Friday, October 10, 2008
Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

It was the first official game of the season for the number two ranked Wolverines and it certainly came through in their play. They hit the ice flying, dominating play for the first six or seven minutes, then for the next nine or ten minutes, the Wolverines got very sloppy. This would be the theme for most of the game, periods of great play, followed by periods of not so great play. In the end, however, Michigan found a way to squeak out a victory scoring the winning goal with just over two minutes left in regulation time. The final was Michigan four, St. Lawrence three. Even though they won this game what appears to have been a serious injury to Captain Mark Mitera will likely put him on the bench for an undetermined period of time.

With exactly twelve minutes left to play in the opening period a series of penalties against both teams would lead to the Saints scoring the games first goal. First Michigan sent a man to the sin bin, less than thirty seconds later the Saints sent one of their own to the box, leaving the teams skating four on four. About a minute later, with ten and half minutes yet to play in the period a Saint shot was blocked, but lay close to the crease on the right side. Sauer went to push the puck farther away from goal, but got a little tangled up, which drew him farther away from his goal crease than was advisable. Suddenly the Saints had the puck back out front of the crease, making the easy shot into the open net to take a one to nothing lead.

With about six and half minutes to play in the opening period the Saints would once again be presented with a great scoring opportunity and once again they would not fail to take advantage, taking a two to nothing lead and stunning the home crowd. Michigan was lazy while trying to clear the puck from their zone and ended up turning it over, giving it to St. Lawrence near the top of the circles in the slot. The turnover quickly led to a three on Sauer break which led to the Saints second goal of the period.

About thirty seconds later things started to turn around for Michigan as they started to claw their way back into this game. Kampfer got off a shot from the right point that didn't look very dangerous, but with a lot of traffic in front of the Saint net the puck was a little hard to track once it closed on the goal. With that added extra bit of confusion Winnett was able to redirect the puck past the Saint goalie for Michigan's first goal of the night. Winnett got credit for the goal, while Kampfer picked up the lone assist.

With just under two minutes to play in the opening period the Wolverines would get back to even when they scored their second goal of the period. The Wolverines moved the puck quickly from their end of the ice into the Saint zone. Palushaj carried the puck down the left side of the slot, passing right to Hagelin as they reached the face off circles. Hagelin closed on the goal, moved from right to left in front of the goal stuffing a back hand shot into the goal for the score. Hagelin with the goal, Palushaj and Rust each with an assist.

A wild, up and down first period, would come to an end with the score all tied at two goals each. The Wolverines held a slim thirteen to eleven advantage in shots on goal following the first twenty minutes of play.

It was another series of penalties that would lead to the second periods scoring as each team managed to score a goal. It all started with the clock just under eight minutes Michigan was whistled for a penalty. Four seconds later the Saints were whistled for a penalty, leaving each team with four players. Thirty seconds later, with just over seven minutes to play, Michigan had the puck to the left of the Saint zone at the bottom of the circle. The Wolverines sent a fantastic to the right of the goal where Langlais was waiting. As he received the puck he got off an equally beautiful shot, one timing it through the five hole to give Michigan their first lead of the game. Langlais got the goal, while Rust and Hagelin each picked up assists.

With the clock under seven minutes Michigan picked up another penalty, giving the Saints a four on three power play. The Saints got the puck in close, working the puck down to the left of the Michigan goal. With a quick pass they got the puck to the left side of the goal giving them an easy shot at the goal. Sauer lunged across the crease trying to stop the puck, but he couldn't get there fast enough and the Saints had tied the game.

The second period came to an end with the score all tied up a three goals each. Michigan out shot the Saints sixteen to ten in the period to hold a twenty-nine to twenty-one advantage in shots on goal through forty minutes of play.

Overtime was looming as time was beginning to run out in the game. The Wolverines would finally find a way to get a puck past the Saint net minder with just two and half minutes left in regulation play. Turnbull got off a shot from the left of the Saint goal, which was blocked. However, the rebound was kicked out to the right of the goal where Miller was driving hard to the net. As he closed he got his stick on the puck, sliding it into the opening presented to him for the game winner. Miller with the goal with Turnbull and Elmblad each picking up an assist.

After sixty minutes of hockey it was the Wolverines who had the edge on the score board, winning by a score of four to three. The Saints out shot the Wolverines ten to six, but it was Michigan with a thirty-five to thirty-one advantage in shots on goal for the game.

It wasn't a great game by Michigan, the defense was sloppy at times, and the offense couldn't convert even one out of nine possible power play opportunities. That being said it was just the first game of the season and while they didn't play well, they played well enough to win. That won't be enough for very long as the competition will quickly get tougher, but for tonight it was enough. Perhaps the biggest negative of the night was an injury to Captain Mark Mitera that appears to have been fairly serious. Just how serious the injury was is still not known, but he had to be helped off the ice and he was getting an MRI last night. This injury, coupled with injuries already putting two other defensemen on the side lines has left what looked to be a strength this year for Michigan, into a thin unit that could struggle to find their identity. Michigan had to move Summers back to the blue line at the start of the second period tonight when Mitera went down and we can probably expect to see him play there for the next few weeks until we find out just how long Mitera and the other defensemen will be out.