Saturday, October 11, 2008
Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan

It was a low scoring contest, although the Wolverines appeared to have the game under control through the first two periods of the game. In the third period, however, the action got wild as each team scored three goals as the Wolverines saw leads come and go on their way to the final score of five to three.

The first period was a physical one and it looked like it would end score less, until the Wolverines got one of those garbage goals with less than one minute to play. Michigan got off a shot from the right point that was blocked, however, rather than bounce away from the net it bounced up into the air and back toward the goal. As it came down it hit the cross bar, dropping down behind the goalie and across the goal line for the score. Llewellyn got credit for the unassisted goal.

The first period ended with Michigan leading by a score of one to nothing. The Wolverines also held a slim five to three advantage in shots on goal.

With just over fifteen minutes to play in the second period, Michigan would score their second goal of the game. The Wolverines had worked the puck deep into the Saint zone, until finally Hagelin had the puck just to the right of the goal. He chipped it toward the center of the crease to Rust, who chipped it further to the left side of the crease where Palushaj was waiting. Palushaj poked the puck past the goalie for the score. Rust and Hagelin each picked up assists.

The second period ended with the Wolverines holding the two to nothing lead. Michigan out shot the Saints ten to five in the period to hold a fifteen to eight edge in shots on goal through forty minutes of play.

The Saints would cut into the Michigan lead when they scored their first goal of the game with the clock just under fifteen minutes. The Saints forced a turnover just outside the Michigan blue line, allowing them to walk right up to our goal without any interference. It was one on one between the Saint player and Hogan and the Saint player won the battle stuffing the puck past Hogan, between the pipe and his pads to cut the Michigan lead to one goal.

With just over nine minutes to play both teams had a player sent to the penalty box, leaving each team with four players. Roughly forty-five seconds later Michigan broke out of their zone with Turnbull leading the charge up the left side of the ice. As he passed through the left face off circle he slid a pass over to Caporusso who was following down the right side. Caporusso continued on toward the goal, getting a great shot past the net minder to once again give Michigan a two goal lead. Caporusso got credit for the goal, while Turnbull and Kampfer each picked up assists.

Thirty seconds later, with just over eight minutes to play, and both teams still skating four on four the Saints scored goal number two to once again cut the Michigan lead to one goal. From the face off that followed the last Michigan goal, the Saints worked the puck around center ice for a few seconds, then broke into the Michigan zone. The defense got caught napping a bit, allowing a Saint player to basically attack the Michigan goal without any interference. As the closed he beat Hogan, stick side, for the score.

With the clock showing 4:59 the Saints tied the game at three goals each with a lot of help from the Michigan goalie. After blocking a shot Hogan lost track of the puck, which had dropped down into the crease near his skates. As he turned to locate the puck he kicked it over the goal line for the Saint score.

Michigan would take the lead for good about one minute later when they were able to beat the Saint net minder with just 4:01 left on the clock. The Wolverines had to battle the whole length of the ice, working the puck around, through, and past the Saint defense. While the Wolverine advance looked uncontrolled most of the time, they did keep advancing the puck, finally getting in close to the goal, where Palushaj was able to once again find an opening, scoring the eventual game winning goal. Langlais and Czarnik each picked up assists on the goal.

The Saints pretty much ended any chance they had of forcing overtime when they were whistled for a penalty with just 2:39 left on the clock. Then with 1:24 still left in that penalty they were whistled for a second penalty to give Michigan a long two man advantage and making it impossible for them to pull their goalie. While Michigan didn't score with the two man advantage they did score with just nine seconds left in the game when Lebler went top shelf for the score. Czarnik and Langlais each picked up assists on this goal as well.

The game came to an end with the Wolverines winning by a score of five to three to complete the sweep of the visiting Saints. Michigan out shot the Saints fourteen to ten in the period to end the game with a twenty-nine to eighteen advantage in shots on goal.

It was the rough, physical, brand of hockey that was expected from this Saints team and probably a good way for Michigan to get the season started. It would have been far worse if they had played an opponent that they could easily dispose of, given the fact that they have some fairly huge games coming up over the next couple of weeks. Next week Michigan takes its first road trip and plays its first CCHA games. These will be the only two games Michigan plays against Northern, a team expected to push hard for the CCHA championship this year. Even though these games come early in the season, the circumstance make them particularly important to both teams. It will likely be a battle up in Marquette.

The following week Michigan plays a rare Thursday night game, hosting Niagara, a team Michigan last saw in the opening round of last years NCAA tournament when they dispatched the Purple Eagles to advance to the quarter finals. On Saturday the Wolverines take a road trip out East to Boston where they will take on Boston University for a one game tilt. Boston, who just hosted and won the Ice Breaker tournament with a two to one victory over Michigan State, is a team expected to compete for the NCAA title this year. Another early season game, but one that could have a huge impact at the end of the season come tournament time.

All that being said it was probably much better for Michigan to have had to work hard for both of this weekends victories. Easy walk off wins would have done little to prepare the Wolverines for the upcoming contests. It doesn't get any easier from this point forward.