Wolverines Tame Wildcats

Friday, October 24, 2003
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines started their two game home stand against fellow CCHA opponent Northern Michigan with a solid two to nothing shut out to extend their current winning streak to five games.

Both teams sent players to the penalty box in the early going of this game, with one from each team leaving the ice with just over two minutes played in the contest to begin the penalty march. With just over four minutes played Northern would send a player to the box, putting Michigan on the power play, but the Wolverines would be unable to take advantage of the extra man. Once again both teams sent a man to the box with just over six minutes played, however, the extra space on the ice didn't lead to any goals.

Michigan would finally get on the board just as the clock moved under the ten minute mark after a beautiful play by Hensick behind the net to gain control of the puck. The Wildcats had seemingly chased the puck down behind their own net when Hensick charged in and made a great move to strip the puck and make a nice little pass out in front of the net. Taking the pass on the tape Werner stepped in and took a one timer shot that beat the Wildcat net minder to put Michigan on the board for the first time tonight. Hensick received the lone assist on the Werner goal.

While Michigan kept the heat turned up throughout the remainder of the period, neither team could find a way to score another goal and the first period ended with Michigan leading by a score of one to nothing. The Wolverines had a clear advantage in shots on goal ending the period with a twenty-one to four shot advantage.

The action was fast and furious in the second period, but neither team would find a way to score a goal. Northern would go zero for two on the power play, while the Wolverines would go zero for three on the power play. The Wolverines would once against significantly out shoot the Wildcats, coming close on several occasions, but they just couldn't get the puck past the always problematic Kowalski in goal. The second period came to an end with the score still one to nothing in favor of the Wolverines. Michigan out shot the Wildcats twenty-seven to five in the period for a two period advantage in shots on goal of forty-eight to nine.

The third period was once again a fast paced one, with Michigan continuing to dominate the play. The Wildcats would put Michigan on the power play with about fourteen minutes left to play in the game, but the Wolverines would come up empty. However, with just over ten minutes to play in the game the Wildcats would once again put Michigan on the power play and this time the Wolverines made them pay.

Working the puck beautifully around the Wildcat zone the Wolverines got the Wildcats spread out to far and got the puck to Gajic who was stationed to the right of the goalie near the circle. As he received the pass Gajic let loose a one time slap shot that beat the goalie up over his left shoulder to give Michigan that all important second goal. Assists on this goal went to Werner and Ebbett.

The Wildcats would call a time out with just forty-seven seconds to play with a face off coming just inside the Michigan blue line. As they returned to the ice the Wildcat net minder stayed on the bench, leaving an open net. While Michigan would come close to scoring that empty net goal they hit a post and went wide on their two best opportunities. The game would come to an end with Michigan winning by a score of two to nothing. Michigan would end the game with a fifty-seven to nineteen advantage in shots on goal.

This was by far the best all around game that Michigan has played so far this year. They played tenacious defense, applied pressure on the Northern goal right from the start of the game, and didn't let up until the final buzzer had sounded. The Wolverines were faster, quicker to the puck, quicker on face offs, and completely focused on the game from the opening whistle to the final whistle. The score would indicate a close game, but that would be an incorrect reading of this game. Michigan simply dominated the Wildcats from start to finish and the score was only as low as it was because of the outstanding play of Northern goalie Craig Kowalski. As he does in every game he plays against the Wolverines Kowalski turned in a stellar performance, giving his badly outplayed team a chance to win throughout the contest. The teams have the day off tomorrow with the second game of this series being played Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm at Yost Arena.