rebound control was generally there, as well. Real solid fundamental game. I'd like to see him get in this zone for a stretch.

We're not going to become an offensive juggernaut over the stretch drive even with the return of a couple of missing regulars. Hopefully the offense rounds itself out a little better and we get some consistent secondary scoring most nights. I'm not looking for 6 goals a night (although we've seen that each of the last two weekends) but counting on 3 a night would be quite helpful.

Offense could get nothing done last night after scoring at will on Friday.

Did Sparty put a different defense on the O’Leary-Graham line? Is DeRidder simply that much better in goal than Lethemon?

6 goals Friday, 1 last night. 6 against WI on Friday, 2 on Saturday. For 6 straight series we have scored the same (1) or fewer goals on the second night.

Last night was a little bit puck luck and a little bit Drew DeRidder playing well and making some big saves, especially in the third. Statistically speaking, DeRidder is the better goalie, but not by much. We hit a couple of pipes, Nardella missed a wide open net a couple minutes before he buried a magnificent goal, and another player missed a wide open net when he couldn't settle a puck rolling on it's side.

Anecdotally I also think the instances of scoring fewer goals the second night increase as the season goes on, as teams simply become familiar with each other, and more video is available to study. Putting video together with what you saw live the previous night seems to make for a lot of dropoff on Saturdays.

Notre Dame also lost a few more opportunities last night with missed passes and icing that I didn't see Friday (I missed the first period of Friday's game as I was not home yet). Plus, after posting a +9 over the last 3 games, the O'Leary, Malmquist, Graham line was due to slow down a bit, and they were kept off the scoresheet.

Legs seems a little more tired on both sides on Saturday, particularly early on. Cale was great both nights. I despise the individual skills competition as a way to decide games (even more when it’s not even official from an NCAA standpoint), but that being said he tracked the puck really nicely on the second save to seal the conference point.

Also, not sure if it was the weather, people skipping out after attending the hoops game, not wanting to deal with parking because of the Globetrotters (parking was fine, incidentally), or some combination of these factors, but the place was dead on a Saturday after a really peppy crowd on Friday night. I’ve never known that to be the trend, but we typically only make it in for one weekend a year.

May they always be

focus on crossbars/posts drives me nuts. It's a wide or high shot if it doesn't go in - just like one that whistles by a millimeter over the bar or past a post. Just like one that slides through the crease. The only place it matters is in advanced stats - just like other wide/high shots and blocked shots.

in my book hitting a pipe is hitting the blocker or the glove.