#9/10 Yale at Union pregame notes

by Ryan Fay

Union hosts #9/10 Yale tomorrow night at 7 pm at Messa Rink.

Yale (13-7-6, 9-6-1 ECAC) is looking to solidify its hold on second place while sixth-place Union (13-10-5, 6-6-4) is looking to get back in the top four with eyes on a first round bye.

In advance of the game, parties from both sides weighed in on a few story lines that could impact the game.

SCORING STRUGGLES

Union enters the game struggling on offense. The Dutchmen have scored more than three goals in a game just once since the calendar flipped to 2013 (four vs last place Harvard on Jan. 22). In that span, the Dutchmen are 4-6-1.

"Sometimes we just sit back too much," senior Wayne Simpson said when describing the offensive woes. "We're playing in our zone too much and it's hard to create chances doing that."

At least the forward had solutions.

Allain (Yale)

"We have to keep it simple so we can get pucks deep," he said. "Forcing turnovers from our forecheck is important as is getting pucks to the net. We've done it at times and we've seen how it works. But we have to do it more often."

Yale can sympathize with an offensive slump. The Bulldogs have lost three of its past four games and failed to score more than two goals in any of the three losses. The Bulldogs were shutout 1-0 on Tuesday despite firing 44 shots at Brown's Anthony Borelli.

"We have to score more goals," Yale head coach Keith Allain said via a phone interview. "We scored two goals in the previous game we lost and we scored zero goals on Tuesday. You can't win hockey games at any level when you're averaging one goal a game. We have to get our lines going and produce more offense."

GETTING KILLED BY THE KILL 

Union has spent most of the season as one of the toughest penalty killing teams in the country.

But the unit has become leaky of late, operating at a 6-for-13 clip in the past three games. St. Lawrence scored three power play goals against Union last Saturday, the most Union had given up in nearly a calendar year.

"It's just a matter of getting some bounces," said junior defenseman Mat Bodie. "A couple bounces against St. Lawrence last Saturday were generous for them.

"Other than that, it's a matter of bearing down. We've been letting a couple shots get through from the point. We haven't been tying up sticks in front. It's the little things that add up. We've been successful in the past and I'm sure we can get back on track."

Union's penalty kill went 8-for-8 during a 3-3 draw at Yale on Dec. 8th.

LAGANIERE ONE TO WATCH

When Union skated to that tie at Yale in early December, no Bulldog stood out more than senior Antoine Laganiere.

"He's very big, skates and controls the puck extremely well, and Union simply didn't have an answer for him," Union play by play man Matt DuBrey told me in a December interview.

The 6-foot-4 forward picked up an assist in the tie against Union and his 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) are tied with Andrew Miller for second most on the club.

"He's a young man who came in here with a little bit of offensive skill," Allain said of Laganiere. "It's gratifying to see a guy who has gotten better each and every year. He has gotten stronger, faster, and more confident. When he came here, he was 6-foot-4, 170-something pounds. Now he's 6-foot-4, 220-something pounds. He has added elements to his offensive game. He's a testament to what a kid can accomplish with dedication and hard work."

SAINT NICK

When starting lineups are announced, Yale's goaltender probably won't be Jeff Malcolm.

Allain said on Wednesday that there's "no" timetable for Malcolm's return. The senior, who has a 2.48 goals against average and a .918 save percentage, has not played since suffering an injury early in a 4-2 win against Princeton on Feb. 1.

Nick Maricic, another senior, has picked up the slack between the pipes.

"I think Nick has played well," Allain said. "I thought he played well when he came in relief against Princeton. I thought he struggled a bit against Quinnipiac. But he was solid on Tuesday against Brown."

ETC

With 79 career points, Bodie is one away from setting the program record for points by a defenseman.... the junior is tied with Lane Caffaro.... if you can't make it to the game, it will be aired live on Time Warner Cable Sports... the program is holding a "bookraiser" by Project: Cameron's Story at both games this weekend... for more information, click here.