Wolverines Survive Lakers

Saturday, October 4, 2003
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Wolverines got their regular season underway tonight with a win over non-conference opponent Mercyhurst. The Lakers kept things close in the early going, gave ground in the middle of the game, and then came on strong at the end.

Things didn't start out very good for Michigan in this game as they were whistled for a bench minor with just over one minute played in the game, giving the Lakers the first power play chance of the game. The Wolverines would kill the penalty off, but the contest remained a closely fought one for the entire first period.

Michigan would see their first power play chance of the night with just just over eleven minutes left to play in the opening period. The Wolverines ran the power play fairly well, cycling the puck around the Laker zone. Finally, using a series of very crisp passes Michigan got the opening they were looking for and scored a power play goal with just under ten minutes to play in the period, forty-one seconds remaining in the power play. The goal was given to Helminen with assists going to Hunwick and Werner.

That lead would hold up for barely two and half minutes when the Lakers would draw the game even with their first goal of the night. Mercyhurst had gotten the puck into the Michigan zone where they got off a shot that Montoya had blocked, but he couldn't get a handle on the rebound. As Montoya tried to get the puck covered the Lakers were trying to chip it into the net and they finally got enough of a stick on it to get it over the goal line. With just over seven minutes to play in the period the game was all tied at one goal each.

Michigan would retake the lead a little over two minutes later, a lead they would never relinquish. This goal was setup by some old fashioned work in the Laker zone. Working hard in the Laker zone the Wolverines got control of the puck in the corner, getting it out to Ebbett. Ebbett would waste little time finding twine with the puck and Michigan was once again in the lead. Assists went to Gajic and Kautz.

The remainder of the period would see both teams being whistled for penalties, but neither team was able to take advantage with the extra man. The first period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a score of two to one. The Wolverines also held the edge in shots on goal with a seventeen to twelve count.

The second period would start with fifty-four seconds left in a Mercyhurst penalty and one minute thirty-six seconds left in a Wolverine penalty. Once the Mercyhurst penalty was over the Lakers got a thirty-two second power play, but once again could do nothing with the extra man.

Most of the second period, especially the first ten minutes, would see both teams trading penalties and killing them off. It looked like Michigan was going to get their third goal of the night with just over nine minutes left in the period, but the goal was immediately waved off as the net had come off its moorings.

The Wolverines would, however, get their third goal of the game, again on the power play, with just under six minutes to play in the period. The Wolverines had come close with a couple of shots in the opening seconds of this power play, but they had just missed. Once again a series of very crisp passes got the Laker goalie just enough out of position that Nystrom was able to slip the puck into the net for Michigan's third goal of the night. Assists went to Moss and Hensick.

The third period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a score of three to one. The Wolverines out shot the Lakers thirteen to four in the second period, leaving them with a thirty to sixteen advantage in shots on goal through two periods.

The third period started with both teams once again having a defensive battle, but Michigan would get a little breathing room when they got the puck to Werner out in front of the Laker goalie and to his left. Skating with the puck behind the net and coming back out on the right Werner made the wrap around shot to score Michigan's fourth of the game. Assists went to Ebbett and Gajic.

Barely two minutes later Mercyhurst would put Michigan back on the power play and the Wolverines looked to lock the game up. This goal was all Hensick as he got control of the puck near the Mercyhurst blue line. Hensick carried the puck into the Laker zone and moved to the goalies right. As he drove deeper into the zone and drew the goalie farther to his right he let fly a shot that just slipped inside the far post giving Michigan their fifth and final goal, unassisted.

Once they got the five to one lead the Wolverines seemed to fall asleep on the ice as they became very sloppy with the puck. Mercyhurst was able to score their second goal of the night when Michigan played the puck very badly, turning it over in their zone, giving the Lakers a clean shot at the Michigan net. It looked like Montoya had the angle to block the shot, but it slipped inside the far post and Mercyhurst was only down by three with nine and half minutes to play.

The Lakers would score their third goal of the game about one and half minutes later as they continued to attack in the Wolverine zone. Again, not accounting for the Laker players or the puck the Wolverines made it easy for the Lakers to take the one timer and cut the lead to two with the clock just having moved under the eight minute mark.

The second quick Laker goal seemed to wake Michigan from their stupor as they increased their intensity somewhat from that point on. Both teams once again traded penalties in the late going, but the game would come to an end with Michigan winning by a score of five to three. The Wolverines would finish with a forty-three to twenty-six advantage in shots on goal.

Mercyhurst certainly proved to be a tougher opponent than York was last night as they kept things close through two periods of play. Michigan seemingly took over the game in the first half of the third period, but then got sloppy with the puck, giving Mercyhurst some life. The Lakers took advantage of the sloppy play and started to score some quick goals, but Michigan seemed to right the ship once their lead had been cut to two. That sort of mental lapse is something the Wolverines will have to get out of their game as the season moves forward and the competition becomes more intense.

Michigan opens up CCHA play next weekend with a pair of games on the road against the Miami Redhawks. Miami is one of the teams in Michigan's CCHA cluster. Michigan will have to step it up a notch as they need to bring home two wins from Oxford next weekend to get their conference campaign off to a good start. Losses to CCHA teams that they should have beaten in the first half of last years campaign cost the Wolverines valuable points in the conference race. Those lost points proved crucial in the conference stretch run and the Wolverines should take all necessary steps to insure that the same thing doesn't happen this year.