Mike Guentzel nearing two decades of forging NHL defensemen

Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Range was not on anyone’s radar during negotiations determining the demarcation between the United States and Canada. The land could just have easily ended up as part of Ontario instead of Minnesota, but the arrowhead was allocated to the USA and ended up producing over 3 billion tons of iron ore. That stroke of fortune sparked a mining boom and families took root as Minnesotans in Duluth, Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Two Harbors, Eveleth, Virginia, Colerain, and Marble.

Many of these Minnesotans endured their Iron Range winters by playing hockey, and for one hockey player from Marble, it sparked the opportunity to wear the ‘M’ playing college hockey at the University of Minnesota.

“I’m a Northern Minnesota kid who graduated in 1981 from high school and there were two Division I programs in Minnesota,” said Mike Guentzel. “I’d never seen a Gopher game, but I wanted to play for the Gophers.”

Fellow Iron Ranger Alex Goligoski of the Dallas Stars benefited from Guentzel’s training from 2004-2007. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Guentzel was a three-sport athlete who made his mark at Greenway-Coleraine High School playing quarterback for the football team, as a first-team all-state defenseman for the hockey team, and on three baseball teams that finished third in the state tournament. The Iron Range’s second-leading scorer in 1981 was selected in the seventh round by the New York Rangers in the NHL Draft and then headed to Minneapolis to play for Brad Buetow that fall.

The adjustment to college hockey wasn’t an easy one for Guentzel, who scored 43 high-school goals, as he didn’t see the ice for the first 20 games of his freshman season.

“It was everybody from my high school coach, to my parents, to the coaching staff, to whoever else. It was their fault I wasn’t playing,” Guentzel said. “And realistically after a while, I realized it was my fault. I’m not prepared for this. I’m not ready for this. I have to make adjustments in my game.”

The freshman learned that season the benefit of finding a ‘B’ game and attached himself to roles less glamorous than quarterbacking the power play. Focusing on defending, penalty killing, shot blocking, and complementing his defensive partner’s game became his emphasis and allowed him to develop from there.

Guentzel persevered through the crucible of his first season, eventually captained the Gophers in 1984-85, and graduated with his degree in business and human relations. He had brief professional stints in the IHL with the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles and in the AHL with the New Haven Night Hawks, but knew he wanted to coach more than play professional hockey.

Guentzel spent six seasons coaching in the USHL and landed back at Minnesota as an assistant with head coach Doug Woog and coaching Mike Crowley in 1994. Starting the next season the Gophers went on a run of 12 consecutive NCAA appearances, and each team featured puck moving defensemen who could skate, flash stick skill, and get involved in the rush.

Minnesota Land of 50,000 Hockey Players

Last winter, Minnesota USA Hockey Registrations hit 55,450 with over 7,000 bantams actively playing association hockey. Recruiting season starts earlier every year as college coaches work to identify the 100 Minnesota players from each age group that will eventually earn spots on a Division I hockey roster.

Guentzel certainly has a good idea about what it takes, his three sons all earned opportunities to play Division I hockey. Ryan Guentzel was a forward for Notre Dame, Gabe Guentzel a defensemen at Colorado College and Jake Guentzel played forward for Nebraska-Omaha. He also knows what it takes because the University of Minnesota has had nine players represent them in the NHL this season. The nine Gopher defensemen (Paul Martin SJS, Nate Schmidt WSH, Alex Goligoski DAL, Seth Helgeson NJD, Erik Johnson COL, Nick Leddy NYI, Aaron Ness WSH, Mike Reilly MIN, and Brady Skjei NYR) is the most among all NCAA hockey programs this season.

“Our youth coaches put kids who have good ability on the back end,” Guentzel said. “Historically I think we’ve done a better job in our state of developing elite skating, puck-moving defensmen, than we have goal scoring true bona fide forwards. We’ve always embraced a style of puck movers, mobile defense, active defense on the rush. It kind of goes hand in hand with the way we want to play.”

While Paul Martin didn’t start getting recruiting letters until his sophomore year of high school, most elite talents these days are getting recruited and committing as bantam hockey players. Guentzel likes to get as many looks at these young players in competitive situations as he can, whether it’s USA Hockey Festivals or State Bantam Championships to see how players defend, and take pressure against a forecheck. Gopher assistant coach Grant Potulny is also on the road a lot ‘fox scoping’ players for the staff, looking for agility in their foot speed, how they turn, and stick skill.

