[REYKJAVIK | Iceland]
Through six games, the Minnesota Norsemen have a record of 4-1-1, and sit atop the Canosa Conference with nine points in this small sample of a long season. Something to be proud of in the short-term, but there are some glaring concerns that the coaching staff would like to iron out sooner, rather than later.
“We are relying heavily on some outstanding goaltending,” said Norsemen head coach, Mike Yeo. “Now, we’re winning games and you can’t discount that. But there are too many good teams in this conference and this league that will exploit the issues we have that are being masked by Doobie (Dubnyk) and Raanta both playing out of their minds. We’re allowing far too many shots on our goalie, and not doing the same to the opposition. We’re making ours count at a higher clip and have been getting the goals. But we can’t expect that to keep happening as we continue deeper into the season.” The Norsemen have been outshot 214-178 through six games, and have only outshot their opponent twice.
The other side of the disparity in the shots department is the in the face-off circle. Minnesota, despite having one of the better pivots in the game at the dot in Patrice Bergeron, has only won the draw count one time in the last six games, and have a 169-204 record so far.
“We’re not doing enough,” said captain, Charlie Coyle who has seen his fair share of the center's role, and not overly effective on face-offs. “Starts with me as it should, as the leader of this club,” said Coyle. “We have to get better on the draws. Bergy (Bergeron) is a great guy to lean on and get tips from. He’s really good there and it’s something we’ve gotten better at in practice. Just hasn’t translated to games.”
The Norsemen will have to adjust on the fly, as they go at it against the 2016 Kehler Cup champion, Puffin tonight in Reykjavik.
Starters @ REK:
LW-Coyle [3] – C-Wennberg [10] – RW-Marner [16]
LD-Brodin [25] – RD-Carlo [26]
G-Dubnyk [30]
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