fans were frustrated. They want wins, not statistics.
Inconsistent Young Team
Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, there’s no substitute for experience. On this season’s roster, there are eight freshmen and 11 sophomores. At times, UND’s age has shown and they’ve been very inconsistent. College hockey is dominated by upper classmen. In case we have short memories, during the offseason, UND lost nine players from the 2016 championship team (Drake Caggiula, Bryn Chyzyk, Colten St. Clair, Coltyn Sanderson, Nick Schmaltz, Troy Stecher, Paul LaDue, Luke Johnson, and Keaton Thompson). Three of these players are playing in the NHL (Caggiula with Edmonton, Schmaltz with Chicago, and Stecher with Vancouver). Two of those players could still be playing college hockey.
Finally, while the time is running out, there’s still a chance to make a move in the standings. There are eight regular season games remaining and UND has a 6-2-0 record against these teams. So, I don’t think it’s time to panic. Not yet.
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