Wolverines Sink Lakers

Thursday, October 21, 2004
Taffy Abel Arena Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

The Wolverines got off to another slow start in their opening game of the weekend, a similar trend to last years road trips. Michigan had to battle back twice from two goal deficits before finally notching the winning goal in the third period, then they held off the Lakers for the final fifteen minutes of the game to take home a hard earned victory.

Michigan got out of the gate early, the penalty gate that is, as they found themselves in the sin bin just fifty-six seconds into this contest as the penalty bug continued to hamper the Wolverines. While they killed this initial penalty off it would be a second penalty, roughly six minutes later that would lead to the Lakers first goal of the game. With a Wolverine serving time the Michigan defense allowed a Laker player to get in close all alone where he received the puck. With nothing but ice and Montoya between him and the goal he wasted no time shoving the puck through the five hole for the games first goal.

Less than one minute later, with both teams skating at full strength Michigan would continue to sleep walk through the game. This time Michigan got sloppy with the puck in their own zone turning it over to the Lakers. Before any kind of defense could be mounted a Laker once again found himself all alone in front of the net with the puck and once again the puck was slammed past Montoya to give Lake State the early two goal lead.

Both teams would trade penalties through the remainder of the period, but the first period of play would come to an end with Lake State leading by a score of two to nothing. The Wolverines had a thirteen to eight edge in shots on goal.

Second period penalties would prove to be the Lakers undoing as they headed to the sin bin just five seconds into the second period, putting Michigan on the power play. Playing with a much greater sense of urgency the Wolverines were buzzing the Laker net almost as soon as the puck hit the ice. To make matters more difficult for Lake State they were whistled for their second penalty of the period with fifty-three seconds of penalty time still left on the opening period. With the lengthy two man advantage Michigan set to work and didn't waste much time getting on the scoreboard. Just twenty-seven seconds into the two man advantage Michigan got their first goal of the night when Ebbett made a great pass in front of the goalie to Moss, who buried the puck for the score. Both Ebbett and Werner picked up assists on the score.

The next ten minutes would see both teams trading penalties, including a tussle between both teams that would send seven players to the penalty box. The Lakers would score their second power play goal of the game just one second shy of the ten minute mark when a shot from the point was deflected past Montoya to once again give the Lakers a two goal lead.

Shortly after the Lakers scored their third goal it appeared that Michigan had scored their second but it was eventually waved off. The referee, who was in position to see, immediately indicated a goal, however, after a long discussion with officials and the goal judge it was waved off, apparently because the goal judge said it didn't go into the net. A fairly strange set of circumstances since the referee was right there to see the goal and once signaled, whether the goal light went on or not, there should have been a goal.

Waved off goal or not Michigan would get their second assist from the Lakers with just over five minutes to play when they were whistled for a five minute major. While both teams were short a player, the Wolverines were due to get an extended three minute power play. However, before they could even get on the power play the Wolverines struck for their second goal of the period when Porter made a neat little move to freeze the goalie, giving him the opening he needed to put the puck in top, right corner of the net. Assists went to Werner and Dest.

Just seconds before the Wolverines penalty was set to expire the Lakers were whistled for another penalty, putting Michigan on the power play, but more importantly setting the Wolverines up for an extended two man advantage since there were still just over three minutes remaining in the five minute major. Michigan was putting all kinds of pressure on the Laker goal when Ebbett got off a big shot that was blocked, but the rebound came right out to Kaleniecki who banged it home to tie the game. Ebbett got the lone assist on this goal.

The second period would come to an end with the score all tied at three goals each. The Wolverines really dominated the middle stanza completing forty minutes of play with thirty-five to twelve advantage in shots on goal.

The Lakers put a new goalie in net to start the third as their original goalie was apparently injured during the second period. Michigan would get whistled for a penalty just over three minutes into the period, but one minute later the Lakers would send a man of their own to the sin bin to end the power play. As Michigan's penalty expired they moved to the power play and would once again strike with the extra man. While working the puck around the Laker zone Hensick found Gajic who slammed a low shot into the net to give Michigan their first lead of the game. Both Hensick and Nystrom picked up assists on this power play goal.

The Lakers would take one more penalty, just under eight minutes into the game, but would kill that one off without suffering any more damage. For the remainder of the period both teams would skate up and down the ice in a fast paced, wide open final twelve minutes of hockey. The Lakers would pull their goalie with 1:07 to play and would get some great pressure, but the Wolverines held onto their one goal lead. The game would come to an end with Michigan winning by a four to three score. The Wolverines ended the game with a forty-six to twenty-one advantage in shots on goal.

Once again the Wolverines struggled on the road, but this time they found a way to pull out the win. Once again there were a ton of penalties, with lots of special teams play to go along with it. While the Wolverines power play had been struggling in earlier games, they would score on three of eight chances in this game. In this game the power play was the key to winning. There is still plenty of room for improvement for this Michigan team, but they got a road win in their CCHA opener. They tangle with this same Lakers team Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.