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Saturday, February 10, 2001
Saturday, February 10, 2001, Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Michigan stayed with the same set of scratches on Saturday night, keeping both Gassoff and Fraser out of the game. In addition, Northern went with a new goalie choosing to start the Freshman goalie, Kowalski. Like last night Michigan would start this game by getting the first four or five shots on goal, but as time went by in the period it would be Northern that seemed to carry the play.
Both teams would skate up and down the ice without anyone managing to score a goal until just under eight minutes were gone in the first period. At that time Northern would manage to get the puck past Blackburn to take the early lead. The action in this period would continue, up and down the ice, with neither team able to score a goal for the remainder of the period.
With just under five minutes left in the period there was quite a scuffle behind the Michigan bench. While chasing the puck behind the goal Blackburn was taken to the ice fairly hard by a Wildcat. This upset several of the Michigan players and a couple of fights broke out on the ice. While it appeared that there might be some game misconduct penalties handed out the only penalty that went on the board was a two-minute minor penalty against Jillson. The first period would come to an end with Northern leading by a score of 1 to nothing. The Wildcats would also hold a slim lead in shots on goal with a 7 to 5 count.
The second period would consist largely of missed opportunities for the Wolverines. Northern would give Michigan four power play chances in this period and the Wolverines would be unable to take advantage of a single one. Michigan would also see several chances at wide-open nets be squandered as Northern continued to hold the lead. The second period came to an end with Northern still leading by a score of 1 to nothing. Michigan did take the lead in shots on goal with a 16 to 11 count.
The third period would see the Wolverines attempt to score the one goal they needed to send the game into overtime and each time they had a good chance at scoring the Northern netminder was there to turn the chance away. Michigan did pull their goalie with 1:08 left in the game, but even the extra attacker would prove ineffective against the Wildcats. Northern would tack on an empty net goal with one second left in the game to win by a score of 2 to nothing. Michigan ended the game with a 25 to 18 edge in shots on goal.
Once again the Wolverines fall victim to their own lack of intensity as they were really never in this game after the first five minutes of play. They were consistently kept off balance by an aggressive Northern team and for most of the night they seemed to be playing in a fog. This loss, coupled with Michigan States win, has all but ended the Wolverines hopes of defending their regular season CCHA championship from last year. They are now five points behind the Spartans with only two more head to head games left. While it’s not impossible for the Wolverines to win the championship they now need help from someone else. Their inconsistency from one night to the next has once again cost them dearly. Michigan had to know what was at stake going into this weekend, but for some reason they were still incapable of coming ready to play two nights in a row. These are the kinds of games that teams need to win if they want to win championships and over the last ten years Michigan would win more than they would loose. This year that all seems to have slipped away from the Michigan Wolverines. We will see what this team is really made up of as they prepare for the final five games of the season, two of them against the Spartans.
Next week Michigan will host Notre Dame in the final game of the season between these two teams. This will be the final regular season home game at Yost and consequently will be senior night. On Saturday night the Wolverines and Spartans tangle for the third time this year. This game, like the last one between these two teams, will be played at Joe Louis Arena.
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