Washington Capitals D Nate Schmidt blossomed under Guentzel between 2010 and 2013. (Minnesota Wild / Bruce Kluckhohn)

“For whatever reason Minnesota develops a lot of defensemen, so you have a big pool,” Potulny said. “Now you get a chance to work some of the guys at the top of that pool and Mike does a really good job with them.”

Guentzel had his eye on Nate Schmidt during his sophomore season at St. Cloud Cathedral, and Guentzel was the main recruiter for Schmidt.

“I wasn’t the biggest U of M fan growing up, I can say that now, my family had season tickets to Husky games…” Schmidt said. “But one of the coolest things he did was he slid a piece of paper across from me after we got done talking about what his plan was for me. The piece of paper had all the guys names on that he had ever coached, whether they were playing or not, wherever they were. Here are all the guys that have made it, here are the guys that are playing pro at some level, and here’s the guys that didn’t make it, but are out doing other things.”

That moment was huge for Nate deciding his future, but like most recruits, he had no idea exactly what he was in for.

Steel Sharpens Steel

While iron ore is the raw resource extracted from Iron Range, it is brittle until forged into steel. And it isn’t steel until after it’s mixed with cooked coal, limestone and blasted with temperatures up to 1600 degrees. Defensemen don’t get blasted with quite the same temperatures at the University of Minnesota, but the pressure of playing the blue line at Mariucci Arena is still intense.

“We allow our defensemen to be very active from an offensive standpoint, that’s the expectation,” Gophers head coach Don Lucia said. “And Coach Guentzel, I don’t think there’s a better coach as far as developing the defensemen than what he does. He’s very demanding, he pushes the guys, whether it’s video or practice–he’s very honest and blunt with them. I think they respect that. He pushes them to be the best they can be.”

Guentzel knows that every time players jump a level it’s a step, and no one can tell how many games it will take for players to adjust to the speed, quickness, and strength. He just knows it will take time–especially in the modern game putting more emphasis into structure, defense and goaltending than ever before.

Current Gopher Jake Bischoff says his position coach is huge on the details that might go unnoticed, but making sure to shoulder check on retrievals to find your wingers, and taking quick strides after getting the puck to see your options are big points of emphasis.

“Every little detail in practice he’s on you about it, and if you don’t do it, you’ll hear from him,” Bischoff said. “I think then when it comes to game time, it’s automatic, you do all that kind of stuff. It definitely makes it easier out there.”

And practice isn’t the only place Guentzel lets his players know how they’re doing.

“Video Sessions… I remember those quite well actually,” said Schmidt.

Guentzel tutored the Minnesota Wild’s Mike Reilly from 2013-2015. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Mike Reilly said the defensemen gather for position video review weekly for about half-hour to 45-minutes, just after practice early on in the week. Reilly specifically remembers coming into the session after what he felt was a pretty good weekend and then popping up on the screen five or six plays, the most out of any other d-man for miscues.

“He came in, just wanted more of me, and demanded more, Reilly said. That’s how he is and how he goes about his business. He’s really good communication-wise, he’ll let you know if you’re playing well or not. He’s not going to go around the corner to try to BS something about you, why you wouldn’t be playing. He’s going to tell you straight up.”

Research and Facilities

After World War II, the high grade ore in Minnesota was nearly gone and it looked like lean times ahead for the Iron Range. However, University of Minnesota professor Edward Davis had been researching a way to make taconite pellets out of waste rock. His research rejuvenated mining in Minnesota and gave the economy another boost through the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

The Minnesota hockey program has relied on boosts for their program as well. The move across the street from old Mariucci Arena to new Mariucci Arena in 1993 expanded the seating capacity from 7,000 to 10,000. The move also put the Pride on Ice on a 200’ x 100’ Olympic Ice sheet. The ‘big ice’ has drawn the ire of more than one NHL scout because its extra size compared to the 85’ wide NHL rink changes the evaluation process.

“In my opinion you have the puck more on your stick, you can make more decisions, you have a better chance to skate, you have a better chance to be more involved in the offense, and you have to learn to take away time and space on a [bigger] rink,” Guentzel said.

