Saturday, November 24, 2007
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

In a game played by two teams that like transition hockey the action was expected to be fast and furious and for the most part it was, as both teams in tonights game passed, skated, and hit their way up and down the ice. Michigan would finally notch a goal late in the opening period, then score three times in the second, and one final time in the third on their way to a convincing five to one victory over the visiting Gophers.

With just over two minutes to play the Wolverines dug the puck out of the corner in their own zone, quickly sending a pass to Kolarik at center ice. Kolarik made a nice tip pass to Porter who broke into the Gopher zone, heading straight for the goal. As he closed he got off a shot that was blocked, but the rebound went to the left of the goalie, right to a trailing Kolarik. Kolarik quickly fired the puck through the five hole for the games first score. Porter and Kampfer each picked up assists on the goal.

At the end of the first twenty minutes of play the score was one to nothing in favor of the Wolverines. The Gophers held a slim nine to seven advantage in shots on goal.

With just over eighteen minutes to play the Gophers were sent to the penalty box, putting Michigan on the power play. With just over seventeen minutes to play some great give and go passing would lead to the Wolverines second goal of the night. Michigan broke out of their zone and into the Minnesota zone with Porter and Kolarik leading the way. Porter carried the puck into the zone coming down the right side, just wide of the slot. As he closed on the goal he dropped a pass back and over to the left side of the slot to Kolarik who fired off a laser of a shot, going top shelf for the score. Porter and Palushaj each picked up assists on the power play goal.

With the clock just under the fifteen minute mark the Wolverines were sent to the penalty box to put the Gophers on the power play, but it would be Michigan who would strike for a score. Michigan was able to chip the puck out of their zone, sending it at medium speed down the ice. Porter took off after it, pushing hard in the Gopher zone. In the mean time the Gopher goalie had left the net, going behind the goal to play the puck. However, he misplayed the puck, allowing Porter to gain control. Porter continued around the back of the net, coming out on the left side and wrapping a shot into the wide open goal. The short handed goal was scored as unassisted.

With the clock just under seven minutes the Gophers cut the Michigan lead back to two goals after Michigan failed on several attempts to clear the puck out of their own zone. The Gophers were scrambling all over to keep the puck in and shoot it on net, getting off several shots that Sauer was able to turn away. Finally, however, one to many shots got through and the Gophers had the puck in the net for the score.

With just under four minutes to play the Gophers found themselves in the penalty box again, giving Michigan another power play opportunity. Another set of great passes led to a break away by Porter and Michigan's second power play goal of the period. Langlais got the puck out near the Michigan blue line to Kolarik. Kolarik made a picture perfect pass to Porter, getting him the puck right at the Minnesota blue line just before he went off sides. Porter continued into the zone, closing on the goal, and burying the puck for the goal. Kolarik and Langlais each picked up assists on the goal.

The second period would come to an end with the Wolverines holding a four to one lead. Each team had seven shots on goal in the period, leaving Minnesota with a slight sixteen to fourteen advantage after forty minutes of play.

With just over fifteen minutes to play in the final period the Wolverines methodically worked the puck down the ice, going from their zone, into the Minnesota zone. With the puck now down around the goal they got off a shot from the left of the goalie that was blocked, but the rebound went wide to the other side, ending up on the stick of Winnett. Winnett quickly sent the puck back to and into the goal for the score. Assists went to Palushaj and Kampfer.

The game would come to an end with the Wolverines winning by a score of five to one. Minnesota out shot the Wolverines eleven to nine in the final period to end the game with a twenty-seven to twenty-three advantage in shots on goal.

The Wolverines rose up through the national rankings early in the season as they beat teams who were thought to be good, but had unexpectedly poor records at the start of the season. As they moved into the second month they played a series of games against second tier teams in the CCHA. All of this left some questions, especially given the youth of the team, as to just how good Michigan was. The belief was that we would find out over Thanksgiving weekend when the WCHA came to Ann Arbor for the annual College Hockey Showcase.

Friday night the Wolverines won a physical battle over the Wisconsin Badgers, dominating most of the play, and leading by three goals late in the game before Wisconsin cut the lead to one in less than twenty seconds. That refocused Michigan as they closed the door on the Badgers in the games final minutes to earn the win. On Saturday night it was more of a battle between two teams that love to play transition hockey. They both have speed, they both have skill, and the both like to fly up and down the ice. Oh, and did I mention that the Wolverines hadn't beaten Minnesota since the Showcase games in 2002? Since that win way back in 2002 Minnesota has won every contest against Michigan, whether during the regular season or during the playoffs. That is every game until tonight, when Michigan finally turned a corner and won a game over Minnesota.

A couple of things can be taken from this weekend. First, Michigan has a pretty darn good hockey team. They have four more CCHA games left in the seasons first half, hosting Ohio State for two next weekend, while finishing off the first half with a home and home against Bowling Green the following weekend. Ohio State has struggled mightily this season while Bowling Green has been surprising people as they currently sit in fourth place in the CCHA. Secondly, if the Wolverines can keep their focus they have a great chance of finishing the first half with a 17-1 record. That would be nothing short of remarkable.