Saturday, February 17, 2001

Saturday, February 17, 2001, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan

After a very disappointing tie against Notre Dame last night the Wolverines will be looking to salvage something from this weekend as they take on the Spartans from Michigan State for the third time this year. Each team has won one game, with two more games to go between these two teams; tonight’s at Joe Louis and the fourth game being played on March 1^st at Munn Arena.

The Spartans really put pressure on the Michigan goal early in this game and didn’t let up for most of the game. Blackburn came up with some huge saves to keep the Spartans off the board early. It took until the period was almost half over before the Wolverines would start to get some pressure of their own on the Spartan goal. It would be the Spartans who would draw the first penalty of the night, giving the Wolverines the first chance at a power play. Even with the man advantage the Wolverines still had trouble mounting any kind of offensive push and the Spartans killed off the penalty.

Michigan would also get the second power play chance of the game and the first period and the second power play was just as bad for Michigan as the first. The Spartans easily shut down the Michigan power play, while the Wolverines found it impossible to get close to the Spartan goal. It was shortly after the Spartans killed off this penalty that they scored the games first goal. After recovering Michigan give away the Spartans moved the puck into the Michigan zone and were able to chip it past a screened Blackburn to take the lead late in the first period.

Following the Spartan goal Michigan was called for a penalty to put the Spartans on the power play for the first time. The timing couldn’t have been worse as the Spartans were still riding an emotional wave following that initial goal. Michigan was able to get out of the period without giving up another goal and the period ended with the Spartans leading by a score of 1 to nothing. The Spartans also held the edge in shots on goal with a 9 to 5 count.

The Spartans started the second period with 20 seconds of power play time, but Michigan was able to kill this off and get back to even strength. A couple of Wolverines would come close to scoring a goal in the early going of the second period, but every shot sent to the net was turned away by Miller. Blackburn also had his moments as he came up with a huge save after Michigan turned the puck over right on top of their own goal.

Michigan State took the first penalty of this period with just over three minutes gone to give Michigan the first power play chance of the period. It would take the Wolverines about one minute of power play time, but on this power play they would tie the game. It would be a shot by Jillson that was initially deflected, but Murray was in position to punch it into the net. The goal went to Murray with assists going to Jillson and Shouneyia.

It looked like MSU would get a power play of their own a couple minutes after Michigan tied the game, but just seconds into their power play the Spartans were called for a penalty to end the power play threat. Both teams would spend a large part of the remainder of this period going up and down the ice, with both teams getting some good looks at the opponent’s goal. Both teams took penalties and killed off power plays and it looked like Michigan might take the lead at one point as they got some good pressure on the Spartan goal while skating four on four.

With just under two minutes left in the period there was a break in the action as Langfeld went down with what appeared to be an ankle or knee injury. He was finally helped off the ice and went directly to the locker rooms and did not see action for the remainder of the game. Also at the time that Langfeld went down Jillson was called for a penalty to give MSU a late second period power play. Once play resumed the Spartans wasted no time as they scored their second goal of the night just seconds into this power play. The second period would come to an end with Michigan State still in the lead by a two to one score. The Spartans out shot the Wolverines in the second period to hold a 21 to 15 advantage in shots on goal after two.

Michigan started the third period with Andy Hilbert coming close to scoring a goal, but again Miller turned the scoring chance away. For the third straight period it would be the Spartans who would give Michigan first crack at the power play as they were called for a minor penalty just 3:19 into the third period. Unfortunately for the Wolverines it was the Spartans who would score a short-handed goal to extend their lead to two goals just 4:15 into the period.

Both teams would again spend a large part of the middle of this period skating up and down the ice with each team having their moments. However, around the mid-point of the period it would be the Wolverines who would make their final, fatal error. Already killing off a penalty Michigan was whistled for their second minor penalty to give the Spartans a two-man advantage. With the two-man advantage the Wolverines could not turn away the Spartans as they score their fourth goal of the night, third special teams goal of the night.

Michigan would get a couple more power play chances, but their power play continued to be ineffective. Scott Matzka would get the Wolverines back within two, but the second Michigan goal came with just 20 seconds left in the game – far to little, far to late. Assists on this goal went to Kosick and Shouneyia, but the game would come to an end with Michigan State winning by a score of 4 to 2. The Spartans ended the night with a 31 to 27 advantage in shots on goal.

The Wolverines suffer through their second straight disastrous weekend as they take a single point on the weekend. The tie and loss all but end any hopes Michigan might have had to repeat as CCHA regular season champions as they are now six points behind the Spartans with just three games to play. While the inconsistent Wolverines might find a way to loose their final three games of the season, the very consistent Spartans aren’t likely to give Michigan that kind of gift. The tie and loss may have also cost the Wolverines a chance at one of the first round byes in the NCAA tournament. At least one team moved ahead of them in the Pairwise rankings after Friday night and following Saturday nights loss another one or two teams may have moved ahead of Michigan as well. The Wolverines need to play well in their final three games, if for no other reason than for pride. If they need a reason it could be considered a confidence booster to finish the year with three solid wins. Unfortunately for Michigan they have two games against Lake State, a team that constantly causes them problems, and one final game against Michigan State on their home ice. With their inconsistent play these last three games could prove fatal for the Michigan season. Only time and the team can determine how this team finishes the regular season.