Even with the extra time and space, it takes some players a while to realize the difference and when they finally do it’s a game changer for them.

“I never really realized how much time I had until I was almost gone,” Schmidt said. Until about my junior year of Christmas I finally realized if you beat the first forechecker and get the net, the rink is so big it’s hard for the next layer to get to you. Now, if you do that on the smaller rinks, it actually draws the second guy away from his check. And if you can draw another guy away and make a play, that just opens up a lot more space for somebody else.”

The next boost for Gopher Hockey will be a renovation to their locker room, team areas, and training facilities at Mariucci Arena. The process starts April 11, nearly $5 million of donated funds will be invested into the effort, and the team’s strength and conditioning coach Cal Dietz is excited about all the new toys coming.

“We’ll have equipment coming from all over the world, scientific equipment, to make this the best facility that I’ve ever known,” Dietz said. “There won’t be another facility like it, and it will be 10 years ahead of anybody else who builds anything.”

Dietz is well respected by the coaching staff as a major factor in developing athletes and he utilizes data from blood tests, gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometer, and brain waves to help maximize performance. The data he gathers helps him develop the measurable athletic ability of the players and provides feedback to the coaching staff on the proper training load. Schmidt said that Dietz is so well respected in NHL circles that when the Washington Capitals training staff learned he was going to be working out with Dietz over the summer, they said it’d be okay if he didn’t use the program they gave him.

“College hockey is a man’s game, everyone out here is big and strong, and so working with Cal is really nice,” Michael Brodzinski said. “We get two or three times a week in the weight room with him during the season, and I think it’s really paid off getting us faster and stronger.”

Mr. Gopher

Paul Martin honed his skills under Guentzel and won two national titles while a Gopher from 2000 to 2003. (Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

While Guentzel takes a lot of pride in the program, he did step away for a three-year period from 2008 to 2011 spending a year as an assistant at Colorado College, a year as a head coach in the USHL for Des Moines, and then a year as an assistant at Nebraska-Omaha. At the time he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, ”it was a time and place where maybe he should step away.“

Then in 2011, the two Iron Rangers came to an understanding.

“We’ve worked together a long time,” Lucia said. He’s kind of Mr. Gopher around here, and nobody has more passion and bleeds it more than he does. That was one of the things when I came, I wanted him to stay and with him coming back, just the confidence in him, and his ability and what he means to the program.

“Since Mike has been around with program, before me and with me, there’s been a whole lot of winning going on.”

The players are also grateful to have worked with a coach that just finished his 19th season at the University.

“He wants the program to do well as well as the players they bring in,” Martin said. “He teaches you the right way to carry yourself and how to play hard. He’ll yell at you, but at the same time then he’ll tell you what you need to work on and work with your game, he’ll stay after. He has high expectations, which he should when you come into that program it has a lot of history and tradition that you need to uphold.“

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Minneapolis — The NHL made its first regular-season foray into outdoor hockey with the inaugural Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2008 featuring the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Minnesota hockey fans waited eight long years and and watched 15 more outdoor games for their chance see one played in the State of Hockey.

It turned out to be worth the wait as Minnesota-bred players and college stars combined for three goals and five assists to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 6-1 NHL Stadium series game win over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of 50,426 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Former Gopher Erik Haula led the way for Minnesota-tied contingent with a pair of second-period assists in addition to being awarded his seventh goal of the season when Chicago’s Patrick Kane pulled him down on a breakaway with the Blackhawks’ net empty.

“I had a chance,” Haula said. “But Torch said that will be the easiest goal I’ll ever score and I’ll take it.”

The goal came nearly three years to the day since Haula last scored on the University of Minnesota campus on Feb. 22, 2013 against Minnesota Duluth across Oak Street at Mariucci Arena. Ironically, it was an empty-net goal.

“What a feeling,” Haula said. “First to get the win and the whole team to play that well and having 50,000 people being back where you, kind of where you started.”

White Bear Lake’s Ryan Carter assisted on Matt Dumba’s first-period goal to open the scoring and his sixth goal of the season made it 5-0 early in the third. Haula’s fellow former Gophers Thomas Vanek (goal) and Mike Reilly (assist) chipped in as did Minnesota-Duluth’s Justin Fontaine who added an assist of his own on Dumba’s goal.

