OXFORD, Ohio - No. 1 Miami's defensive stubbornness in conference games has reached cartoonish proportions.
Sophomore goaltender Cody Reichard stopped 18 shots, and junior center Carter Camper and sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman recorded a goal and an assist each as the RedHawks beat Western Michigan, 4-1 at Cady Arena on Friday.
Already the best defensive team in the CCHA by a full goal per game, Miami (17-4-6) continued its trend of posting binary goals-against totals. This was the 13th time in the last 16 conference games a Miami opponent has been held to one goal or zero.
The RedHawks have allowed 22 goals in 19 CCHA games, or 1.16 per game. Reichard's goals-against average in conference games is now 1.14, second-best on the team behind sophomore Connor Knapp's 1.13. Reichard is 11-0-2 in CCHA play.
Sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling fired a low slap shot past senior goalie Riley Gill on the power play just over eight minutes into the game to open the scoring.
Wideman drove from the blueline to the side of the net and beat Gill six minutes later to extend Miami's lead.
A blast from freshman defenseman Luke Witkowski early in the second period cut Miami's lead to one.
With less than two minutes remaining in the middle stanza, Miami freshman Reilly Smith intercepted a Western Michigan (6-14-5) clearing attempt. He gave the puck to junior center Andy Miele, who returned the feed, and Smith found senior forward Jarod Palmer on the opposite side of the net for a one-timer that made it 3-1.
Camper capped off the scoring with a highlight-reel blind backhand shot with 39 seconds left in the game.
Miami extended its unbeaten streak in conference games to 17. The RedHawks are 13-0-4 in the CCHA since suffering a 3-2 loss against Michigan State on Oct. 24.
The series finale will be at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday at Cady Arena.
BOTTOM LINE: Miami outshot Western Michigan, 43-19, and outplayed the overmatched Broncos proportionally. It was a great start to a four-game homestand.
A lot of good things happened for Miami on Friday, and several forwards played at a higher level than they have previously.
-- Junior Justin Vaive played one of his best games of the season. Vaive laid out two big hits, and his assist was his first point since Dec. 5 against Notre Dame.
It's probably not a coincidence that Anaheim Ducks' vice president of hockey operations David McNab was in Fairbanks last week and Vaive's play improved this week. While in Alaska, McNab said on the air that the play of Vaive - an Anaheim draftee - is not where the Ducks had hoped.
McNab also went out of his way to compliment the play of Palmer, who is undrafted, perhaps indicating Palmer is an Anaheim target.
-- It wasn't just Vaive - the entire newly-assembled fourth line of Vaive, senior Gary Steffes and freshman Devin Mantha was outstanding together. Steffes recorded his first point of the season, and Mantha was the lone RedHawk that took multiple faceoffs to post a winning record on draws.
That line controlled the puck for over a minute late in the second period and created several scoring chances, then kept the puck deep enough to allow the Miele-Palmer-Smith line to come out while Western Michigan's defenders were caught deep in their own zone.
-- In addition to his steal-and-assist play that resulted in a goal, Smith played one of his best all-around games. He was on the Palmer-Miele line as a left wing, and the chemistry was excellent.
GRADES
FORWARDS: B+. Miami's forwards combined for two goals and seven assists while firing 32 shots.
The chemistry was great on three of the lines, and the overall effort was better than the final goal total indicates.
DEFENSEMEN: A. Western Michigan only had 19 shots, and Schilling and Wideman both hit the net.
The Broncos had a couple of odd-man rushes early, but the blueliners tightened up the defense after that. Western Michigan could only generate four shots in the third period when it needed to score.
GOALTENDING: A-. The only Broncos goal was one Reichard probably would've wanted back. It was well-placed, but Reichard wasn't screened and the shot didn't put a hole in the net.
But Reichard still stopped 18 of 19, a couple of which were challenging.
LINEUP CHANGES: Mantha sat last Saturday, but on Friday he was in the lineup for the fourth time in five games. Steffes returned had been benched the previous four games before getting the call Friday.
With Mantha and Steffes in the lineup, senior Brandon Smith and freshman Steve Mason sat. Smith had played in nine straight games, and Mason played the first game against Alaska but has now sat out two straight.
Sophomore Matt Tomassoni was back on defense on Friday, and freshman Steven Spinell sat. Spinell was in the lineup the past two games and 16 of the last 20.
With both goalies playing at this level, Reichard and Knapp appear firmly entrenched in a rotation. Knapp, who had allowed four goals in his last four games - stopping 77 of 79 in that span - should play Saturday.
That'd be a great nickname..."The Binary Defense".