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Eastern Michigan and Oakland play in an exciting offensive hockey game with the Eagles holding on in a mad scramble in the third period 6-5. 

Ann Arbor, Michigan- Talk about an exciting game. The Eastern Michigan Eagles defeated the Oakland Grizzlies by the score of 6-5 Friday Night at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. The game was filled to the brim with action and even a fight. 

The first period was the Eagles worst by far. The Eagles looked almost confused defensively and allowed for Oakland to take the game into their hands early on. However, despite this the Eagles scored first on a goal scored on an ugly scramble in front of the net that was popped home on a slapshot by John Fritz. Oakland then proceeded to press the action by scoring 3 goals. The third goal was very a fluke. The Eastern Goalie Jake Pruss had the puck in his glove and as he threw it forward, the puck went into the goal. Talk about a physics lesson there.  Oakland was after getting breakaways and they got a couple, and had a very efficient period of hockey.

In the second period the Eagles reminded me of a team that I saw a couple years back in which the Eagles would shoot at will. This period was all action back and forth. However overall, the Eagles dominated the period scoring FIVE goals including one goal off of a faceoff with 3.8 seconds left. This goal was ultimately the game winner scored by Dave Aliff. Eastern shot at will against the Oakland goalie and put a ton of pressure on Oakland throughout, easily taking a stranglehold on the game. The Eastern goals were scored by Ryan Thompson, Mike Koveleski, Justin Shaw and Frank Garcia as well as Dave Aliff's goal. The Eagles played a style that was just very exciting and Oakland's aggressive style made it a free flowing, offensively minded hockey game. At the end of two periods the score was EMU 6-Oakland 4.

The third period was a continuation of the second period except a lot slower. However, at the 14:21 mark Oakland closed the score to 6-5, which set up a maddening end with the crowd really getting into it on both sides and mad scrambles on the ice everywhere. Bodies were flying, hard hits were happening, it was just a fun game to watch and probably an extremely taxing game for the players. Eastern was able to stand the barrage and take victory in this hard fought, physical game.

This game was physical from the start and remained physical for the entire game. Oakland began the game hitting hard and Eastern responded to it as every play and player was checked into and knocked off the puck. A couple of large hits by the Eagles occurred including Fritz standing up an oncoming Oakland player into the neutral zone, knocking him straight on his back and making the crowd ooh. The Eagles showed a dimension that they really hadn't in previous games, that they could be a very physical team and really take the body against Oakland. However, Oakland also seemed to succeed though in dictating this pace but the Eagles looked like they were enjoying it, as they were flying around the ice and shooting at will.

Neither team really had much success stopping the other team from doing a lot in the offensive zone. Oakland's goals were very efficient, while Eastern's were more scrappy and hard work. The Eagles defense had several lapses which was directly caused by Oakland pushing the pace of the game to a very high level. The Eagles were a lot more solid offensively in this game though as well. Oakland did not look as good as I would expect from a Division II school who is coming off of victories over #2 Miami and Indiana. However, their style was wonderful to watch as it seemed like they were a bunch of bees flying around and stinging whenever they could. The Eagles reacted nicely and attacked at will.

Now, I am not an advocate for criticizing a referee for his poor calls or the such. I really hate to do it. However, I would like to cite one example that makes me wonder. The play was moving into the Eastern Michigan zone and the puck was pushed into the corner. The Oakland player literally came into the corner and checked the Eastern player extremely hard. Eastern was called for a 2 Minute penalty. He didn't even react really. He was just flattened. Perhaps I missed something but from what I understood and saw, the Eastern player was not at fault yet penalized. The game almost had a feel of giving Oakland has many chances as possible to come from behind and win the game. Again, that was just my perspective. I give the referees a lot of credit for calling their games and it's really not right for me to criticize it. However, when it seems one sided, it does deserve a bit of comment I think.

The Eagles produced 50 shots in this game as well. This is more of a style that I think the Eagles could grow to like as the season continues to progress. In the years before Coach Fassbender was coach the Eagles played a very aggressive style of hockey which was very similar to what was demonstrated in this game. The Eagles would shoot at will and get a rebound and pound it home. The Eagles would wear the goalie out and take advantage of that in the third period. The Oakland goalie Chris Ballach held up very well tonight, but shooting at will is a wonderful strategy and the Eagles should continue to push this when they are in the offensive zone. Against some teams this will not work however, and thus the strategy must be adjusted. However, forcing a goalie to make saves in many different directions will give your team a chance to see weaknesses of the goalie and take advantage of them later.

If you were a fan of offensive hockey you would of enjoyed this game tonight. A lot of shots, a lot of action. Perhaps you should head out tomorrow and watch another game of this. It was a lot of fun.

The Eagles and Grizzlies fought hard(literally and figuratively) and the Eagles survived at the end winning. That's all that matters really. 

A-  
I always loved the Eagles when they attacked and shot at will. It was one of their most successful offensive strategies and allowed for them to set up plays later on in the game. The Eagles did this tonight, whenever they got into the zone or a turnover they would throw the puck on net and saw what happened and reacted. This will work as it forces the opposing defense to really work to get the puck out of their zone. However, what could be an effective idea is every once in a while, fake the slap shot and pass it. By doing this you force the defense to look at the shot and then can pass it and get an even better shot. The offense in this offensive minded game looked pretty good tonight. 

B+  
The defense had several lapses and allowed for many bad things to happen in their own zone. In a game at this pace, it is difficult for the defense to be perfectly set up and I understand this. However, giving the types of chances on breakaways and options is almost unacceptable. Defensively the Eagles were OK, but I still say they could of been better. They were outstanding though at the end when they had to be.

B- 
Really not a huge factor, but Oakland did a very good job on their Power Play against the Eagles. 

B+  
Pruss had a little bad luck and a couple easy ones get by. However, he came through when the Eagles needed him the most.

A-  
The Eagles showed that they could play a physical hockey game. I didn't know if they could because they had never been forced to test this theory. The Eagles showed that they could get in the opponent's face and not back down and move into the zone and attack. This type of game was one that was extremely enjoyable for the fans and I for one enjoyed it. Congratulations to the Eagles for a job well done, and congrats to Oakland for allowing the Eagles to play this Ping-Pong, offensive WAR!

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