Wolverines Survive Mavericks

Friday, December 12, 2003
Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska

The Michigan Wolverines survived a night of Maverick attacks, many generated by a number of give aways by the Wolverines in their own zone. While the Mavericks seemed to apply a steady stream of pressure it was the Wolverines who ended the night victorious with a two to nothing win.

Both teams saw players make trips to the penalty box in the first few minutes of the game as the physical play between these two teams continued into another year. However, with just over fourteen minutes to play in the opening period Michigan would put the puck in the back of the net for the games first score. Helminen started the charge carrying the puck into the Maverick zone. From Helminen the puck went to a trailing Nystrom who circled behind the net and passed the puck back out front to a waiting Brown. Brown chipped the puck into the net for the games first score. Both Helminen and Nystrom received assists on the goal.

Nebraska would respond to that score with tremendous pressure over the next few minutes, again helped along with some very dangerous turn overs by Michigan in their zone. Montoya was on his game this night as he made save after save to keep the Mavericks off the board and protect the Wolverines one goal lead.

As the clock moved under the two minute mark the Wolverines would find the back of the net one more time in this period. Hensick would carry the puck out of the Michigan zone, passing it over to Ryznar as they cruised through the neutral zone. As Ryznar drew traffic he sent the puck back over to Hensick who put a great back hand shot into the net to extend Michigan's lead to two. Ryznar got the lone assist.

The first period would come to an end with Michigan holding the two to nothing lead. While the Wolverines led on the scoreboard it was the Mavericks who held the eleven to nine advantage in shots on goal.

Michigan would start the second period with 1:07 of power play time, but they would be unable to get any kind of pressure, with the Mavericks easily killing off the penalty. Michigan would be whistled for a penalty over the next several minutes that they would kill off and they would continue to turn the puck over in their own zone. It was those turnovers that would finally lead to a Maverick goal. Just as the clock approached the ten minute mark of the period Michigan would turn it over deep in their zone. They quickly passed the puck out front and got it past Montoya to make it a one goal game.

The teams would continue to trade penalties as the physical play continued, but the second period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a two to one score. After two periods of play the shots on goal were all even at twenty shots each.

The third period would begin with both teams skating with four men each, with physical play continuing into the final stanza of play. Each team took a penalty in the third period and neither team was able to capitalize with the man advantage. With about 1:15 left in the game the Mavericks would get their goalie out to put an extra attacker on the ice, but Michigan held them at bay. The game came to an end with Michigan winning by a score of two to one. The final count for shots on goal was thirty for Michigan and twenty-three for Nebraska.

Michigan comes away with a win on a night that they didn't play a very good defensive game, at least in their own zone. They gave the Mavericks a number of great scoring chances with turnovers in their own zone, with Montoya coming up with some outstanding saves to keep his team in the game. On the one hand they got some breaks that they haven't been getting in games to hold on for the road win. On the other it was another poor performance on the road. Michigan gets one more chance for a solid game of hockey on the road tomorrow night as they play their final game of the first half.