BGSU hockey (12-5-4, 9-3-3) claimed a 3-1 victory and three points towards the CCHA standings in the opening game of their series against the Lake Superior State University Lakers (8-14-1, 5-10-0) at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Jan. 16.
The Falcons had previously played Lake Superior to begin conference play for the season back in October and secured a weekend sweep over the Lakers via 4-1 and 3-2 scorelines.
Of the three LSSU goals scored over the weekend, two were scored during LSSU’s power-play opportunities as junior defenseman Johnny Druskinis and senior forward Sasha Teleguine both scored power-play tallies over the weekend.
Over the course of the season, the LSSU power play has scored 27 power-play goals off of 124 opportunities for a power-play percentage of .201, which places them as the sixth-best power-play percentage in the CCHA (Bowling Green ranks fifth with .202).
However, the Lakers never had an opportunity on the power play in their 3-1 loss on Jan. 16 as the Falcons completed the rare feat of playing an entire hockey game without taking a single penalty.
“I’ve never been in a game like that,” said head coach Dennis Williams after the game. “I think that was the first time I’ve ever coached a game, in junior hockey or college, (with no penalties).”
The Falcons avoided the sin bin for all sixty minutes of gameplay as the lone penalty assessed to either team was a too many players on ice call against Lake Superior in the first period.
Bowling Green’s clean sheet when it comes to penalty box attendance is a bit of an outlier on the season, due to the Falcons currently ranking second in the CCHA for penalty minutes per game, as the Orange and Brown average 10 minutes and 30 seconds of penalties per game.
“I think it just, it kinda went our way tonight. Willi was saying that it was the first time he’s coached a team and there’s never been a penalty,” said senior forward Brett Pfoh. “You hate being in the box, it’s kinda something we struggle with a little bit this year, and getting a clean sheet like that is always nice.”
According to BGSU Athletics, this is believed to be the first time Bowling Green finished a game with no penalties this century based on available records.
“I thought the refs were great,” said Williams. “One penalty, man, you gotta like that, that’s old school. If there were any real vicious hits, they would’ve called it, but this time of year, sometimes they (the officials) get too involved, just let the guys play.”
Williams and the Falcons return to the ice tonight, Jan. 17, and will look to finish the weekend and season sweep over the Lakers at the Slater Family Ice Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7:07 p.m.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak and Nathan Burkett will have the call of the game on WBGU 88.1 FM.
