The first period looked hopeful.
Coming off of a rough weekend at the San Jose State showcase where the Ducks left 0-3, Ducks hockey was back on the road for their third game in the University of Utah series. Oregon wasn’t alone with their losses, however. The Utes were coming off of a three-game losing streak from both Utah State and Weber State.
Both teams came out strong, but the Utah offense proved to be a challenge. Only twenty seconds into the first period, Oregon goalie Danny Cockriel had to make the first save of the game. 17 seconds later, he had to make the second. 37 seconds after that came the third save by Cockriel.
Oregon’s defense held strong under pressure though. The Ducks had responded to Utah’s initial surge and finally made their way into the Utah zone. Unfortunately the net was dislodged and the possibility of the Ducks building their momentum was halted. Oregon was put back on the defensive.
Luckily for Oregon, their defense was holding strong up until this point. No shots were let through despite Utah completely dominating the ice and controlling the pace of the game. Cockriel made some big saves: an especially notable one being at 12:33. After Josh Dangel took a shot and the puck bounced upward off of his blocker, Cockriel plucked the ricochet out of the air with his glove.
The still-scoreless first period had only one penalty. Matt Ackman of Oregon committed a roughing call during the whistle after Dangel’s shot. Luckily, the penalty kill was successful for the Ducks.
It wasn’t until just under four minutes remained that a point went onto the scoreboard. At 3:57 to go, Utah’s Andrew Wood tipped in the puck, officially giving Utah the lead they had the entire game.
The second period was, as the Utes’ broadcast team put it, a “march to the penalty box” for both teams. Although both teams were marching to the penalty box, Utah was also marching straight to the Oregon goal. Oregon had crumbled in the second, allowing six goals. Three of those goals were scored during first three minutes of the period.
Utah essentially quadrupled Oregon in shots during the second. Utah was 23 for 37 while Oregon was only 5 for 10.
In the third, Ty Anderton took Cockriel’s place in the Oregon net. Anderton was solid for the majority of the first half, but Utah also played the majority of that time down a man due to penalties.
Eventually Anderton’s wall cracked and Utah’s Kyle Welch slipped one through. The score became 8-0 in favor of the Utes.
The third period remained unremarkable except for the still-steady stream of penalties. Utah, sure of their win, stopped trying. Their offense became unmotivated and lackadaisical. The lethargic skating gave the Ducks the opportunity to spend more than a few seconds in the Utah zone for the first time in the game. Even though the Ducks were finally in front of the net, they couldn’t capitalize and the game was coming to a close.
Perhaps aware of their level of energy, Utah briefly turned the heat back on during the final minutes. With only 1:18 left to go, Welch logged his second goal of the game. The board read 9-0.
The game was seemingly over, but with only 36.7 seconds left, Utah managed to earn one more penalty before the buzzer sounded.
Follow Anne Yilmaz on Twitter @anneyilmaz
[Originally published here by the Daily Emerald on November 15, 2013]