DULUTH — Duluth, Minn., enters the final two weeks of the regular season with the best power play in the entire NCHC at 28%. That percentage also ranks in the top five in all of NCAA Division I men's hockey, but the Bulldogs deny that ranking.
As coach Scott Sandelin pointed out on Wednesday, much of that success came in October, when UMD shot 38.7% on the power play (12 of 31) through its first seven games. Of UMD's 26 power play goals this year, 17 came in the first two months of the season.
“Honestly, I don’t think our power play has been very good the last few weeks,” UMD junior defenseman Owen Gallatin said. “I know that early in the season, we were clicking on just about every power play that we felt. But the last few weeks, I felt like we weren't connecting as well.”
The Bulldogs will travel to the University of Colorado this week for two NCHC contests scheduled for Friday at 8pm CST and Saturday at 7pm CST at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs. UMD has lost six in a row, scoring just two power-play goals during the skid.
Of course, scoring on the power play requires being on the power play, and the man advantage has been difficult for the Bulldogs this season.
Through 20 of 24 regular-season conference contests, UMD totaled the league's fewest power-play attempts overall with 93 attempts. Just 49 of them played in the NCHC, which is also the lowest in the league.
Western Michigan has the next fewest total power-play attempts at 103, followed by Miami State and St. Cloud State with 104 each. The Huskies have allowed 55 power play attempts, the second fewest in the league.
Denver leads the league in power play attempts overall with 138, including 79 in conference play.
In UMD's last six games, which included wins against Omaha, home vs. Denver and last week's game against North Dakota, the Bulldogs have run power plays that lasted just 20 minutes and 32 seconds just 10 times.
The 20 percent success rate over the past six games reflects UMD's 20.4 percent conversion rate on the power play in NCHC play, which ranks fourth.
“It's hard to get going when you only have one or two (power plays) a game, because you only get one chance,” Gallatin said. “Then you can't read how they're killing, you can't see what's open and you can't understand what happens next. He only has one chance or he only has two chances. That's probably the end of it. It's going to be a lot harder to find your groove.”
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
The 2023-24 season will be the second time the Bulldogs rank last in both overall power play attempts and conference play. Last year, UMD totaled 116 power plays, 80 of which came in NCHC play.
For Sandelin, the lack of power plays isn't as frustrating as the inconsistency of power play attempts.
Two weeks ago against Denver at Amsoil Arena, the power play was 8-4 in favor of the Pioneers, with DU having a man advantage of 23:47 compared to UMD's 5:32.
Last week at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, the Fighting Hawks ran nine power plays spanning 14 minutes, 24 seconds. UMD had three that lasted a total of six minutes.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
“It's frustrating. It's frustrating to see another 9-3 weekend, but 9-3 didn't feel right,” Sandelin said. “We work on it a few days a week. We have (Ben Steves) and we know he can score, so that's a good thing.”
Steeves' 22 total goals this year are tied for first in the NCHC with Denver's Jack Devine and tied for fourth in the NCAA. The Bulldogs' leading scorer has scored 12 of his 22 goals on the power play this year. This number leads the NCHC and ranks second in the NCAA.
Steeves, a sophomore wing, has been seen sitting on the bench for 14 to 24 minutes over the past two weeks as he is not participating on the penalty kill.
The Bulldogs average 5.10 penalties per game and lead the NCHC in penalty minutes per night with 12:25. In NCHC play, UMD is averaging 13:24 penalties per game.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
No player in the NCHC has taken more penalty kicks than UMD's 128 this season, with the University of Colorado in second with 111. It may be due to practice, but both the Bulldogs (82.8%) and Tigers (81.1%) are ranked high. He ranks among the top three in penalty kills in the NCHC.
Asked if there was anything the Bulldogs could do to close the gap and increase power-play opportunities, Sandelin and Gallatin offered suggestions Wednesday, including having players wear $20 stripes. It wasn't.
The most important thing is puck possession, which the Bulldogs haven't had much of this season.
“Overall, we don't have a lot of possessions in the neutral zone or offensive zone,” Gallatin said. “It slows us down and allows them to get ahead of us. There are certainly some things we could do differently to give them a penalty to gain an advantage. think.”
Here are three more things to know about the Bulldogs this season heading into the series at Colorado College.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
After 10 losing seasons in the NCHC, Colorado will finish above .500 in the NCHC for the first time in league history. This will be CC's first overall victory in 12 years.
But the Tigers don't stop there. If they can maintain fourth place, they will be in contention to host the NCHC best-of-three quarterfinal series in two weeks. CC currently leads fifth-place Western Michigan by three points and is two points behind third-place Denver, where the Tigers will conclude the regular season with a home-and-home game next week.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth News Tribune
Coach Chris Mayotte, a former assistant coach at the University of Michigan, is in his third season at CC. Sandelin praised Mayotte this week for growing the Tigers' program from within through recruits rather than the transfer portal.
Of the Tigers' 92 goals this season, 62 have come from freshmen or sophomores. These same young players have scored 41 of CC's last 58 goals and 22 of CC's last 30 goals.
Sandelin said the Tigers are on a roll in the NCHC with many players scheduled to return next season.
“There are teams that are going to be playing,” Sandelin said of the league. “This is one of them.”
The Bulldogs are trying to stop history.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
The Bulldogs' current six-game losing streak is their longest since losing six straight from January 19, 2013 to February 15, 2013.
To find the next longest era, we have to go back to the very beginning of the Sandelin era.
UMD suffered a seven-game losing streak from January 13 to February 3, 2005, Sandelin's sixth season, and was swept by Michigan Tech, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State. did. The Bulldogs lost to Wisconsin, and the game was decided at home against the Badgers on February 4th. UMD only won four games that season after Christmas, but won two games in Denver in three straight WCHA playoff games and advanced to the WCHA Final 5 in St. Paul.
The longest losing streak in Sandelin's 24 seasons as UMD head coach came at the beginning of the 2001-02 season, his second year, when UMD lost nine straight as part of a 10-game winning streak from Nov. 2 to December. 1.
Sandelin and the Bulldogs signed six recruits to national letters of intent in the fall, but have since enrolled two more recruits into the 2024-2025 freshman class.
Callum Arnott, a 20-year-old wing who plays for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League, and Clayton Knapp, a 20-year-old goaltender with the Bismarck Bobcats of the North American Hockey League. Both have signed NLI contracts for next season. They join forwards Zam and Max Plante of Hermantown, Jason Shaugabay of Warroad, defensemen Ty Hanson of Hermantown and Adam Kleber of Chaska, and goaltender Adam Gajan of Slovakia.
Arnott, a native of King City, Ont., has put together a breakout season in the BCHL since verbally committing to UMD in the summer. His 24 goals and 44 points lead the Vees and are tied for fourth in the BCHL in goals heading into this weekend.
Knapp, who just transferred to UMD in February, has appeared in 23 games this season as Bismarck's coach, posting a .920 save percentage, 2.33 points per game and five shutouts.