In a strange twist, Bloomington’s Zach Parise, tied with Charlie Coyle for the team lead in goals, was kept off the score sheet.

“It was fun seeing those guys score,” Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. “I think Haulsy was really loving it after the game. But it’s good to see those guys have fun here back where it all started for them.”

Vanek’s second-period power play goal gave the Wild a 2-0 lead just past the seven minute mark. It was Vanek’s first goal on campus since a March 12, 2004 6-1 WCHA first-round playoff game win over St. Cloud State. The proud Gopher enjoyed an uncharacteristically animated goal celebration.

“It’s been a while but it feels good to be back,” said Vanek who has seven points (3-4–7) in his past seven games. “I usually don’t celebrate too much but today here, back on campus, big game, big crowd, it was fun.”

Reilly, who along with Jason Pominville assisted on the the goal, said it was exciting for him and his fellow alums to contribute to such an important win.

“Vanek did a great job tipping that puck for the shot by [Pominville] and Haula played really well as well,” said Reilly who now has three assists in his past two games. “It’s great to have the alumni like us to kind of carry on the tradition a little bit.”

The players soaked in what was described as an incredible atmosphere and left with lasting memories.

“Definitely a few goosebumps, for sure, walking out there,” Reilly said.

“It’s something you’ll probably never forget,” Haula added. “And then to have, to play it here is extra special for sure.”

Carter, one of two native Minnesotans along with Parise (Reilly was born in Chicago) to play in the game called the experience “awesome” and took the time to reflect on  a lifetime of memories as the day wore on.

“Being back home and the setting was kind of set; the snow flew in the first,” Carter said. “I look up in the stands, there’s a group of White Bear jerseys too.  And you hear the band playing and it brings you back to your college days a little bit.  It was kind of like a time warp through my career and into pro hockey.  And in the third there we got up, what was it, 5-0 or something like that, 6-1, and I sat back and said this is pretty cool.  This is pretty neat.”

The post Home ice advantage appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Ex-Gopher not in celebratory mood despite milestone goal

St. Paul – This was not the way Mike Reilly wanted his first NHL goal to come.

Reilly, the former Gopher and Minnesota Wild rookie defenseman from Chanhassen, was playing in his seventh NHL game Saturday afternoon and the Wild were losing 4-1 to the Boston Bruins.

Boston had just scored an empty-net goal to grab a three-goal lead, and most of the SRO crowd of 19,191 at the Xcel Energy Center had already abandoned its seats and headed for the frigid outdoors.

Then, in the final minute of play, Reilly launched a shot from the center point to make it 4-2, goal No. 1 in his NHL career.

“It sucks that it came the way it came,” Wild forward Thomas Vanek said, “because he’s a great kid. He’s going to be an unbelievable player in this league.”

Reilly, who won’t turn 22 until July, resisted the temptation to celebrate after his shot hit the Bruins’ net.

“The game was over at that point,” Reilly said. “The natural reaction is not to put my hands up.”

That was the final score as Minnesota extended its streak of futility: Three consecutive losses in a three-game homestand, eight consecutive losses total, losses in 13 of its past 14 games and the dismissal of Mike Yeo as coach.

Not a fond memory to accompany someone’s first NHL goal.

Reilly got the puck after the game but also recognizes that he might simply have to pack in his belongings for another trip to Iowa in the near future, depending on the status of injured defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Reilly said. “When I get my number called, I’m going to go out there and play my game and try to help the team and try to produce.”

Vanek said Reilly showed class by not celebrating his goal, but he wasn’t surprised because Reilly is such a “smart player.” Reilly demonstrated that earlier on a give-and-go with Ryan Suter, Vanek pointed out.

“He’s going for a stick off the back door, which most guys don’t do,” Vanek said. “You can tell the vision. That’s hockey IQ; you don’t teach that.”

Like Vanek, Suter, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and everyone else on the roster, Reilly said he is mystified by the tailspin but will pitch in to make things better.

“I’m hoping,” he added, “to be part of the solution.”

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Ex-Gopher quickly picks up first pro goal but Wild get off to 0-2 start

DES MOINES — In 39 games for the University of Minnesota last season, defenseman Mike Reilly had six goals. After just one game for the Iowa Wild, he already had one under his belt.

