Sin Bin Cycle

Friday night’s game had the misfortune of featuring a combined 35 penalty minutes. Trips to the penalty box were non-stop, especially in the third period. The game had no flow and failed to bring the level of entertainment that Whiteout offered. Of course it was on a different stage, but this game was decided early on and having more than half of the game not spent five-on-five is not fun for anyone.

It also could be detrimental for the Lakers in the upcoming weekend finale of the regular season and into the postseason if this persists. Oswego State cannot continue to take penalties and risk exploiting its penalty kill, which was 5-6 last night after a string of lackluster performances coming in. The penalty kill did look slightly improved against a SUNY Canton team that has a streak of 10 games with power play goals after Friday night, but no team wants to be a man down as much as Oswego State was in the final stanza (four times).

Lineup Card

The top six forwards and all four centers will stay the same tonight after Friday night’s changes. Aaron Huffnagle, Trent Durocher, Jody Sullivan and Mitch Emerson will draw in the lineup for Eric Lipa, Josh Zizek, Tyson Bruce and David Ferreira, who appeared to suffer an injury during Friday’s game.

Chris Raguseo (illness) will play tonight after sitting out for only the second time all season. He will play on the first pairing with Chris MacMillan. Devin Campbell will get his turn in in the lineup with Charlie Pelnik and Kristoffer Brun sitting out.

Cedric Hansen was great in the third period of Friday’s win, but he will not be called upon for his first collegiate start tonight. David Jacobson will be inside the blue paint for the 14th time this season with Matt Zawadzki still a good chunk of time away from returning. Jacobson (2.34) is still behind Zawadzki (1.72) in goals against average, but sits in third in the SUNYAC in that category.

It is not surprising at all to see Josh Erickson get the start tonight. He was very sharp in relief last night, making 22 saves to help keep the game from getting completely out of hand.

Players to Watch

OSW: Alex Botten

Botten’s presence in the lineup immediately makes the Lakers better. He makes his teammates better when he is reading the play and watching it develop. He balances the lines to round out an already potent Oswego State offense. Head coach Ed Gosek said yesterday that he still is not in game shape and needs to limit his shifts, but tonight he will have another chance to do that.

Watch for Botten to take some steps toward getting comfortable playing regular minutes again.

CAN: Josh Sova

Sova, the Oswego native, has not registered a point against his hometown team in his two prior seasons within the SUNY Canton program. The other Oswego native, Trenton Yule, has a single goal against the Lakers.

Sova was good last night for the ‘Roos, more so in the third period. He was a -2 on the night, but there was not a single SUNY Canton skater on the positive side of that statistic. Sova had two shots in the third period, including a breakaway chance shortly after the start of the third.

He may finally break through with a point against the Lakers tonight.

By the Numbers

Record

OSW: 17-4-1/11-2-1 (No. 2/3) [1st in SUNYAC]

CAN: 7-15-2 [Independent]

Shots per Game

OSW: 36.5

CAN: 27.8

Shots Allowed per Game

OSW: 22.5

CAN: 32.0

Goals per Game

OSW: 4.82 [1st in Div. III]

CAN: 3.00 [46th in Div. III]

Goals Against per Game

OSW: 2.05 [10th in Div. III]

CAN: 3.96 [69th in Div. III]

Power Play

OSW: 28-106 (26.42%) [7th in Div. III]

CAN: 31-138 (22.46%) [17th in Div. III]

Penalty Kill

OSW: 87-104 (83.7%) [25th in Div. III]

CAN:  112-144 (77.8%) [65th in Div. III]

*Overall statistics from USCHO.com

Game Prediction

Tonight is just another game on the long list that the Lakers clearly own the majority of statistical and overall skill advantages over their opponents. The ‘Roos defense cannot keep up with the Lakers’ forecheck, and that will be the difference maker again.

Oswego State has never lost to SUNY Canton. That continues tonight.

Lakers win 5-1