Wolverines Sweep To First Place Tie

Saturday, February 9, 2002
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The action in this game got going pretty much right from the start as both teams came out skating with enthusiasm. As they did last night the Mavericks got the scoring started just three and half minutes into the contest. Off a face off that was to Blackburns right the puck took a strange bounce off the end boards and ended up in front of the net. A Maverick just happened to be right there and was able to chip the puck into the net before Blackburn could get around into position.

About three minutes later each team lost a man to the penalty box leaving each team with four men on the ice. Just thirty-two seconds later, off the delay call, Nebraska lost a second man to a penalty putting Michigan on the power play. Working the puck crisply around the Nebraska zone Michigan was patient taking a shot when it presented itself, but not rushing things. With just four seconds left in the original pair of penalties the Wolverines came up with the power play goal off a great shot by Ortmeyer. Assists on the goal went to Shouneyia and Nystrom.

Michigan would notch their second goal of the period barely thirty seconds later. Taking the puck off a face off the Wolverines broke into the Maverick zone cleanly. Feeding the puck up the ice Gajic got a shot off that beat the Nebraska goalie clean to give Michigan their first lead of the weekend. Assists on this goal went to Woodford and Komasarek.

The next Wolverine goal would come barely two minutes later, this time off a blocked Maverick shot. After the shot was blocked by Blackburn Michigan got control of the puck, with Vancik bringing the puck out of the Michigan zone. Vancik got the puck up the ice to Gajic who carried it into the Nebraska zone along the press box side of the Arena. Vancik continued to trail the play and after drawing the Nebraska defender to him Gajic fed the puck back across the ice to Vancik who buried it in the Maverick net for Michigan's third goal.

With just six and half minutes left in the period Michigan would strike for the fourth time. It would once again be Vancik who would take the decisive shot. Receiving the puck near the blue line Vancik got off a hard shot that was on its way to being blocked. However, Gajic was right in front of the net and was able to deflect it along a new path and the puck was once again in the Maverick net. The goal went to Gajic with assists going to Vancik and Woodford.

A short time later Michigan would be whistled for a penalty putting Nebraska on the power play. Michigan was well on their way to killing off this power play when the Mavericks helped them out. With just twenty-five seconds left in their power play Nebraska was called for a penalty, ending their power play and setting Michigan up for a power play of their own. Unfortunately it would be Nebraska who would take advantage of this Michigan power play as they managed to score a short-haneded goal with just over two minutes left in the period (fifty-one seconds left in the Michigan power play). The puck appeared to be deflected off a player in front of the net as a Michigan player tried to clear the puck.

With nine seconds left in the period Michigan would be whistled for a penalty to put Nebraska back on the power play. Nebraska was unable to mount any kind of late period charge and the first period ended with Michigan leading by a score of four to two. The shots in this period were few and they were even with each team having seven.

Nebraska started the second period with 1:51 of power play time, but Michigan killed that off without incident. Both teams would get power play chances around the midpoint of the period, but neither team was able to score. Michigan had a great chance to score a goal with just under ten minutes to play when Gajic won a face off and charged the Nebraska goal on his own, but he just missed his shot. About one minute later, with 8:42 to play, Nebraska would score thier third goal of the game as their big defenseman, Zanon, let lose a cannon of a shot that just couldn't be stopped. The second period would come to an end with Michigan still leading, but by a four to three score. Nebraska out shot the Wolverines in this period and held the edge in shots on goal with a sixteen to fourteen count.

Michigan would get their two goal lead back in the first minute of the third period when Nebraska made a mistake in their own zone. Turning the puck over to the goalies left side Ortmeyer picked up the puck and sent a little floater of a shot toward the net. The puck just floated in over the goalies right shoulder (may have actually hit the goaltender in the shoulder) and ended up in the net for the Wolverine score. This goal was unassisted.

With just over sixteen minutes left to play Nebraska would get whistled for a penalty putting Michigan on the power play. With 1:13 still left in this power play Nebraska would get whistled for a second penalty, giving Michigan a substantial two man advantage. Michigan would again work the puck around the Nebraska zone very patiently, just waiting for a good look at the net. With thirty-one seconds remaining in the two man advantage Murray would get off a hard shot that beat the Maverick netminder giving Michigan their sixth goal of the night. Assists on this goal went to Werner and Nystrom.

Each team would see another power play chance in the last ten minutes of regulation time, but neither team would score another goal. The game would come to an end with Michigan winning by a score of six to three. Michigan would end the game with the advantage in shots on goal with a thirty to twenty-two count.

Michigan played a better all around game tonight, really in control of the action right from the opening face off. They checked hard, passed well, and handled the puck much better than the previoius night. They also showed some life in the power play as they picked up two power play goals out of five chances. The penalty kill continues to perform at an exceptional level as they have now killed off fifty-five straight opponent power plays. All in all Michigan won in dominating fashion in tonights contest.

The weekend was good for the Wolverines in several ways. First, they swept the Mavericks to basically remove them as a threat to Michigan in the CCHA standings. Northern Michigan was swept by Western Michigan to essentially take them out of the race for the CCHA title. Ferris State swept Bowling Green this weekend which doesn't affect Michigan in the CCHA standings, but those two wins moved Ferris back over five hundred so we will get some points in the Pairwise rankings for our wins over Ferris. Best of all Notre Dame came away with a win over Michigan State in East Lansing. This time Michigan didn't let the opportunity pass them by as they seal their win and move into that first place tie with the Spartans. The Spartans have opened a door for the Wolverines that appeared to be closed to them just two weeks ago as they have given up a four point lead in just a two week span. While the Spartans hold the tie breaker they have made things somewhat easier for Michigan. All Michigan needs to do now is keep up their winning ways and have someone tie the Spartans. They no longer need another Spartan loss, just a Spartan tie to take the outright lead in the CCHA. So Michigan moves up in the CCHA, they should move up in the Pairwise rankings, and this sets up next weekends showdown with the Spartans at Joe Louis. While that game has no bearing on the CCHA race as its a non-conference game, it has big NCAA implications, especially for Michigan.