In the second period of his American Hockey League debut on Saturday, Oct. 10, the rookie defenseman scored on the power play to cut the Charlotte Checkers’ lead to 2-1 with 6:49 until the break. After passing back and forth a little with second-year pro and fellow defenseman Gustav Olofsson, Reilly fired a slapshot from the point and the puck went under the blocker of Charlotte goaltender Drew MacIntyre.

Reilly, who hails from Chanhassen, Minn., said that they hadn’t worked on the power play very much before Iowa’s first game of the season.

“It’s a little bit natural for me to go on the power play and move the puck around,” Reilly said. “Obviously you’re playing with great players and Olofsson gave me a nice pass there and (I was) just trying to get it through to the net.”

Two of his six goals and team-leading 42 points last season were power play goals for the Golden Gophers. He also led Minnesota with 116 shots on goal last year.

Reilly said that it has “been a little bit of an adjustment” getting used to the professional game so far but he knew it would be a little bit of a challenge coming out of college.

“Just like any first-year pro defenseman, it’s going to be a little bit of a transition,” Reilly said. “Going to main camp with the (Minnesota) Wild and getting some games up there too, I think it helped me a lot.”

During the preseason Reilly saw action against Buffalo in St. Paul, at Winnepeg and against Winnepeg at home. Against Winnipeg in St. Paul he logged 17:32 of ice time, including 3:33 on the power play, had two shots on goal, a plus-2 rating and two penalty minutes.

Iowa head coach John Torchetti said Reilly, a 2011 fourth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Olofsson, who hasn’t played since the beginning of last year due to injury, met his expectations in the first game of the season.

“I thought that Reilly and Olofsson, for their first game, they played really well,” Torchetti said. “Olofsson hasn’t played in a year and it was Reilly’s first pro game so they did a good job. You know, they’re going to get better and they’re going to be puck-moving defensemen.

“We’re going to get better in that aspect but I think, overall, we only had about five or six guys really playing the fast-paced game.”

While Reilly made a splash in the season opener against Charlotte with his first goal of his professional career, Iowa as a team didn’t fare so well as they dug themselves into a 2-1 hole in the first period and eventually lost 4-1 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The first Charlotte goal came just 4:57 into the new season when Charlotte’s Tyler Ganly flipped the puck high into the air from the neutral zone and Sergey Tolchinsky found it behind the Iowa defense and put it past Iowa goaltender Jeremy Smith.

The second goal came just two minutes later when Reilly wound up for a slap shot, but his stick broke on the windup, leading Charlotte’s Brock McGinn with a breakaway. He fired a wrist shot past Smith to give the Checkers a 2-0 lead.

After the season opener Torchetti said the difference between the teams was Iowa didn’t come out prepared, but admitted that the first two goals by Charlotte were “tough.”

“One was off a broken stick, not much you can do, and the other was on a flipped puck and we have to take stick-on-puck and then the body but didn’t so that’s two goals I know we can fix there,” Torchetti said.

He said no adjustments were made after the first period, but that they just needed to “compete” better.

“We didn’t compete,” Torchetti said. “I’ve got to do a better job, I guess, right off the bat. We shouldn’t have to worry competing first night at home, that’s for sure.”

In the second game of the home stand on Sunday, Iowa kept things much closer as they were tied 1-1 after the first period and had a 4-1 lead 3:31 into the third period. The Checkers came back, however, and eventually won the game 5-4 in a shootout leaving Iowa still winless after two games this season.

Iowa forward Brady Brassart had two goals and one assist, Christoph Bertschy had one goal and one assist and Jordan Schroeder, who was reassigned to Iowa for the second game, had one goal. Veteran forward Ruslan Fedotenko had two assists in the game and Olofsson and Michael Keranen had one each.

Torchetti emphasized that they have to play better at home this year than they did last year. Iowa was just 10-26-1-1 in 38 games at home last season.

“Our first 14 out of 19 are at home, so we’ve got to make sure we have almost a .700 winning percentage at home,” Torchetti said.

Smith made his Iowa Wild debut last weekend, starting both games. He has allowed eight goals so far and has stopped 79-of-87 shots for a .908 save percentage.

