Ohio returns to Bird Arena where it will host in-state rival Toledo on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop for both games is at 7:30 p.m. The Bobcats managed to sweep John Carroll last weekend, but in an atypical fashion. Ahead of their series with the Rockets, here are three things to watch for this weekend.
Timing
Often during the beginning of the season, teams have trouble getting their timing down. Ohio is no exception to this. The Bobcats showed some signs of that in their first series against John Carroll.
“We worked a lot today on having some good timing through the neutral zone,” coach Cole Bell said. ”A lot of times this past weekend we found ourselves with one or two guys, flat-footed because the timing was off. They were either too far behind or too far ahead of the play. We want to try to get the puck and enter the zone as a unit.”
The timing has been the focus of practice during the week. That will be one of the keys to this series and the rest of the season. The Bobcats have shown that when their timing is down, they can score goals.
Special teams
The special teams have been a focus for the majority of practices this week. Both the power play and penalty kill received plenty of attention in preparation for Toledo. The power play was something that struggled in the opening series vs. John Carroll.
The Bobcats found themselves on the man-advantage nine times between the two games. Ohio found the back of the net just once, however. The solution for the power play circles back to the issues with timing. The Bobcats had opportunities in the first series, however, there were little things that prevented them from converting on those.
The penalty kill was a significant aspect of practice this week as well. The focus was not so much on changing how it was done, but rather on staying off of it. John Carroll was on the power play 13 times in the first series. The Blue Streaks converted only two of those opportunities.
The penalty kill held John Carroll’s power play conversion to just 15%. Bell has repeatedly said that this team has high aspirations, and being in the penalty box as many times as Ohio was will not help reach those goals.
The Players
Early in the season is when players and coaches are still trying to figure out exactly where everyone fits in. That process becomes trickier when there are 11 freshmen on the squad. Eight of those freshmen played in the John Carroll series.
“The core will more than likely stay the same,” Bell said when asked if the same guys will be in the line up this weekend. “There is always the opportunity to get news guys in there, depending on how the guys do throughout the week and what we see on video.”
