Illinois (17-6-4, 52 pts.) takes on McKendree (12-15-1, 35 pts.) in back-to-back matches this weekend.
Two weeks ago, the Illini shook off their post-break rust in a pair of matches against Davenport. In game one, Illinois lost 5-3. Senior forward John McLaughlin, graduate student forward Alexander Matveev and sophomore forward Carson Mitchell all scored in the contest. In match two, Matveev gave Illinois a 5-1 lead going into the third period. Davenport scored three power-play goals, but Illinois held on for a 5-4 win.
Junior forward David Etingen said that the team needs to be better at avoiding penalties this weekend.
“One thing that hurt us last weekend was careless penalties,” Etingen said.
Replicating success
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When Illinois previously met with McKendree in November, it won both matches. Illinois took game one 6-4 and game two 6-2. Etingen said there isn’t much the team needs to adjust in its approach ahead of another matchup.
“We are at our best when we play the right way and have a good forecheck”, Etingen said.
Etingen has played McKendree 10 times over his career at Illinois, and he’s learned a lot about its game play. He iterates that most of the team is familiar with the Bearcats game, which has helped them know exactly what to expect.
“McKendree has an older, bigger team,” Etingen said. “They play physically and try to get under our skin. Staying level-headed and capitalizing on the power-play will be crucial.”
He added that Illinois has found success by leaning on its speed, using quick transitions to create opportunities against McKendree.
Point producers
While McKendree has an older team, their point production is only a fraction of Illinois’. The Bearcats’ top scorer, senior forward Matais Alexandrov, has only 22 points in 27 games played. Illinois’ top scorer, senior forward Gregory Etingen, has 40 points in 25 games.
After Gregory Etingen, Mitchell is next up on the team point leaderboard with 30 points, while David is close behind in third with 28 points.
David Etingen says that the potent line contributes at such a high level because of how hard each member works.
“With me, personally, a lot of my production stems from my line mates never taking a shift off,” David Etingen said. “I try to focus on playing the right way, the production will come naturally then.”
This weekend’s matches take place on Friday and Saturday at the University of Illinois Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. for both games.
