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Saturday, November 27, 1999
Saturday, November 27, 1999, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Michigan had a tough start last night in the Showcase as they fell hard to the Gophers of Minnesota. Wisconsin put the hurt on Michigan State last night by a 5 to 1 score so you know that the Badgers will come into this game with plenty of confidence. Michigan on the other hand hasn’t been able to get anything done for the last three games and really needs to get back on track before things get really ugly. Everyone has to step up in this game and get back on the winning road.
This contest started much the same as the last three Michigan losses had started. The opponent got on the scoreboard first. Although this goal they had to work for. Wisconsin’s Dustin Kuk brought the puck into the Michigan zone where he dropped a pass to Dany Heatley. Heatley beat Scarpace to put the Badgers on the board. This was the only goal of the period and there were only two penalties in the entire period, one for each team. The period ended with Wisconsin leading by a score of 1 to nothing and leading in shots on goal by a 6 to 5 count.
The second period was much the same as the first in that the little bit of scoring done in the period happened late in the period. There were more penalties in this period than the first, Michigan taking two and Wisconsin taking four. With 23 seconds remaining in the period Koch got a pass to Vancik who blasted the puck past the Badger netminder. The second period ended with the game all tied up a one goal apiece. The shots on goal were also all tied up at 14 apiece.
Things started to get a little bit more interesting in the third period. With just over seven minutes gone in the period Matzka hit Mink with a cross-rink pass and Mink raced past the Badgers and beat the Badger netminder to put Michigan in the lead. A little over a minute later Ortmeyer fed the puck to Jillson and Jillson deflected it past the Wisconsin goalie. This was after a Wisconsin defenseman tried to glove the shot – his actions might have interfered with his goalies sight lines (all good for us). The final score of the game came with just 15 seconds left when Ortmeyer put the puck in the empty net to seal the Michigan victory. The period and game ended with Michigan winning by a score of 4 to 1. Michigan also won the shots on goal battle with a 26 to 16 count.
Well Michigan finally got back on track in this game beating a highly ranked Wisconsin Badger team. This is a good win for Michigan, it should give them a bit of a confidence boost. This was Scarpace’s first win of his Michigan career after getting the start over O’Malley. Michigan’s power play was a bit off this weekend and so was their offense, all things considered. They got enough to win the game tonight and back on that winning track, but they have to keep improving each game. Next weekend we have a home and home series with Bowling Green, Friday night at Bowling Green and Saturday night in Yost. Until next week, C-ya!!
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