Updated: 2/14 4:57 p.m.
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - For the second straight Saturday, Miami chased its opponent's top two goalies from the game.
And the Falcons netminders were not the only ones whose nights were cut short.
The RedHawks blasted Bowling Green, 10-2 in an ejection-laden game at BGSU Ice Arena. Miami reached double figures for the second time in three games and extended its winning streak to seven.
It was the first time Miami had reached double-digits in goals on consecutive weekends since 1997 when the RedHawks beat Waterloo and Alaska, 10-2 and 11-3, respectively.
Mainly due to a ruckus near the end of the second period, Miami set a record for penalty minutes in a game with 79. The RedHawks also established a school mark for most combined penalty minutes with 166.
The previous Miami record was 64 PIMs on Dec. 17, 1988. The combined record was 136 in the RedHawks' inaugural varsity season on Nov. 18, 1978.
Miami coach Enrico Blasi accrued 12 by himself when he was ejected midway through the third period. He responded by walking onto the ice and bowing mockingly toward the officials before departing for the RedHawks dressing room.
"Apparently (the referee) didn't like what I had to say, and he kicked me out," Blasi said in his postgame press conference.
Miami wasted no time getting on the board. Junior center Pat Cannone slipped a shot through starting goalie freshman Andrew Hammond less than three minutes into the game.
Less than four minutes later, freshman forward Reilly Smith then snuck behind the defense after coming out of the penalty box and beat Hammond between his legs.
The first period ended with two goals being scored and eight penalty minutes assessed. The middle stanza would feature five goals and 133 PIMs.
Freshman forward Curtis McKenzie and senior forward Jarod Palmer scored 46 seconds apart to make it 4-0 and end Hammond's night.
Bowling Green finally got on the board when Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored on a 5-on-3, senior forward Brandon Smith and sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman answered before the end of the period off of junior Nick Eno to give Miami a 6-1 lead.
With 37 seconds left in the period, 97 penalty minutes were handed out to seven of the 12 players on the ice for an altercation behind the Miami net. Senior forward James Perkin slashed a Miami player, was issued a major for grabbing the facemask and a disqualification penalty.
At one point Miami goalie Connor Knapp made a beeline for the pile and joined the fracas, and sophomore defenseman Chris Wideman -- who somehow avoided being sent to the penalty box -- took a running jump into a Bowling Green player against the boards.
While all of the players were being escorted the penalty box, BGSU freshman defenseman Max Grover and Miami sophomore Alden Hirschfeld exchanged punches and received fighting majors and DQs.
All three receiving the disqualification penalties will be suspended for one game.
Blasi's ejection was the fourth of the night for the officials. It was unclear whether he was tossed for barking at the BG bench or the officials, but he was assessed a bench minor and a game misconduct.
Freshman defenseman Joe Hartman, Brandon Smith and sophomore forward Trent Vogelhuber all lit the lamp for Miami to give the RedHawks a 9-1 lead before Eno was pulled.
A wrister by freshman forward Ian Ruel got past Knapp to make it 9-2 with 2:12 remaining.
But with 1:06 left, Reilly Smith notched his second goal of the night off of senior Phil Greer, making his season debut and his second collegiate appearance. Greer was the sixth goalie Miami has scored off the last two Saturdays.
Miami, which also faced three goalies vs. Lake Superior State in last Saturday's 10-4 win, extended its conference unbeaten streak to 22 games (18-0-4).
Junior center Andy Miele finished with four assists. Palmer, Wideman and Cannone had a goal and two assists each, and sophomore defenseman Cameron Schilling dished for three assists.
Reilly Smith and Brandon Smith recorded two goals each. It was the first multi-goal game of Brandon Smith's career.
BOTTOM LINE: Where to start...
Obviously Miami was completely dominant again. The offense was exceptional, Miami allowed all of six even-strength shots in the game, and one of the goals the RedHawks surrendered was on a 5-on-3 that Bowling Green never should've had.
(Miami was already down a player, and when a Bowling Green player took a late poke at Miami sophomore goalie Knapp, RedHawks junior forward Tommy Wingels pushed him out of the crease, and after a brief struggle Miami was assessed an extra minor).
Miami practiced Monday but had to fly to Brendan Burke's funeral that evening, and missed practice on Tuesday yet was still able to conjure up this effort. I keep thinking this team's adrenaline is going to run out at some point but it never does.
For those keeping track, that's 10 points for Miele and nine for Palmer IN THREE GAMES. And Palmer has sat out almost the entire third period during both 10-goal games (I have two theories on this, which I will explain at a later date).
Finally, I rarely comment on officiating because I believe that right or wrong, bad or good, officials try their best and bad calls ultimately even out. But this crew was absolutely atrocious.
Hirschfeld and two Bowling Green players are going to be suspended because the officials had no control over the game whatsoever. Everyone in the building knew the game was getting chippy, but both referees let cheap shots go unpunished and altercations escalate.
And Miami is certainly not blameless. I didn't see the facemask major during the major skirmish, and that's probably what set Knapp off, but I thought the penalties from that should've pretty much washed out. Instead the RedHawks got a seven-minute power play out of it.
But at that point it was too late.
The linesmen were slow to break up altercations, and I know nothing about Dean Sanborn - one of the referees (I assume he's new to the CCHA, since I don't ever remember him doing a Miami series) - but he watched several blatant penalties without blowing the whistle.
But the biggest culprit was referee Kevin Hall. This guy is a veteran referee, and he let the game get out of hand.
By the way, guess how many major penalties Ryan Jones was issued as a Miami captain? One. It was on March 14, 2008 - also, coincidentally, against BGSU - in the CCHA Tournament, and Hall gave Jones a major for checking from behind and a game misconduct for clearly and cleanly drilling a player from the side. It ranks as one of the worst calls I've ever seen in a hockey game.
Coach Enrico Blasi had the right to be upset with the officials, and while I thoroughly enjoyed his thespian debut, the CCHA might not see it the same way.
Admittedly I don't know what kind of precedent there is for suspending coaches in the conference, but I suspect there's a strong chance Blasi will miss a game. Right or wrong, the league can't allow its referees to be shown up by coaches who represent their schools and head their teams.
At the very least Blasi will be reprimanded, but I hope this officiating crew is also held accountable for its actions - and inaction - which resulted in Miami breaking a 32-year-old penalty minute record.
[/soapbox]
GRADES
FORWARDS: A+. Eight goals, 13 assists. And the best thing about Saturday was: Miami got offensive production from players whose last names aren't Miele or Palmer.
Nine of Miami's 12 forwards were on the ice for two or more RedHawks goals.
DEFENSEMEN: A. Miami blueliners piled up two goals and six assists, and Bowling Green was held to 21 shots - 15 of which came on eight power plays.
The RedHawks also had to mix and match defenseman and regularly play with fewer than six blueliners because of all of the penalties.
GOALTENDING: B+. The first goal was a 5-on-3, and the second one was a good long wrist shot that Knapp probably should have had.
He stopped 19 of 21 shots, and has received 20 goals of support in his last two starts.
LINEUP CHANGES: With fourth liners like Brandon Smith and Devin Mantha starting to produce regularly, Blasi's decision of who to sits every night gets tougher.
Blasi rolled the same 12 forwards out on Saturday as he did on Friday.
With Hirschfeld out next Friday because of the fighting major, Mantha and Smith will probably both play, as well as either freshman Steve Mason or senior Gary Steffes.
On defense, the rotation of sophomore Matt Tomassoni and freshman Steven Spinell continued. Spinell played on Saturday.
Knapp was solid and won his fourth straight decision, nearly ensuring the goalie rotation will continue.
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