Ohio used its physicality to grind down Alabama in a weekend sweep.
During a powerplay in the third period of No. 10 Ohio’s Saturday night 6-1 victory over Alabama, the Bobcats cycled the puck through the offensive zone with ease when something became apparent: the Frozen Tide were exhausted.
The Bobcats didn’t convert on that particular powerplay, but they didn’t need to, as the Frozen Tide showed signs of fatigue often Saturday. The six goals Ohio scored were plenty as its finished off its weekend sweep of Alabama (2-9) in dominating fashion.
“I think we got back to our habits,” coach Sean Hogan said of Saturday’s game. “We just didn’t play our game yesterday (Friday).”
Ohio (15-2-1) also defeated Alabama 6-2 on Friday.
“We definitely wore them out,” forward Diego Breckenridge said. “That’s being physical on and off the puck, finishing checks — it doesn’t have to be huge hits every time — but if you finish your check, the defenseman is gonna be thinking about it.”
The Bobcats physicality paid off, as they outshot the Frozen Tide 104-22 in the series, including an imposing 64-12 total on Saturday.
Friday’s bout between the two featured multiple penalties, and strangely enough, none of the goals tallied night were powerplay goals.
Half of the eight goals came of the shorthanded nature, or against the powerplay, with Ohio scoring three of its own propelling the Bobcats to their blowout victory.
“I thought overall we were a faster team, so we were just beating them to those loose pucks,” forward Drew Crandall said. “When that happens, you create offensive chances no matter how many guys you have. We won some of those races, and that ended up in the back of their net.”
Ohio was without forward Derek Rahme for the majority of Friday’s contest, and all of Saturday’s contest, due to a five-minute major checking from behind penalty Friday night leading to his ejection.
“It was a combination of me gripping my stick a bit too tight for the first 10 minutes and getting a little overzealous,” Rahme said. “If he turned the right way, it would’ve been a good hit. He turned the wrong way, and that’s what happened.”
The Bobcats held up just fine without one of their best penalty killers, however, scoring half of their Friday total on the penalty kill.
In Saturday’s contest without Rahme, Alabama would fully feel the Bobcats' presence, or physicality, getting worn down throughout the game.
The 62 shots Ohio put on the Frozen Tide net were a season high for the team, leading to another blowout performance.
“We stuck more to our system,” Breckenridge said. “Getting the puck down low, we did a good job of grinding the puck down low.”
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Known as one of the more physical players on the team, Breckenridge was a big part in the grinding down of the Alabama attack during the weekend.
“No matter what team it is, that’s my role on the team, that’s what I like to do, and I just like to make it tough for every team,” Breckenridge said. “Get them off their game, and wear them down.”
Moving forward, Ohio will try to continue to grind down its opponents especially as another batch of Central States teams are waiting on the schedule.
“We got everybody in the lineup this weekend, so we got some fresh guys in,” Hogan said. “Now we’re in a position where we have to make some tough lineup positions, which is a good place to be at.”
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