The chances that the Wesleyan men’s hockey team will play a home playoff game got much slimmer after losing to Middlebury and tying vWilliams last weekend. These two opponents are now tied for second place in the NESCAC, while Wesleyan remains in sixth place.

Last Friday, Wesleyan made the journey to Middlebury, Vt., for a battle against the Panthers, who entered the game 7-3-2 in NESCAC play and in third place in the confereLence. Wesleyan got the scoring started 11 minutes into the game, when Terence Durkin ’16 redirected a Connor Ryan ’15 shot past Middlebury goaltender Dan Fullam. It was Durkin’s first goal of his Wesleyan career. It took just 30 seconds for the Panthers to respond, as they took advantage of a Wesleyan penalty when Matt Silcoff put a shot in over the glove of netminder Glenn Stowell ’13. Middlebury scored twice more that period, and over a span of four minutes, turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.

After very little action in the remainder of the first period and start of the second, Wesleyan caught a break when Ryan White ’13 threw a shot off Fullam’s back and the puck ricocheted in for a goal. The lead was cut in half, and the Cardinals had new life. Ryan earned his third assist of the game six minutes into the final period, when he found Keith Buehler ’14 for Buehler’s NESCAC-leading 17th goal of the season.

However, within just five minutes, Middlebury put the game out of the Cardinals’ reach, netting two goals, the latter of which came on another Panthers power play. Louis Belisle added a goal with four minutes left, his team-leading 10th of the season, and the gritty Cardinals comeback turned into a 6-3 blowout loss. Wesleyan managed just 17 shots on the afternoon.

Just 17 hours later, Wesleyan took the ice in Williamstown, Mass. for a Little Three game against the rival Ephs. The Cardinals fought through 60 grueling minutes of defensive play, and despite controlling the tempo in the overtime period, came away with a 0-0 tie.

The story of the game for the Cardinals was the play of goaltender Nolan Daley ’16, who withstood 46 shots in 65 minutes of play. 17 of those saves came in a third period in which it seemed Wesleyan couldn’t get the puck out of its defensive zone. Daley is 4-1-2 on the season. Wesleyan had multiple key blocked shots, as well; after allowing two goals on four power play chances to Middlebury the previous night, Wesleyan’s penalty kill held strong on Saturday against Williams, killing all five power plays the team faced.

Wesleyan’s best scoring chances both came in the overtime period. They forced an impressive save from Ephs goalie Sean Dougherty on a three-on-one opportunity two minutes into the overtime. Despite missed chances in the final five minutes, Wesleyan proved that it can hold strong under pressure during that 17-shot Williams onslaught in the third period, an ability that was surely questioned after a 3-3 tie turned into a 6-3 loss the previous night.

Wesleyan, however, must find a way to resolve the issues of its sputtering offense. It’s not a matter of efficiency, as the Cardinals still scored at a relatively high rate with three goals on 43 shots over those two games (a .070 goal percentage, just decimal points lower than their opponent’s). Instead, finding open shots must be the focus after being outshot 84-43 last weekend. They scored three goals in two games after scoring 14 in their previous three.

Wesleyan faces a huge test this Friday, Feb. 8 in a home game against the Bowdoin Polar Bears, who were undefeated before Wesleyan beat them in early January. It will be Wesleyan’s first home game since students returned from winter break. While Wesleyan’s performance has been up-and-down against the NESCAC elite, a solid game against Bowdoin would prove that this is a team to be reckoned with in the NESCAC tournament.