Wolverines Ground Lakers

Friday, November 15, 2002
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Getting off to an unusually slow start the first five minutes of the first period belonged to the Lakers. The Lakers got the shots, they worked the corners harder, and just kept Michigan off stride in the opening minutes of the game. It wouldn't take to long for the Wolverines to get their legs under them and start to turn the tide in the period.

With just over fourteen minutes left to play it looked like Ebbett was going to score, but he just missed on the chance as the Lakers collected the first penalty of the game. Michigan kept the play and the pressure in the Laker zone for most of this power play, however, they would be unable to score that elusive first goal.

With just under eleven minutes to play in the period the Lakers would again be sent to the sin bin giving Michigan their second power play chance of the game. Using some great passing around the Laker zone, moving the puck from one side of the zone to the other, the Wolverines would get the puck out front where Nystrom sent it home. The goal went to Nystrom with the assists going to Tambellini and Shouneyia.

With just over eight minutes to play in the period Michigan would be whistled for their first penalty of the game to give the Lakers their first power play of the game. Even with the extra man the Lakers were unable to get close and the first period would come to an end with Michigan clinging to a one to nothing lead. The Wolverines had the Lakers doubled up in shots as they ended the period with a fifteen to seven advantage in the category.

Things got going early in the second period on a somewhat strange bounce of the puck. The puck was in the corner of the Laker zone to the goalies left. Working hard to dig the puck out a quick slap of the stick sent the puck out into the high slot where the only player around was Shouneyia. Knowing a great chance when he sees it Shouneyia blasted the puck, top shelf, to score Michigans second goal of the game with barely thirty seconds ticked off the clock in the second. The lone assist on the goal went to Burnes.

Play would continue up and down the ice for the next several minutes until the Lakers would again be whistled for a penalty to give Michigan their first power play chance of the second period (the Lakers pulled a Wolverine to the ice to stop a golden scoring opportunity). The Wolverines kept this power play in the Laker zone almost continuously from the moment the puck was dropped. Once again some excellent work with the puck saw the Wolverines take advantage of the man advantage to extend their lead to two goals. Passing the puck well around the zone the Wolverines finally had the Laker defense collapsed down around the goal. Waiting patiently for the chance that finally came with just twenty-two seconds left in the power play, Shouneyia would score his second goal of the game off a Tambellini rebound. It looked like Tambellini was going to score the goal from the goalies left, but it was just blocked. The rebound slid across the crease, behind the goalie, to Shouneyia who was waiting on the other side of the net. All Shouneyia had to do was tap the puck home. The assists went to Tambellini and Mink.

The rest of the period would be relatively uneventful as the teams traded a couple penalties, but neither team being able to get the score. The Lakers would put the Wolverines on the power play with just ten seconds left in the period, but a quick shot by Woodford would go just wide of the net. The period would end with Michigan holding a three to nothing lead. Even though they got the goals in the period the Wolverines were actually out shot in the period, but still held a slight advantage in total shots on goal with a twenty-two to seventeen count.

Starting the third period with 1:51 of power play time you might have thought that the Wolverines would put the game away. However, showing a great lack of mental focus Michigan managed to turn the puck over right in front of Montoya who, though he tried valiantly, could not keep the puck out of the net ending the Michigan shut out with a Laker short handed goal. The Lakers would come close to scoring a second short handed goal on this Michigan power play, but this time Montoya turned the shot away. Overall the early minutes of this period belonged to the Lakers as they once again out worked the Wolverines (in similar fashion to the first period). Just to keep the Lakers believing Michigan would be whistled for a penalty giving the Lakers a power play barely three minutes into the period. However, with the man advantage the Lakers were unable to dent the Michigan defense and the Wolverine lead remained two.

With just under thirteen minutes to play the Wolverines would strike for the fourth and final time of the game. With a delay penalty waiting to be called against the Lakers the Wolverines got Montoya to the bench and brought the extra attacker onto the ice and went to work on the Lakers. Once again some great puck work by the Wolverines got them an open shot and this time Gajic (back in the line up for the first time since his suspension) comes up with the goal, his first of the year. The assists went to Burnes and Tambellini.

The Lakers would get one final power play chance, but would be unable to get close to scoring another goal. The game came to an end with Michigan winning by a score of four to one. For the second straight period the Wolverines would get out shot, but they ended the game with a slim one shot advantage in shots on goal with a twenty-nine to twenty-eight count.

Michigan played a decent game, but like last Friday seemed to be a little out of focus, especially in the early going. The first five minutes of the first and third periods were really controlled by the Lakers and of course the mental lapses on defense proved costly, leading to the lone Laker goal. Michigan has to get these lapses out of their game or the top teams in this conference will make them pay a much greater penalty than Bowling Green or the Lakers have been able to exact. In the end the Wolverines were simply faster, stronger, and deeper leading to a Michigan win. However, the Lakers never gave up in this game, working extremely hard right up until the final whistle. If Michigan wants to get out of this weekend with a sweep they would do well to remember that and play tomorrow nights game like it was a CCHA tournament game.