BOWLING GREEN – After suffering a disappointing loss on Friday, the Bowling Green State University hockey team had some “discussions” before its Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest against Minnesota State at the Slater Family Ice Arena Saturday.
“[The coaches] talked about whether we should turn this thing on its ear, or give these guys a chance to respond,” Bowling Green coach Bergeron admitted. “We chose the latter.
“We made one switch up front, but the back end was the same. We may have switched up the lines a little bit. … But we gave our people a chance to respond, and they did that.”
Meanwhile the players talked about improving their aggressiveness.
“We knew coming into the game that we had to fix something because we couldn’t have that happen again,” said freshman forward Max Johnson.
Both talks seemed to have worked as the Falcons claimed a 5-2 victory.
“Maybe the execution wasn’t great, but the effort was way better tonight,” Bergeron said. “That was how we have to play to give ourselves a chance.”
BG now is 2-3 overall and 1-1 in WCHA play; Minnesota State, which entered the weekend ranked No. 12 in the latest Division I poll, is 2-2 and 1-1.
Bowling Green’s improved effort resulted in two goals by Lukas Craggs just 20 seconds apart midway through the first period. Craggs netted an unassisted goal at the 12:30 mark, then redirected a shot by Justin Wells shot from the left point into the net at 12:50.
“That gave up momentum in the game,” Johnson said. “That got us going and gave us some momentum. …
“I thought that was the turning point of the game. It was big.”
Freshman Connor Ford scored at 7:46 of the second period, and fellow freshman Johnson added a power-play goal at 13:57 of that period to increase the Falcons’ lead to 4-0.
But Minnesota State did not quit. Zeb Knutson scored on a delayed BG penalty call at the 16-minute mark of the second period, and on the ensuing power play the Mavericks’ Nicolas Rivera scored at 16:53.
“That’s what you get when you play Minnesota State,” Bergeron said. “When you get a bulldog in the corner, they fight.”
Falcons goalie Ryan Bednard took over from there, though. He finished with 26 saves in the contest, including 10 in the final period; the biggest came when he denied Knutson on a breakaway attempt with 10 minutes left.
“Knutson is as good a player as there is in this league,” Bergeron said. “And Ryan shut him down.
“That’s what we expect from him – and that’s what he expects from himself.”
It also helped that the Bowling Green penalty killing unit, which surrendered three power-play goals Friday, allowed just one goal on eight MSU power-play attempts Saturday.
“We’ve got to be way more disciplined that than,” Bergeron said, noting that his team was penalized 10 times for 31 minutes. “I think it started with Ryan Bednard as our best penalty killer, and from there we had guys on the same page every time.
“But when you give [Minnesota State] eight power-play opportunities, you’re playing with fire.”
Brett D’Andrea’s empty-net goal with 1:10 to go sealed the victory for Bowling Green.
Contact John Wagner at jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.
First Published October 22, 2017, 1:58 a.m.
