Thursday, February 22, 2001

Thursday, February 22, 2001, Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Michigan started this game on fire as they applied pressure to the Laker goal early and often. However, even with all that pressure Michigan was unable to score a goal in the first period. Michigan had numerous scoring chances in this period and were simply unable to put the puck in the net, even though several of those chances were toward a wide open net.

It looked like each team might get a goal late in the first as both teams got great scoring chances, but each of the goaltenders came up with huge saves to keep the game scoreless. This was the fourth consecutive game that Michigan was held scoreless in the first period. The first period came to an end with the score zero to zero, but Michigan held a decided advantage in shots on goal with a 14 to 4 count.

A penalty against Lake State late in the first period had the Wolverines on the power play as the second period got under way. While on this power play Mink had a shot at a wide open net, but didn’t make good contact with the puck and the scoring chance was gone. Matzka also just missed scoring a goal on this power play to keep the Wolverines off the board and the Lakers in the game.

While Michigan continued to pressure the Laker goal for most of the second period it would be the Lakers who would finally score a goal in this game. With a little over five minutes left in the period, while on the power play, the Lakers were able to sneak a shot past Blackburn to give Lake State the one goal lead. While Michigan got plenty of shots in this period they were unable to get any into the Laker net and the second period came to an end with Lake State holding the 1 to nothing lead. Michigan again out shot the Lakers to end the second period with a 26 to 14 advantage in shots on goal.

Michigan again started the third period playing very hard and they were finally able to get a puck into the Laker net to tie the game. Michigan was once again on the power play when Kosick dug the puck out of a corner, got it to Matzka, who fed it to Murray. Murray then put the puck in the net with just over five minutes gone in the period to tie things up.

The game would stay tied until there were only about two minutes left in the game. At that time it appeared that Michigan had turned away a flurry of Laker shots to keep the game tied, with the final Laker shot apparently bouncing off the cross bar. There was no goal light, no referee signaled that a goal was scored, and the players continued to play. However, referee Brent Rutherford stopped play (play had resumed) and called the goal judge. After discussing the shot with the goal judge Lake State was suddenly given a goal where no goal had previously been recorded. This gave the Lakers the lead with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Wolverines looked to get back to even with the Lakers, pulling their goalie to get the extra attacker, but it would all come to nothing as the game came to an end with the Lakers getting the win by a 2 to 1 score. Michigan ended the game with a 38 to 28 advantage in shots on goal.

Once again the Wolverines found a way to loose a game to a team that they should have beaten. This has undoubtedly become the story of the year for this team. This loss gives Michigan State the CCHA regular season championship outright ending any mathematical chance the Wolverines had of getting a share of the title. It also opens the door to a couple of other teams chasing the Wolverines for second place should the Wolverines falter again on Saturday night when they again play the Lakers, this time at Joe Louis Arena.

Week in Review

Last weeks poor play cost the Wolverines in the Pairwise rankings as they fell from fourth to fifth place. This takes them out of contention for a first round bye in the NCAA tournament; the top four teams in the Pairwise (or the NCAA version of the Pairwise) will get the first round byes. Michigan State retains their hold on the number one spot in the Pairwise with Western Michigan the only other CCHA team in the top twelve.

The tie against Notre Dame along with the loss to Michigan State was the third straight weekend that the Wolverines have taken two or fewer points. Needless to say the month of February, usually a time of year when the Wolverines are hitting their stride, has been a month that Michigan probably wishes they could play over.

Perhaps even worse than the loss to the Spartans was the potential loss of Josh Langfeld for the remainder of the season. The last report was that his knee had been severely bruised and that he would be out two to four weeks. Word out of Ann Arbor at the end of this week was that Langfeld had skated on his own, but only time will tell if he will be able to return to action before the end of the season.

Michigan State’s win over the Wolverines last week insured the Spartans at least a share of the CCHA title. They need just one point in their final three games to clinch the title outright. While it’s possible for Michigan to tie the Spartans, the chances of that happening are not very good. This last loss to the Spartans leaves Michigan in second place, six points behind Michigan State and just four points ahead of Miami and Nebraska. If the Wolverines continue to play as sporadically as they have for all of February they may find themselves fighting just to hold onto home ice for the first round of the CCHA tournament.

This weekends opponent will be Lake Superior and while the Lakers have had a somewhat off year they still manage to give Michigan as much trouble as any team in the conference. In fact the Lakers have a decided edge in this series when playing on their ice with a 20-11-3 record against Michigan. The Lakers also lead the all time series against the Wolverines with a 42-34-6 record. The first two meetings of the year between these two teams saw the Wolverines winning in back to back shut outs. However, the last time Michigan played in Sault Ste. Marie they lost by a 3 to 2 score. Michigan really needs to win both of these games and they should win them both. However, you can bet the Lakers will be looking for a little revenge over the Wolverines in this weekends contests.