|
|
|
Friday, March 5, 1999
Friday, March 5, 1999, Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Tonight the Wolverines look to begin another weekend sweep to complete their second step in their drive to get into the playoffs. Last weekends sweep of Miami should have really given Michigan a boost and built their confidence. The win last Friday night was the first by Michigan in eight games and of course the win Saturday just helped the team continue their winning ways. They need to finish the year with two more wins as they go into the CCHA playoffs. The two wins last weekend kept Michigan at number 8 in the national polls and more importantly it bumped them up two spots, from twelve to ten, in the pairwise rankings. If they can get two more wins this weekend on the road in unfriendly environs it can only help their pairwise rankings. Ohio State gave us the assist we needed by loosing this past Tuesday to Bowling Green. All Michigan has to do is win both games and 2nd place in the CCHA belongs to them. As bad as things looked just a couple of weeks ago, things have really turned around and Michigan suddenly finds itself in not so bad shape. Of course this can all change if they let down on the intensity and don’t win these two games. As I said last week Michigan is playing playoff hockey right now, they have to win their games – there is no more time to work things out.
Michigan starts this game out at a furious pace, but the Lakers answer back with a big flurry of their own. With only a couple of minutes gone in this game both teams have gotten several shots at the opposing goal. Both teams continue to skate very hard. The Lakers have come to play as they continue their own quest to make the playoffs. With about half the first period gone there is still no score in this game and both teams continue to push hard both offensively and defensively. A mix up in our zone between the defensemen gives the puck away and the Lakers do get a shot off, but Blackburn comes up with the save. We dodged a bullet their. Michigan gets called for interference to give the Lakers their first power play of the night. With the score still knotted at zero we don’t need to give the Lakers any help, but we have certainly had our problems with penalties this year. With about one minute left in the Laker power play the Lakers get called for to many men on the ice, nullifying the Laker power play, putting both teams at four apiece, and Michigan will get their first power play chance in one minute (for one minute). Michigan goes on the attack immediately. Michigan is now on the power play for about one minute. There was a great chance to score by Michigan right at the end of the power play, but they just couldn’t get to the puck. The Lakers dodge a bullet. Michigan was really putting some pressure on the Laker goal, when Ritchlin was hooked. It stopped the scoring chance, but Michigan will end this period on the power play with just under two minutes left in the period. Michigan was really unable to mount any kind of scoring threat in this power play and the Lakers have all but killed it off. Michigan will have seven seconds of power play time when they start the second period. The first period ends with no score in the game and Michigan holding a small edge in shots on goal at 9 to 7.
Michigan starts with the seven seconds of power play time, but it expires before Michigan can get anything going. Both teams are once again skating at full strength. Michigan gets called for cross checking with less than two minutes gone in this period putting the Lakers back on the power play. Michigan kills off the penalty and the game remains scoreless. Now just seconds after the Laker power play is killed off they get called for cross checking putting Michigan on the power play. After a first period of almost no penalties that’s all we’ve seen in the early going of the second. Both teams lost a player to coincidental penalties during the prior Laker power play. Berenzweig got a shot off, but it hits the post. Michigan continues to apply pressure, but so far they haven’t gotten the puck in the net. The Lakers kill off the power play and not long after the power play was killed off the Lakers get behind the Michigan defense, pull Blackburn out of position, and get the score to take the 1 to nothing lead. Michigan gets a couple of good shots off, but both are turned away and the Lakers come back the other way. Berenzweig gets tangled up with a Laker play and the end result is that both of them get minor penalties and both of them get ten minute misconduct penalties. Michigan needs to get their heads back into this game, their defense is falling apart all of a sudden and they are making the kinds of mistakes that have cost them many of the games they have played over the last month or so. Another penalty, this one against the Lakers, puts Michigan on the power play. The Wolverines could really use a goal out of this power play to get back to even. There’s a big break for Michigan as the Lakers get called for a second penalty giving Michigan the two-man advantage for 40 seconds and of course extra power play time. That break was what it took as Jillson gets a pass from Huntzicker and Hayes and puts the puck past the Laker netminder to even the game at one apiece. The Lakers get called for a penalty with just seconds left in the second period. There will be only a couple of seconds of power play time for Michigan in this period, but the Wolverines will start the third with almost a full two minute power play (four seconds are left in the second as this penalty is called). The second period ends with the score all knotted up at 1 apiece and Michigan getting a big chance to start the third period on the power play.
Well Michigan had the power play to start the third, but they were unable to get a score. Both teams are again skating at full strength. There was a change in the second period goal. The goal was given to Crozier with assists going to Jillson and Huntzicker. Now Ritchlin gets called for a high stick and Michigan once again gives the Lakers a power play opportunity. Once again the bad penalty has hurt Michigan as the Lakers mount great offensive pressure and score the go ahead goal while on the power play. The Lakers are putting the pressure on the Michigan goal time after time. The second period is now half gone with the Lakers still holding the one goal lead. There’s a big goal by Langfeld who just blows past the Laker defense and slams the puck past the Laker goalie. That ties the game up at two apiece with just under ten minutes left to go in the final period. Just when they get back in the game they give up another goal and the Lakers again take the lead. This is just seconds after Michigan had tied the game back up. Michigan escapes a sure deathblow when the Lakers fail to get the puck in the net when the net was wide open. We move under five minutes to go in the game with the Lakers still holding the one goal lead. Just over one minute left in the period and Michigan calls time out. They will have to pull Blackburn soon to get the extra attacker on the ice to try to get this game tied up. Both teams’ loose players to penalties late in the game, with Blackburn pulled for Michigan. Michigan appeared to have scored the tying goal right at the end of the game, but the officials waved off the goal giving the Lakers the win with a 3 to 2 score.
Michigan’s woes on the road continue and they once again manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They out shot the Lakers and for the most part out played them, but their yearlong battle with untimely penalties and ridiculous mental lapses have once again cost them a game. They have lost the second game in a month to one of the worst teams in the league, once again put their fate in another teams hands, and just taken what was looking like a not so bad situation at the start of this game to a terrible situation once again. They now have to go to Northern and play a much better team than this Laker team. They now have to hope the Buckeyes loose their last game or they will have to settle for third place (provided that Michigan can beat Northern and right now that doesn’t look to good). Once again this team finds a way to loose after looking like they had finally gotten things turned around last week. We’ll see tomorrow if they can get things back on track, they really need to get a win tomorrow. Until then C-ya!!
|
|
|