Minnesota State Defeats NTDP U18s in Exhibition

In a game that literally men against boys, the NTDP U18 team was able to hang with #7 Minnesota State for a little over a period, but three consecutive Maverick goals in the second period helped Minnesota State cruise to an easy 5-3 exhibition victory.

The Mavericks chose to sit star players CJ Suess and Daniel Brickley for the game, allowing some seldom-used players to get some game time and spread out some ice time. Five different players scored goals for the Mavericks.

Minnesota State goalie Jason Pawloski stopped 17 shots in the victory. NTDP goalie Drew DeRidder stopped 27 of 32 shots face. The Mavericks begin their four-week stretch run in the WCHA regular season next weekend when they host Alaska-Anchorage.

Notes and Thoughts

-Minnesota State is an older team, even by college hockey standards. The youngest player in their line-up tonight was Jack McNeely, who was born in December of 1996, while all of the NTDP players were born in 2000. The difference in physical strength was noticeable. But equally noticeable was the huge gap in maturity in terms of defensive play. The Mavericks were able to take advantage of a lot of defensive miscues in front of the NTDP net, while the NTDPers were unable to get much of anything from inside the perimeter in MSU’s zone.

-The skill level on this NTDP team still made it a fun game to watch, and watching them play a team above their level in terms of talent really shows the true talent level of some of the players. I’ll have a write-up about some of the NTDP players and where I see them in regards to the NHL Draft next week.

Final Scoring

First Period

3:30 Connor Mackey from Jake Jaremko and Zeb Knutson 1-0 Minnesota State

Jaremko skated the puck from the right wing towards center ice as he entered the zone, and dropped the puck to an open Mackey, whose wrist shot beat DeRidder.

14:26 Oliver Wahlstrom from Joel Farabee and Mattias Samuelsson 1-1 tie

Wahlstrom flipped a puck in the neutral zone over the head of an MSU defenseman, and Farabee caught the pass to gain zone entry on the left wing. He dropped a pass back to Wahlstrom in the high slot and Wahlstrom wired a shot over the shoulder of Pawloski.

15:05 Reggie Lutz from Josh French and Clint Lewis 2-1 Minnesota State

French made a pass from behind the net to Lutz in the mid-slot, and Lutz’ shot went in.

Second Period

5:37 Oliver Wahlstrom from Mattias Samuelsson 2-2 tie

Wahlstrom carried the puck into the zone on the left side and took a hard wrist shot from just above the top of the circle that beat Pawloski cleanly.

7:52 Marc Michaelis from Connor Mackey and Parker Tuomie (power play) 3-2 Minnesota State

Mackey took a shot from the right point and Michaelis was in front of the net to tip in through the legs of DeRidder.

13:40 Jared Spooner unassisted 4-2 Minnesota State

Spooner intercepted a puck just inside the blue line and took a long wrist shot that snuck under the glove of DeRidder for the goal.

14:58 Josh French from Reggie Lutz and Riese Zmolek 5-2 Minnesota State

On a scramble in front of the NTDP U18 net, French was able to find a loose puck and bat in into the net.

Third Period

6:51 Tyler Weiss from Mattias Samuelsson 5-3 Minnesota State

Weiss entered the zone on the left side with a 3-on-1. He opted to keep the puck and his wrist shot snuck through the pads of Jason Pawloski for the goal.