CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan and Michigan State played a back and forth game all evening, exchanging leads throughout. Michigan held leads of 1-0 and 3-2; MSU had leads of 2-1 and 4-3. While neither goalie was outstanding, Trey Augustine was better than Jacob Barczewski, and that proved to be the difference. There were a couple of controversial goal calls (or wave offs), making it a peak Big Ten game in the final Big Ten game of the season. Both teams were very good as it took almost 75 minutes to decide the final. I don’t hate either teams chances next weekend in NCAA Regionals.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Michigan State	71	61	10	58	50%
Michigan	69	61	8	61	50%

Forward Notes.

-Michigan started the game with a bang, scoring a goal bright and early. They followed that up with another goal that was waved off goal goalie interference (a debatable decision). The Wolverines continued the onslaught peppering Spartan goalie Trey Augustine when not killing a penalty. Only getting that one goal to count early seemed to change the flow of the game, as MSU played better as the game moved along…with Michigan seemingly feeling a bit fortunate to get to overtime. Overtime was rather even with one goalie making one more save that the other. In the end, the game was about as close as it could be.

-Frank Nazar got his line on the scoresheet a couple of times at Munn on Saturday night. He finished off a very nice backhanded pass from Josh Eernisse from the boards. Nazar raced to the front of the net and elevated the centering pass over Trey Augustine to open the scoring. In the third, down a goal, Dylan Duke fired a shot from the point that Nazar was able to redirect into the net with his back skate. It was a bit of a fortunate bounce, but Frank had to get his foot in the right place originally. 

-The top line scored to make it 2-0, right after the first Nazar goal. Rutger McGroarty found and open Gavin Brindley in the slot who beat Trey Augustine. The goal was waved off due to Garrett Schifsky sending a defenseman into Augustine before the shot. It was reviewed and hotly debated if it was a shove or a position battle. Unfortunately for Michigan, it was ruled a shove and goaltender interference.

-More on this goal in the next section, but Philippe Lapointe made a very nice pass across the ice to Marshall Warren to set up his goal. Lapointe chipping in backs up the fourth line’s great offensive play last weekend in Minneapolis. He also had a very nice backhanded assist to Luca Fantilli on a goal that was waved off for offsides. Good to see Lapointe making a difference in the offensive zone down the stretch.

Defense Notes.

-Overall, I didn’t think the defense was bad at all. They faded a little bit in the third period and then in overtime, as the game kept going, forcing Barczewski to bail them out more than he had to in the first couple of periods. However, other than the first goal, it was hard to fault them for any of the goals. It would have been nice if someone had stepped out into Matt Basgall’s buzzer-beating rocket…but that seemed like a frustrated mental error after the absurdity of the third goal being reviewed and given. That’s slightly understandable.

-The one bad DZTO did come from Luca Fantilli. That was the first real scoring chance that MSU got all evening…over ten minutes into the game. He may have played after that, but I did not see him or notice him. (When college hockey has a naturalstattrick website that I can check TOI and shift times, let me know!) Luca has had an up and down season. He’s flashed some puck moving potential, but has also had his own gaffes in the defensive zone. He still seems a summer away from strong, consistent contributions.

-Marshall Warren had a Cale Makar-esque finish on the third Michigan goal. He reached out to catch the Lapointe pass. Then, he went forehand, backhand and ROOFED the shot over Augustine! Even Seamus Casey must have been like “Wha??” Warren has finally turned into the defenseman that Michigan had hoped he would be all season. He’s been very solid in his zone, on the puck, and is starting to finish some plays. That bodes really well going into Regionals.

 

Dylan Duke got the power play tally on Saturday (Bill Rapai)

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots/Minute
Michigan State	0/2	8	.5 (2/4)
Michigan	1/3	10	1.56 (7/4.5)

Power Play. After a couple of lackluster power plays, Michigan’s third power play hit the jackpot. Seamus Casey made a nice move at the blue line, carried down the side of the House, backhanded a slick pass to Rutger McGroarty’s tape. Rutger fired a shot into Trey Augustine, who leaked the puck as he was moving across the crease. Dylan Duke was where he normally is for the rebound: at the top of the crease. The thing about power plays is that you don’t need to be great on every one. If you are awesome on a couple and finish one, that’s all that matters. The Wolverines did that on Saturday night.

Penalty Kill. The Wolverines took the first two penalties of the game. They then proceeded to rather easily kill of both Spartan power plays. While MSU did garner some zone time, they didn’t get a shot on net until the second opportunity…and neither were overly dangerous. Michigan’s penalty kill resurrection has been a sight to behold. It’s gone from “AHH!!!” to “eh” in a matter on months. Major point for the coaching staff.

 

 

After keeping them in it, Jake Barczewski couldn’t get the last one (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Michigan State Shots Faced (House)
First Period	6	14
Second Period	9	10
Third Period	14	7
Overtime	6	6
TOTAL	35	37

Notes. Jake Barczewski started in net on Saturday night. He had a very nice stretch of play later on in the game, but did not have his best performance overall. While there was very little he could do on the first goal, he gave up a big rebound on the second goal that allowed Daniel Russell to find Isaac Howard for an open net goal. It may have been a tricky shot, but the rebound was very costly. The third goal should not have counted, but he did loose the puck in himself (to some degree) that did allow Jeremy Davidson to jam it in, post-whistle or not. The buzzer beater goal was also not great. It was a rocket, but it looked like he was just beaten. Then, the final goal he got the glove up and just missed it. To his credit though, Barczewski did play really, really well in the third period when Michigan wasn’t generating much. He made a number of unbelievable saves that kept the game going. He also made 2-3 Hero saves on cross-crease plays and on a breakaway. In the end, Michigan needed just bit better of a goalie performance to hoist a trophy.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Defense	Rushes	Advs	Escape%	Offense	Rushes	Advs	Scoring%
1st Period	1	1v0	100%		1	3v1	0%
2nd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		2	1v0, 2v1	0%
3rd Period	2	3v2 x2	100%		1	3v2	0%
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	3	1v0, 3v2 x2	100%		4	1v0, 3v1, 2v1, 3v2	0%

Notes. Michigan State got an early breakaway after a botched end of power play by Jacob Truscott. Barczewski made a great save to deny the Spartans best rush chance. MSU also generated two more 3v2s in the third period, but neither came to much of a chance. Overall, Michigan was pretty good positionally all even to defense MSU’s rush chances.

The Wolverines did create a few chances in transition as well. After their first 3v1 was mismanaged, Josh Eernisse got a breakaway in the second period, but could not be Augustine. That was the best look Michigan got, as their final two OMRs were pretty nullified by the defenders protecting the House very well.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Michigan definitely played well enough to win on Saturday night. If the Brindley goal counts, they probably do win. If the third State goal doesn’t count, they probably win. If the fourth State goal is a second later, they could easily win. However, none of those things happened, and they could not over come them. They needed better in net. They certainly will if they’re to win any games next weekend. Right now, it looks like they’ll be the #3 seed playing the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Will they be in St Louis, MO or Springfield, MA? Probably St Louis, but it could be either. Their #1 seed looks like it will be either the Boston University Terriers or the same MSU Spartans. Tune in Sunday evening at 6:30pm on ESPNU/ESPN+ to find out for sure.