Sunday, January 07, 2001

Sunday, January 07, 2001, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

As the Wolverines prepared to play their second game of the weekend against Lake State the changes in the lines continued. The three players who have been in Russia for the last two weeks were back in their Michigan uniforms so Rob Kohen was scratched for this game. David Huntzicker and Jay Vancik also missed this game with their respective knee injuries. David Wyzgowski and Mark Kosick were also scratched from the game.

It took a little longer to pick up the games first penalty, but with just over three minutes gone in the first period Michigan was whistled down giving Lake State the first power play chance of the night. While the Lakers came close on several occasions, Blackburn turned all shots away and the game remained scoreless. In fact, through the first five minutes of the game Lake State had a 5-0 advantage in shots on goal. Over the next several minutes Michigan started to get some shots. They got an extra boost when Lake State finally picked up a penalty with just under eleven minutes to go in the period. This gave the Wolverines their first power play chance of the night and it wasn’t long before they took advantage. Michigan worked the puck around quite well until Craig Murray got a shot off fairly close to the goal. This shot was blocked, but Murray was right there to pick up his own rebound and stuff the puck into the Lake State net. A single assist was given to Geoff Koch and the Wolverines had a one goal lead just 38 seconds into their first power play. The remainder of this period saw a couple of penalties called, but no further scoring as period one came to an end with Michigan holding onto a slim 1 to nothing lead. After getting out shot in the early going of this period the Wolverines came on strong to finish the period with a slight advantage in shots on goal with a 12 to 10 count.

The second period started with Lake State still on the power play for 1:20. The Wolverines were able to kill off the Lake State power play and it wasn’t long before Michigan would extend their lead. With just over sixteen minutes remaining in the period there was a face off to the right of the Lake State netminder. Cammalleri was in for the draw and he won it, getting the puck immediately back to Hilbert. Hilbert let go with a wrist shot that beat the Lake State goalie through the five hole. Both teams continued to play up and down the ice for the better part of this period until Hilbert and Cammalleri combined for another Michigan goal. With about six minutes left in the second period Michigan was flying around the Laker net and getting a couple of shots off. Cammalleri fed the puck to Hilbert who skated all the way around behind the Laker net and back out in front, perhaps eight to ten feet from the net. As Andy skated around a Laker defenseman he turned and fired another wrist shot that beat the Laker goalie to extend Michigan’s lead to three goals. The lone assist on this goal went to Cammalleri. The second period came to an end with Michigan leading by a 3 to nothing lead. The Wolverines added just one shot to their shots on goal advantage as they ended the second period with a 19 to 16 shot advantage.

While the Wolverines continued to play solid defense in the third period they were also getting some offensive opportunities. It would once again be Craig Murray who would extend the Wolverine lead in the early going of this period. With about five minutes gone in the third period Murray took the draw in a face off to the right of the Laker goalie. Murray won the draw and actually ended up with the puck himself. He took the puck behind the net and into the left corner along the boards. As he continued to battle for the puck along the boards Murray broke free with the puck, skated to the left face off circle, where he took a shot that beat the Laker goalie for Michigan’s fourth goal of the game. Through simple hard work and determination Murray got his second goal of the night, unassisted.

The next five or six minutes of the game were relatively uneventful with the Lakers trying to find a crack in the Michigan defense. However, the final ten minutes of the game were a penalty filled affair. Both teams picked up penalty after penalty in the final minutes of this game, after playing a fairly penalty free contest. The final goal of the game would come with about 1-½ minutes remaining in the game and it would again come on the power play. Michigan was on the power play when Blackburn got the puck and passed it up the ice to Hilbert, Hilbert quickly got the puck to Cammalleri, and Cammalleri wasted no time putting the puck in the Laker net to notch Michigan’s fifth goal of the game. A few flying fists and penalties later the game came to an end with Michigan winning by a score of 5 to nothing; their second shut out of the weekend. The Wolverines ended the game with a 31 to 20 advantage in shots on goal.

For the second night in a row it was team defense that won a game for Michigan. Behind solid goaltending, tenacious checking, and all around hustle Michigan shut down a good Lake State team. For the weekend Michigan’s power play scored at about a thirty percent clip, while the penalty kill did not allow a single power play goal against. The Lakers got sixteen power play chances for the weekend and were unable to score a single goal. There is also not doubt that getting Cammalleri, Hilbert, and Komisarek back into the line up was a boost. They all made their presence known on the ice the entire game, but they did seem to be a bit tired in the late going (not an unexpected event given the length of time it would have taken to return from Russia). If Michigan plays this style of hockey for the rest of the year they should make a solid run at the CCHA regular season championship. That’s a long way away with a lot of hockey between here and there. The next challenge comes next weekend in a pair of games (the only two of the regular season) against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Winning those two games is just as important to this team as getting the sweep this weekend. The following weekend is the show down between the Wolverines and the Bronco’s of Western Michigan; one of the two teams ahead of us in the CCHA standings. Another meeting with the Michigan State Spartans follows that game. January is going to be a huge month for Wolverine hockey and they will need to continue playing as they did this weekend if they want to come out of this month still contending for the CCHA title.