Road Legs

The longest road trip of the Lakers’ SUNYAC schedule comes this weekend. They’ll travel approximately 482 miles with stops in Potsdam and Plattsburgh. Despite being 3-0 on the road this year, things have not been as perfect as their record shows.

Head coach Ed Gosek stressed the need to play a full 60 minutes in each game earlier this week. He believes Oswego State has not done so this year. He also acknowledged that they had the same issues last season when his team only earned one point out of a possible four on the crucial road trip.  This weekend will be the first major obstacle the Lakers have faced in the early going.

“If we could play the majority of the 60 minutes each night we like our chances for success,” Gosek said. “If we don’t, then it’s a crapshoot which way the outcome is going to go.”

Hit Department

The Potsdam Bears are a heavy team that likes to play physical. Oswego State is not that physical of a team, but has the overall talent to be able to counteract a more physical style of play. The Bears only have eight players on their roster under six feet tall, compared to the 12 players on Oswego State’s roster.

Lineup Card

Gosek talked this week about not being happy with the bottom nine forwards and their current lines. This sparked some lineup changes in tonight’s game. Mitchell Herlihey and Andrew Barton will play with Matt Galati. Jody Sullivan drops to the third line winger spot after scoring four goals in five games this season. Charlie Pelnik draws in with Sean Federow still missing from the lineup.

Laker Lines:

Hulshof-Botten-Neil

Herlihey-Barton-Galati

Emerson-Davies-Sullivan

Ferreira-Waterstreet-Berry

Brun-Pelnik

Raguseo-MacMillan

Johnson-Rutkowski

Zawadzki

In The Crease

Matt Zawadzki will indeed get the start tonight. This follows the current goalie rotation and means that David Jacobson will get the start tomorrow in Plattsburgh. This will be Zawadzki’s third start of the season. He has posted a 2.01 GAA average and a .902 SV% through his first two wins of the season.

Nate Skidmore gets the start for the Bears. He is 1-1-1 on the year and earns his fourth start tonight. SUNY Potsdam is rotating their goaltenders as well to this point of the season. The junior Brendan McMenimen will be the backup tonight but has four starts on the year.

By the Numbers

Record

OSW: 5-0-0/3-0-0 (No. 4/5)

POT: 2-2-2/1-2-1

Powerplay

OSW: 7-27 (25.9%) [4th in SUNYAC]

POT: 6-35 (17.1%) [7th in SUNYAC]

Penalty Kill

OSW: 22-24 (91.7%) [1st in SUNYAC]

POT: 31-37 (83.8%) [2nd in SUNYAC]

Goals Per Game

OSW: 5.40 [2nd in SUNYAC]

POT: 2.33 [9th in SUNYAC]

Goals Against Per Game

OSW: 1.80 [2nd in SUNYAC]

POT: 2.67 [T 3rd in SUNYAC]

*Overall statistics

Player To Watch

Lakers- Matt Galati

Galati has scored twice this season already and tallied two assists. However, he hasn’t really stood out shift after shift. With two new linemates tonight, the trio of upperclassmen could be a formidable second line to rely on at both ends of the ice.

Potsdam- Dylan Vander Esch

Vander Esch is one of the top pure goal scorers in the SUNYAC. With a team-leading four goals already this season, he should be one of the biggest threats to produce points for the Bears. With a team struggling to score goals like Potsdam is, the junior forward will need to create his own chances tonight.

Game Predicition

With Zawadzki in net tonight for this third start of the year, the Lakers should be able to be do enough to knock off the 2-2-2 SUNY Potsdam Bears. With two-straight losses, the Bears should come out with an extra jump on home ice, but the Lakers will prove to have too much firepower for Skidmore and the rest of the defense to handle.

Lakers win 4-2