Physical play, attention to the details key for the Griffins in home-and-home series vs. MRU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Team Stats
Mount Royal University
| Game Statistics | Mount Royal University | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 0 for 3 | 0 for 4 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 4 (8) | 3 (6) |
| Shots on Goal | 46 | 25 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Having already played against the Mount Royal Cougars in preseason, the MacEwan Griffins have a pretty good scouting report going into their home-and-home series this weekend.
The Griffins will visit the Cougars on Friday night (7 p.m.) before hosting them on Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, both Canada West TV).
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"They're a skilled, fast team that plays the game the right way and they're disciplined with their structure," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming, whose team lost 3-1 and 4-0 to MRU in the preseason. "That's an area we're building on the last couple of weeks with our group – making sure we're confident in what we're doing.
"I think when we play a physical game that gives us opportunities to create turnovers and get the puck back on our sticks so we can go to work, and also shut down the offensive plays of our opponents in our zone."
Those were some of the positives mined out of a pair of losses to the Alberta Pandas last weekend that's left the Griffins at 0-4-0 to open the season. Last Saturday, they came ever so close to getting at least a point against their cross-town rivals – hearts broken as Alberta scored the winner in a 3-2 game with 54 seconds left.
But the moments where they found success is what they're focusing on.
"When we were really physical and played with pace, and had predictability in our structure, we were really effective," said Leeming. "There are no easy games in this league. Our conference has a lot of parity in it from top to bottom.
"For us to set ourselves up for success, it's committing to our details and playing our game in a connected way."
Megan Dolynchuk and Joie Simon share the team lead in points so far this season with two apiece, while Taya Currie paces the goaltenders with a 2.50 GAA and .909 save percentage.
