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Wolverines Complete Sweep of Lakers
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
The Michigan Wolverines completed their first weekend, and in this case season,
sweep over the Lake State Lakers with a five to two win on Saturday night. While
the score would indicate a relatively easy win, the Lakers forced the Wolverines
to come from behind for the second straight game to gain the win.
Michigan got off to another slow start in this game getting whistled for three of
the first periods four penalties. While the Lakers had the advantage in power plays
they were unable to score with the man advantage. In fact it would take almost fifteen
minutes before either team could get the puck past a goalie. Even though they had been
out worked for most of the period it would be the Wolverines who would strike first
in this game.
With just over five minutes left in the opening period Hensick would carry the
puck through neutral ice, into the Laker zone, and tuck it into the net for the
first goal of the game. Hensick received a pass just outside the Michigan zone and
got into the Laker zone where he faced two defenders and the goalie. Using his speed
he swept left, around the defense, then cut back in front of the goal, slipping the
puck into the far corner of the net for the score. Kolarik and Hunwick each received
an assist on the goal.
The Wolverines would be whistled for their third penalty of the period with just over
one minute left to play, but they would finish the period without giving up a goal.
The first period would come to an end with Michigan
leading by a score of one to nothing. However, it was the Lakers who held the edge
in shots on goal finishing one period of play with an eleven to seven advantage in
the category.
The Lakers would start the second period just over one minute of power play time.
It would take them just thirty-eight seconds to get the puck past Montoya with the
man advantage. Montoya was behind his net, trying to clear the puck, when a Laker
stepped in, stopped the clearing attempt, and tucked it into the net before Montoya
could get back into position.
Michigan would get two power play chances over the next ten minutes of play, but
would fail to score on each of them. In fact it would once again be the Lakers who
would notch the games next score. With just over eight minutes to play the Lakers
got the puck to an open player between the circles. From there a quick shot was
snapped past Montoya on his stick side to give the Lakers the lead.
Falling behind finally seemed to snap the Wolverines out of their funk. Once again
it would be Hensick who was the catalyst for Michigans goal. With just over three minutes
left in the period Hensick would circle behind the Laker net, loop back around in front,
getting off a shot as he reached the slot. This shot was blocked, but Kolarik was in
perfect position to pounce on the rebound, which he did, putting the puck in the net to
get the Wolverines back to even. Hensick and Kaleniecki received assists on the goal.
Just over a minute later, with the clock showing just under two minutes to play
Michigan would strike for goal number three to once again take the lead. Working on the
power play Michigan would get the puck out to the point where Martens would get off a
shot. The puck found its way through the players in front of the net, past the goalie,
and into the net for Michigans third goal of the game. Assists went to Hensick and Gajic.
The second period would come to an end with Michigan leading by a score of three to
two. The Wolverines turned the tables on the Lakers, out shooting them eleven to five
in the period. This gave Michigan an eighteen to sixteen overall advantage in the
category through two periods of play.
Unlike last nights game, where the Wolverines held on to a slim one goal lead for
most of the third period, tonight they picked up a couple of quick insurance goals to
give themselves some breathing room.
With just over five minutes played in the period Michigan would drive into the Laker
zone with a three on two break. Gajic carried the puck down the right side boards, until
he saw an opening to get the puck over to Ebbett. Making a picture perfect pass across
the ice, Ebbett gave the puck a little tap into the net for Michigans fourth goal. Assists
went to Gajic and Porter.
Less than three minutes later Michigan would strike for the fifth and final time, once
again an easy tap in setup by a cross ice pass. Porter got a pass to Moss in the slot,
drawing the defense to him. As the defense closed he slipped the puck over to Werner
who had moved into the right circle. As the puck hit his stick, he quickly put it into
the net before the goalie or defense could shift around to defend against the shot. Both
Moss and Porter picked up assists.
The Wolverines would kill off three more penalties in the final ten minutes of the game,
with the Lakers killing off one. Neither team would find a way to score a goal through
the rest of the game. The final horn sounded with Michigan winning by a score of five
to two. The Wolverines ended the game with a twenty-nine to twenty-four advantage in
shots on goal.
The Wolverines continue to struggle in the early going of games and are still taking
far to many penalties. Sooner or later Michigan is going to run into a team that will
take full advantage of all the power play time the Wolverines are giving to their opponents.
For a team that would seemingly want to skate in a wide open game, it's difficult to
understand why they are still taking so many of these obstruction penalties.
On the positive side, they got their first sweep of the season, and it was in CCHA
play. Since they play the Lakers just twice this season, it was also their first season
sweep of a CCHA opponent. Next weekend the Wolverines play a home and home series
against Ferris State, the only two games they will play against the Bulldogs this season.
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