The Wild continue the season this Friday and Saturday night as they hit the road for Cleveland to take on the Lake Erie Monsters. After that the Wild return home for a Tuesday night game against the Milwaukee Admirals and then hit the road again for a game at Rockford the next night.

The post Reilly scores in Iowa debut appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

 Blue-line scoring boosts Minnesota to sweep of Notre Dame

MINNEAPOLIS – An expected clash between Minnesota and the Notre Dame in South Bend four weeks ago in the Ice Breaker Tournament title game never materialized thanks to Rensselaer’s upset win over the Fighting Irish. It was hardly worth the wait for Notre Dame as No. 1 Minnesota rolled to 5-0 and 4-2 wins over the weekend to sweep its golden-domed foes out of Minneapolis.

Much of the credit must go to the Gophers’ defensive corps which posted four goals and five assists in the two games including three points each by junior Mike Reilly (2-1–3) and sophomore Michael Brodzinski (1-2–3). Had Jake Bischoff’s apparent goal on Friday been allowed to count it would have simply added to an already impressive weekend, especially considering he absence of junior Brady Skjei who missed both games due to a lower body injury suffered last week in a 4-3 overtime win over St. Cloud State.

Brodzinski indicated the offensive surge against No. 14 Notre Dame was by design to a degree.

“I think the big emphasis this weekend was for the defense just to join the rush and be the fourth man in—hopefully we’d get the puck—and gets some shots on net,” Brodzinski said.

Reilly, who led Minnesota defensemen with nine goals as a sophomore in 2013-14, entered the series with a team-leading eight assists but had yet to find the back of the net this year. That all changed on Friday when he one-timed a Jack Glover pass from the bottom of the right circle to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead.

“[Assistant coach Mike] Guentzel was saying the D had no goals going into this weekend besides Skjei’s empty-netter,” said Reilly whose blast on Sunday also put the Gophers up 3-0. “But we’ve been working a lot on defensemen shooting on the blue line and making sure we’re getting pucks to the net.

“It was great to get that first one and I hope it keeps going from there.”

The defensive unit’s nine points over the weekend amount to half of Minnesota’s total entering the series after combining for 17 assists, but just one goal, through the season’s first six games. While not necessarily alarming numbers, they’re not consistent with a Minnesota blue line which produced 28 goals (3rd in the nation) and 103 points (T-4th) last season.

Different team you say? That’s true as Justin Holl and Jake Parenteau have been replaced by the likes of Glover and fellow freshmen Ryan Collins and Steve Johnson. But Minnesota returned 97 percent of its backend goal production and 87 percent of its points entering the 2014-15 season so little or no drop off was expected.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia offered a fairly rudimentary explanation for the offensive outburst from his blueliners.

“We went back there more, we used them,” Lucia said. “We have guys that have the ability back there, we just weren’t using them enough and they weren’t getting enough pucks through.”

In addition to Reilly and Brodzinski, senior Ben Marshall notched his first goal of the season against Notre Dame with his tally on Friday while Glover’s dish to Reilly in the series opener earned him his first collegiate point.

“Everybody stepped up this weekend, especially the freshmen defensemen,” Brodzinski said of Glover and Collins. “They really showed us what they can do and hopefully we can bring that over to next weekend against UMD.”

The Gophers do indeed square off with the Bulldogs next weekend in a home-and-home series beginning Friday night at Mariucci Arena and concluding at Amsoil Arena in Duluth on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on FSN+.

Notes: Minnesota sophomore C Vinni Lettieri left Sunday’s game at the 11:50 mark of the second period after taking the full brunt of Notre Dame D Robbie Russo’s slap shot to his head. With the Fighting Irish on a power play, Lettieri dropped to his knees in an effort to block Russo’s blast but the rising shot went right at his head, narrowly missing his facemask as the sophomore turned away at the last moment. Lettieri had to be helped to the bench but walked to the dressing room under his own power. Information on his condition won’t be known until Tuesday at the earliest according to Lucia. … Sophomore RW Taylor Cammarata had a big day on Sunday with a trio of first-period assists to give him five helpers in the series. Cammarata’s linemates Sam Warning (2-1–3) and Justin Kloos (1-2–2) each chipped in three points on the weekend.

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