COLORADO BUFFALOES (9-8-2) VS. OKLAHOMA SOONERS (12-8-0)
7 PM MT | CU REC CENTER ICE RINK | SKO BUFFS SPORTS
The No. 23-ranked Colorado Buffaloes are set to compete against the closely trailing No. 24-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in a weekend double-header in Boulder.
The Buffs are coming off a road weekend split at No. 20 Missouri State, winning 6-4 on Friday night and losing 7-4 on Saturday. Oklahoma hasn’t played in two weeks, last playing a home series vs the aforementioned Missouri State, winning 3-2 before losing 5-2 the next day.
LATEST RESULTS:
January 20, 2024, COL: 4 MSSU: 7
January 13, 2024, MSSU: 5 OKL: 2
WEEKEND RECAP:
The Buffs' past weekend included a trip to Springfield, Missouri to face the Missouri State Bears, ranked No. 18 at the time. On Friday night’s game, the Buffs fought back from down two goals to tie at four apiece with just under two and a half minutes remaining. Forward Blake Blevins scored the game-tying goal at 17:33 of the third period, hitting the "Shedeur" in celebration. The Buffs scored twice more as Assistant Captain Marc Borghi shot the puck past the goaltender at 18:52 and Blevins hit the empty net in the final second.
The second game went far less in the Buffs’ favor, finding themselves in a 6-0 hole with just 10 minutes remaining in the game. With his ninth goal of the season, Brodie Pearson broke the ice at the 10:15 mark of the third period, assisted by Drew McConaughy and Max Pasiennik. The Buffs pushed on in a flurry, scoring three more goals, all in the final five minutes of the game. It wasn’t enough, however, as Missouri State would score an empty-net goal with just over two and a half minutes left, essentially cementing the eventual 7-4 win for the Bears.
BUFFS STATS:
With 18 games played as a team, forwards Pearson (9-8–17) and Pasiennik (4-13–17) are the only two players on the roster at a point-per-game pace, each with 17 points in 17 games played. Douglas Wood (9-6–15), McConaughy (6-9–15), and Adam Trunko (6-9–15) all trail just behind at 15 points each, rounding out the Buffs’ top five in scoring. In their most recent game, Pearson, Borghi, Trunko, and Quinten Kinney all scored, with Kinney scoring his first of the season, and the others bumping up their individual numbers.
Goaltending was split this past weekend, as Colorado tends to do, with Matt Server getting the start on Friday, and starting goalie Liam O’Gwen receiving the nod on Saturday. Server posted a .900 SV%, stopping 36 out of 40 shots from the Bears. The next night Missouri State upped the ante, throwing 46 shots on net of which O’Gwen could only stop 39, posting an .847 SV% in the process.
THE NUMBERS:
The Buffs scored a total of 10 goals and 22 assists over the weekend, with 12 different skaters getting on the scoreboard for the black and gold. The only player to have scored at least twice in a game was Blake Blevins with two in Friday’s win, though seven individual players on the team finished with at least two points in a game, while Rapolas Marcinkevicius and Pasiennik each had a three-point night over the weekend.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Entering tonight’s contest with Oklahoma, Colorado ranks 43rd out of 72 MD1 teams on the power play, operating at 19% on the season. Oklahoma ranks closely behind at 55th, scoring on 17.5% of their man-advantage opportunities. On the flip side, the Buffs are 51st on the penalty kill, successfully finishing off 72.3% of their time shorthanded. The Sooners rank further up in this category, placing 30th for their 78.5% penalty kill.
DANGLE, SNIPE, AND STAMPEDE:
Episode 10 of Dangle, Snipe, and Stampede (Sko Buffs Sports’ podcast for all things on CU hockey) was released Thursday afternoon, with hosts Alex Roberts and Jared Miller interviewing Colorado forward Blake Blevins about the weekend series at Missouri State and his viral "Shedeur" watch celebration. They also discussed MD1’s sudden positioning for nationals, MD2’s floundering season, and WD1’s outlook for the remainder of the season.
Check it out here!
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