Wolverines Clip Redhawks

Friday, February 13, 2004
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines returned home from their Alaska excursion with their first loss of 2004 behind them and a show down with conference leader Miami in front of them this weekend. Showing no ill affects from that loss the Wolverines dominated play to win the first of this weekends two game home stand against the Redhawks. While Miami had their chances, Michigan simply got stronger as the game progressed, clamping down on the defensive end, while scoring four goals in route to a four to one victory.

Michigan would get off to a fast start in this game as the Redhawks put the Wolverines on the power play barely three minutes into the game. While Michigan struggled a bit in the early going of this power play to get anything set up, they settled down, worked the puck around the Miami zone with crisp passing, finally finding a wide open Moss on the backside. As the puck hit the tape on his stick Moss banged a one timer into the net and Michigan was on the board with the clock reading 15:48. Assists went to Nystrom and Tambellini.

The teams traded penalties through the middle of the period, with both teams seeing some prime scoring chances, but neither team able to score. That would all change as the clock moved under five minutes when it would be the Wolverines striking for the second time in the opening stanza.

Michigan would break out of their zone getting the puck up the ice to Ebbett at center ice leading to a two on one break away by Michigan. Ebbett would streak up the ice in front of the player benches with Ryznar following on the opposite side. As Ebbett closed on the Redhawk net the lone defender closed with Ebbett, leaving Ryznar all alone. Ebbett slid a pass over to Ryznar and Ryznar tucked the puck into the top corner of the net to give Michigan a two to nothing lead. Ebbett and Moss both received assists on the goal.

Miami would get one of those goals back when Michigan gave them a gift right in front of their own goal. Michigan had the puck and was moving to carry it out of their zone when the puck carrier collided with another Michigan player right in front of the Michigan goal. The puck popped loose allowing Miami to get off a point blank shot on Montoya. Montoya was able to stop the initial shot, but couldn't control the rebound and the Redhawks chipped it back into the net for their first goal of the game.

Neither team would score again as the first period came to an end with Michigan holding a two to one lead. The Wolverines ended the first twenty minutes of play with an eleven to nine advantage in shots on goal.

The first thirteen minutes of the second period would be a chippy stretch of time as both teams sent a number of players to the sin bin on a fairly regular basis. There were a couple of scrums, one in front of the Michigan net as Miami got a bit to close to Montoya on one play. Even with the extra space on the ice, neither team was able to score a goal and the score remained two to one.

With just over seven minutes to play Michigan would finally get some breathing room, scoring on a fantastic back hand shot to take a two goal lead. Michigan broke the puck out of their zone, getting the puck to Helminen who carried it deep into the Miami zone. As he neared the net he started to lose control of the puck and rather than try a shot he dropped it back into the slot, trying to get it to Brown. The puck got tangled up in a group of players, but Helminen had stopped and spun around facing back toward the blue line. The puck popped out of that group of players right at Helminens feet. Wasting no time he flipped a back hand shot into the net to put Michigan up by two. Brown got the lone assist.

The second period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a three to one score. Michigan continued to hold an slight edge in shots on goal ending two periods of play with an eighteen to seventeen shot advantage.

Michigan would start the third period with 1:55 of power play time, but they would be unable to come up with a goal. The entire third period was a very defensive battle with Michigan really locking up Miami with their defense. The Redhawks spent most of the third period in their own zone, limiting their ability to mount any offense.

It looked like the game would end with the score still at three to one, but Michigan would get an insurance goal as the clock moved under two minutes. The Redhawks would turn the puck over just inside their own blue line. Nystrom would scoop the puck up and head for the Miami net with Helminen following on his left. As they neared the net Nystrom would slide the puck over to Helminen who would draw the Miami net minder to him. Helminen would get off a shot, but he was off balance and it went wide. However, it went right back to Nystrom who tucked the puck into the open net for the final goal of the game. Helminen got the lone assist.

The game would come to an end with Michigan winning by a score of four to one. The Wolverines ended the game with a twenty-seven to twenty-five advantage in shots on goal.

The Wolverines didn't show any ill effects from last weekends long road trip, nor did last weekends loss seem to affect them as they played a strong game of hockey in all phases to get within a point of Miami in the CCHA standings. While Michigan won by three the score could have been much worse as the Wolverines missed on at least three golden scoring chances when their shots missed wide open nets or hit posts.

Tomorrow night we see if the Wolverines can close out the weekend with another sweep. If Michigan can get the win Saturday night they will take over first place in the CCHA, still with two games in hand. It won't be easy as the Redhawks will pull out all the stops trying to salvage the split. It should be another great game between these two teams.