AMHERST — This weekend will be a midterm exam for the UMass offense.
There is no doubt the Minutemen can score pretty goals with talented wingers like Mitchell Chaffee and Amherst native John Leonard. Those two as well as several other members of UMass’ top-six have proven they have the hands to pick their spots when given enough time to shoot.
But for the last two years, coach Greg Carvel has continued to discuss how UMass isn’t as good at scoring the ugly goals. At times the past two seasons, the coach mentioned how easy it was for the opposing goalie to see the shots UMass was throwing at the net.
This weekend, No. 10 UMass (13-6-1, 6-3-1 Hockey East) is tasked with discovering how to solve Boston College goalie Spencer Knight, who the Florida Panthers selected 13th overall last June. The fourth-ranked Eagles (12-4-0, 6-2-0) have won 10 straight games backstopped mainly by Knight’s 1.73 goals against average and .940 save percentage.
“You’re not going to beat Spencer Knight with shots from the outside,” Carvel said. “Creating those chaos goals where the goalie can’t see the puck, the better teams, the teams that are hard to play against, that’s how they score goals.”
Since returning from the winter break, UMass has been much better at finding ways to score goals in and around the crease. Niko Hildenbrand’s winning goal at RPI came on a deflection in front of the net and most of the goals the Minutemen scored last weekendat Denver came either around the crease area or with plenty of traffic in the vicinity.
Creating that controlled chaos in the offensive zone has been a focal point for the Minutemen all season, but sophomore defenseman Marc Del Gaizo said it especially important in these games against the better goalies in the country.
“You just want to get a lot of pucks and bodies in front of him, especially bodies,” Del Gaizo said. “That’s one of the focus points that we’ve had all year is to take away the goalie’s eyes and get a lot of traffic in front of him. Throwing everything on net whether it’s from bad angles or in the slot, we’ve got to put a lot of rubber on him.”
Shooting the puck with traffic in front of the goal is a dance between teammates. The net-front presence must first present a target at which their teammate can shoot then must track that shot and try to deflect it away from the goalie.
There’s a lot of chance in those plays, too, because there is rarely space for the player at the net to fully control where the puck is headed.
“First thing, you check if there’s sticks in front that you can shoot at for deflections,” Del Gaizo said. “But anything that gets through, it doesn’t matter if it’s a hard shot or not can be a scoring chance.”
“You’ve just got to have your stick out,” sophomore Bobby Trivigno added from the forward’s perspective, “and make sure you’re square in front of the goalie between the puck and the goalie and just hope for the best.”
Just as important as the original shot on net is making sure the players are in the right spot after the play to capitalize on the rebounds. UMass generates the third-most shots on goal per game in the country, but they haven’t always led to the second and third chances around the net.
Carvel pointed out how UMass has not been as good at retrieving pucks on the power play after shots, leading to a lot of one-shot possessions on the man advantage. That has also been true at times at even strength, but collecting rebounds is another way the Minutemen could put pressure on Knight and create more chances.
“We like to get a lot of shots on goal, but it’s not enough to just shoot the puck and have no second opportunities there,” Trivigno said. “You have to shoot for rebounds and create chaos in front of the net. He’s a good goalie, so we’ve got to find ways to make sure he doesn’t see the puck.”
Of course, it doesn’t have to take a lot of offense for UMass to beat the Eagles either Friday at Conte Forum or back at the Mullins Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Minutemen could also protect their own goal and make one or two goals stand up against a skilled Boston College team.
UMass does lead the country in average shot differential, firing 11.3 more shots per game on goal than its opponents.
“You could also win 1-0, too,” Carvel said after explaining the keys to his team’s offensive success. “There’s nothing wrong with playing good defense.”