Duluth East vs. Duluth Denfeld 1/8/13

[allstatebenders]

Interesting game between cross town rivals - Denfeld beat Hermantown earlier this year with Thompson saving everything. Can Thompson keep Denfeld in the game against the hounds?

Predictions?

[karl(east)]

Obviously East should be favored here, but this is the classic setup for a trap game. The Hounds are coming off four very convincing wins over big-time AA programs, and they've got a big section game looming on Thursday. They've played twelve straight periods of fantastic hockey, and you figure that can't go on forever, even if they are this good.

East is also facing an opponent who cares about this game a lot more than they do. Thompson is a solid goalie who has given Denfeld a decent shot in two of his previous three starts against East. And, of course, Denfeld has been doing pretty well this year, stealing the upset over Hermantown and looking like a top-3 seed in 7A. The Hounds will almost certainly have a massive edge in shots on goal, as they always do in this one, but if they give up another early goal (as they have at times this season), let the Hunters build up their confidence, and run into a hot goaltender, it could be a bit too interesting.

As an East fan, I like having this game at this point in the season. It'll be a good test of their focus after all the big wins. It also might give an idea of just how much of a shot Denfeld has in 7A, and it's a fun way to kick off a busy week at the Heritage Center.

[starmvp]

East 4-1

[joris016]

Denfeld will hold their own in section 7A this year and might even make it to State. But East is a whole different monster. They way they have been playing lately, if this isn't a 5 goal victory for the Hounds, I will be shocked! Cloquet beat Denfeld 3-0 and the Hounds are better than the Jacks.

[east hockey]

Denfeld will hold their own in section 7A this year and might even make it to State. But East is a whole different monster. They way they have been playing lately, if this isn't a 5 goal victory for the Hounds, I will be shocked! Cloquet beat Denfeld 3-0 and the Hounds are better than the Jacks.

East has a knack for boosting Denfeld's level of play. I can't see a five goal win happening.

I'd predict an East win, but the Ghosts of 1995 still remain. Mark Gunderson. Andy Zapp. Gawd.

Lee

[pekyman]

All the stars and planets aligned once this year for their win against Hermantown.
It's not going to happen again.
DE wins easily, but probably not by 5.

[joris016]

Look at their past 4 games. In each game they have only given up one goal. And that was against Edina, Tonka, Blaine and Moorhead. They scored 4 on Edina and Tonka and 5 on Blaine and Moorhead. So the Hounds can't win by 5 against Denfeld? I bet they can.

[east hockey]

1-1 in the 2nd period. Moore just took a frustration penalty. Gotta play smarter than that.

Lee

[east hockey]

2-1 Hunters on a shorthanded goal late in the 2nd period.

Lee

[east hockey]

4-2 Denfeld midway thru the 3rd...miserable defensive performance by East tonight.

Lee

[east hockey]

5-2 Denfeld. All I can do is shake my head and tip my cap to Denfeld tonight. They knew how to play defense.

Lee

[TheHockeyDJ]

Interesting considering St. Francis beat Denfeld 6-5 early in the season.

[east hockey]

Now Parker gets a roughing penalty.

Lee

[east hockey]

5-3 with under three minutes left.

Lee

[east hockey]

Now 5-4. Not done yet!

Lee

[east hockey]

Toscano to the box for East with 1:22 left.

Lee

[east hockey]

5-4 final for Denfeld over East.

Props to Denfeld; they deserved the win.

Lee

[rockcrusher]

Yep, big win for the hunters. I wouldn't say they had better defense though, still gave up 50+ shots. East goalie was out to lunch, especially the last 3. Maybe it's denfelds year to go a long way. Final shots 56-19. Last win against east was in 1994.

[rainier]

Parker gave up 5 goals on 19 shots? Ugh.

[allstatebenders]

All I can say after that game is that Zach Thompson deserves to just leave school now and go straight to the NHL. What I saw from that kid tonight was the best goaltending I think I've ever seen in my life. What a performance.

[karl(east)]

this is the classic setup for a trap game.

I hate being right sometimes.

My observation about all four East losses this season: they've all been carbon copies of each other. And, counterintuitive as it may seem, I think this team matches up better against teams that do not allow them to possess the puck for so much time. The Randolph system works brilliantly in those games. But on this year's team, which is very deep on D but lacks great scoring punch, the system seems to lend itself to a ton of puck possession that leads only to a lot of passing around the outside and a whole bunch of mediocre shots. Throw in a hot goalie and the other team starts to hang around; they see the lopsided shot count but see they're still in it, and start to gain confidence, while East starts to press. The defensemen start to pinch in way too far, and suddenly the other team has a bunch of breakaways going the other way. That's exactly what happened in this one, and it killed them. Yes, Parker had a bad night (especially on that horrid fifth goal, which wound up being the game-winner), but he was hung out to dry far too often, especially when you consider the defensive talent he has in front of him. (It was similar in 08-09, when they had 4 D-I defensemen but little scoring punch beyond Max Tardy, and got upset 5-2 by Cretin at State, with the SOG around 45-15. This game felt like a replay of that one to me.)

On the other hand, when East plays a team like Edina or Tonka, you see very little of that pinching, and their talented defensemen are always in position to do what they do best. They gave up more quality scoring chances against Denfeld than they did against Edina.

Congrats to Denfeld--you could see how much this one meant to them, and they sure earned it. Thompson was fantastic in goal. They always get up for this game, and they've had several close calls over the years. It's good to see this rivalry take on more meaning again, if nothing else. They're really starting to make some noise in 7A.

Meanwhile, it's gut check time for East. They'll be playing a lot of games against opponents who will try to do the same thing over the next month, so either they'll learn how to adjust, or they'll go down in flames. Up next, we have another team that they will probably outshoot, but has a great goalie and a few forwards how could be very, very dangerous on a breakaway. I'm intrigued to see how they match up.

Some consolation for East fans: the last time they lost to Denfeld, they still wound up lifting a pretty big trophy in March. We can only hope history repeats itself...

[sandstrom]

Denfeld played well and with Thompson in net anything is possible! There was even a point in the second period when Denfeld had good pressure on East for about 5-7 minutes. Congrats to them. Time to show these guys a little respect going forward.

As for East, that first line is very good and just needs to capitilize a little better. Tighten up on defense and goaltending and these guys are still the best team in 7AA