By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
They have been rolling along pretty much all season, building a comfortable lead in Atlantic Hockey while catching the attention of the polling voters.
But only cursory attention. Heading into the weekend, Rochester Institute of Technology was 18-7-1. The Tigers were ranked No. 18 in the USCHO.com rankings but fell out of the top 20 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Some figured a little more respect was deserved. The Corner Crew even produced T-shirts with the image of an old-west wagon train and the words Sneaky Wagon.
The 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres were scary good. These Tigers see themselves as sneaky good, so feel free to hop on the Sneaky Wagon.
But every now and then, there are the reminders that the margin between the hunter and the hunted isn’t that great.
Like on the weekend home-and-home set with Canisius, when the Tigers needed to rally from a 2-0 deficit on Friday to win 3-2 before losing 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
While they ended up gaining four of a possible six points, extending their lead to nine points over second-place Sacred Heart (48-39), the Saturday loss on home ice in front of 3,252 boisterous fans was disappointing for the Tigers.
First, it was a loss. Second, Canisius is only 9-14-3 overall, and just eighth in Atlantic Hockey with 22 points at 7-8-3.
“No matter how big of a lead you think you’ve built, when you’re playing three-point games (conference regulation victories are worth three), it can disappear in a hurry,” Tigers coach Wayne Wilson said after his team slipped to 19-8-1 (15-4-1 in AHA play). “We’re not happy with four of six.”
That’s a telling indication of expectations.
“The position we’re in, it stings, which is a good thing,” Wilson said.
The Tigers twice built one-goal leads; 3:10 into the game on a goal by Calvon Boots, and at 18:07 of the first when Kobe Walker converted a goal-mouth pass by Evan Miller.
They thought they pushed the lead to 3-1 at 3:27 of the second period when a rebound caromed in off the leg of Adam Jeffery. Except the referees, after review, ruled goaltender interference.
The call seemed incorrect. Canisius defenseman Hudson Lambert drove Jeffery into the crease and then the cross bar as goalie Jacob Barczewski stopped a shot by Philippe Jacques.
Barczewski was far to his left in the crease and any incidental contact while Jeffery was driven into the net didn’t impact the play, nor did it appear to be intentional.
“I know what goaltender interference is and that was not goaltender interference,” Wilson said. “A 3-1 cushion is a different game.”
Instead, the lead was still 2-1 and then disappeared when Dave Melaragani fired home a wrist shot from the left of the slot with 3:38 left in the second.
After a scoreless third period, the Tigers didn’t give themselves a chance to win in overtime. Spencer Berry was assessed a boarding minor as time expired in the third period, though referee CJ Hallman reviewed video before assessing any penalty.
The Tigers killed it but couldn’t kill a necessary hooking penalty by Gianfranco Cassaro that prevented a breakaway by Stefano Bottini at 2:49.
“That was self-destruction,” Wilson said of the overtime penalties. “There was no need (for Berry) trying to put a guy down with two seconds left. The other penalty we had to take but you have zero chance to win if you take two penalties in overtime.”
The weekend may turn out to be a good learning moment for the Tigers. Canisius played as though their playoff lives were on the line. The Tigers played like a first-place team in spurts not consistently.
There are just three weeks remaining in the regular season. RIT plays at Niagara on Thursday and Saturday, then finishes the regular season with weekend home sets against last-place Bentley and ninth-place Air Force.
It’s not so much closing the season on a roll, Wilson said, as it is to enter the post season “playing the best we can be.”
The games at Niagara could be RIT’s final road games in AHA play. The conference scrapped the neutral-site final four playoff setup, so the top seeds will host all rounds, including the semifinals and finals. That means if the Tigers finish first and keep winning, they won’t play another road game until the NCAA tournament.
Should that happen, they’ll be a lot more than sneaky good.
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