There are reasons to be optimistic about the Dayton Musicmen this year.
*Jake Guentzel, Alex Barkov, Sean Monahan and Nate MacKinnon each have at least a point per game so far this season. Each has played 14 games, Guentzel has 16 pts., Monahan and Barkov have 15 pts. and MacKinnon has 14 pts.
*Only Fort Erie, with five players producing more than a point per game, has more than Dayton, in the CCHL.
*Backup netminder Jeremy Smith, pressed into the starting job after veteran goalie Brian Elliott suffered a strained groin in practice earlier this week, is 1-1-0 after two starts and has stopped 68 of the last 74 shots he's faced, good for a .919 save percentage.
*Dayton has killed off its last nine short-handed situations, going back to the Niagara Falls game on Day 19. The Musicmen haven't given up a power-play goal in its last five games. While still ranked last in the league, their recent kill rate of 90%, may be a sign of genuine improvement.
NONE of the above reasons cited above could prevent Dayton from blowing leads of 2-0 and 3-1 versus the host Orrsmen.
"Look, we're a young team, our defence is patchwork, to say the least, and we lost Methot after the first period. Smitty did a great job for us in nets, but we just couldn't hang on. The guys are bumming right now." said Thomas Vanek.
After goals by Connolly and Hartnell, with just thirty-one seconds left in the third period, took the contest to a short-lived overtime period. Tanner Pearson scored his 6th goal of the year on a slick feed from Josh Anderson for the game-winner.
"Every game, we see a couple things we really like. Different guys maturing, growing, getting experience. There will be more games like tonight. We have to go through this..." said Vanek.
What's Next?
Dayton next stop on their three-game road trip is in Portland, where the Owls (6-3-0 in their last nine games), will try to continue their recent climb in the Corfield Conference of the CCHL.
Notes:
Marc Methot is considered day-to-day with a sore right ankle. He blocked a slap shot from formed Musicman Cody Ceci in the first period.
Brian Elliott says if he'd been needed to play tonight, he could've gone into the game. The plan is for Jeremy Smith to finish the road trip and Elliott would potentially play next Friday in Dayton when the Hammerheads come to town.
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