garrett schifsky

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

What just happened (TL;DR): After a couple of periods to forget, Michigan played their best third period of the season against an elite opponent in a big time game. After a little puck luck, Michigan’s jumbled line of Garrett Schifsky, TJ Hughes, and Dylan Duke assembled the prettiest goal of the season at the most crucial time of the season in what would be the game-winner. Michigan came from behind, flipped the third period on its head, shut down their opponent, and then held the fort to close the game. Who’s breaking narratives, now?

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-For the first two periods, Michigan couldn’t get much going. They barely had the puck during the opening half of the beginning frame. While they finally got some possession, they over-passed, and didn’t just shoot the puck on a beatable goalie. In the second period, they started doing so and got rewarded early. Once the third period started, the Wolverines were flying, dominating puck possession, shots, and attempts.They registered the first nine shots of the third period. Each period seemed to bring improvement with offensive creation. That’s what you want to see.

-Two of Michigan’s goal resulted from just throwing the puck on net. Both goals were deflections in front of the crease to open shooters at the side of the net. Steve Holtz fired the first one that Frank Nazar scooped up, beating Ludvig Persson. Tyler Duke fired the second one, hitting Garrett Schifsky on its way to TJ Hughes’s stick, giving Michigan a 3-2 lead. Another point in my previews was just getting pucks to Persson and making him make a lot of saves. Once the shot total started rising, the goals started flowing.

-Perhaps the prettiest goal of the season was the fourth and game-winner. Garrett Schifsky made a slick pass ahead to TJ Hughes, who softly sauced a pass across the low slot to Dylan Duke, who smoothly fired the puck in the net. Michigan bounced, jumbled, and blendered their lines seemingly all night. While there seemed to be a bit of discombobulation at times, it paid off watching the goal hit the back of the net.

-Michigan looked very much locked down for the first couple of periods. They overpassed a ton in the first. They also just didn’t create enough in the second. Major props to the coaching staff and players for figuring some things out and dominating the third period.

Defense Notes.

-Early in the first period, the Wolverines made the Big Mistake. For two periods it was the difference and on track to being what ended their season. On a 2v3, North Dakota made a simple scissor move, crossing their forwards upon entrance. Instead of just racing back to protect the house, Ethan Edwards chased Abram Wiebe to the boards. Marshall Warren did as well (same with Garrett Schifsky, who I don’t fault as much due to circumstances), leaving no one on Hunter Johannes streaking into the slot. Johannes fired into the top corner to open the scoring. A simple switch, an extra man back…didn’t matter. It ended with North Dakota’s best chance of the night.

-After that though, Michigan was really, really good defensively. They didn’t allow much, even less from dangerous areas, and pretty much locked down the third period, sans a play or two. Not too bad. Maybe they just needed to get one out of their system?

-Marshall Warren, again, was really good. He got back a few times to eliminate potential breakaways. He was strong and physical around the net and on the boards. He’s really developed into the player Michigan hoped they were getting last summer.

-Seamus Casey apparently took a big hit in the first period and never returned. That…is really bad news. I have no idea what the reason is, but not playing in the final two periods is not what we need to hear this time of year. The good news is that Luca Fantilli and Steve Holtz both played pretty well in his absence. It’s not often we’ve seen both of them play as much as they did tonight…but here we are. And we’re still standing!

-This will be known as the Keaton Pehrson Game. The former Michigan Wolverine registered two assists and scored a goal. I joked in the preview that he would score the overtime winner that would end Michigan’s season. Well, instead, he helped both teams. Two previous times in his career, he had a two point night. On Friday, he registered two assists for the Fighting Sioux and deflected a puck into the net for Michigan. His deflected goal came off of a play by Ludvig Persson hitting him with the puck. We’ll call it a three point night…the largest scoring night of his collegiate career.

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)

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.

Only three weeks ago, Michigan Hockey's NCAA Tournament case was in trouble. Their College Hockey News-calculated probability of making the big dance was down to just over 1/3 and the prospect of the season being deemed an abject failure loomed. In the span of just those three weeks, some six hockey games, Michigan has gone from fading on the bubble to a near-certain tournament team. After this past weekend's sweep of Notre Dame in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan's probability is up to 99.6%.

Since the probability of Michigan missing the NCAAs is now akin to the probability that Donald Trump wins Massachusetts or Joe Biden wins Wyoming in November, we can speak in certain terms: Michigan is going to make the NCAA Hockey Tournament. This week we get to talk about how the Wolverines got there by delivering another clutch two victories with their backs against the wall. After that we'll take another look at the big picture and then pivot to a Minnesota preview. 

HockeyBullets on Notre Dame #2 

- Oh Notre Dame, how far have you fallen. One of my biggest takeaways from the weekend, and really the full season of seeing Notre Dame, is how much this program has declined in the late Jeff Jackson years. I don't think it's the offense necessarily, even with losing Rutger McGroarty and Logan Cooley type commits to other schools. Notre Dame didn't have those kinds of players during some of their glory years anyway. If you pull up their stat page from the 2017-18 team that was one win from taking home the national title, that team didn't have top notch scorers or guys who were elite NHL talents. Jake Evans has gone on to be a decent fourth liner in Montreal and that's it. 

What has changed is the manner in which Notre Dame defends and suppresses chances. The Irish at their best ground games down and suffocated opponents like no one's business, the sort of team where it was very hard to come back against. You can go back and find some of my early Hockey Weeklys from 2020 or 2021 where I was talking extensively about how important it was to score first on ND. Allowing the Irish to get a lead and set the tone and make you play on their terms was asking for disaster. 

But this weekend Michigan was able to rally from deficits in the second period in both games and it never was all that difficult. Notre Dame's leads in those two games lasted maybe 20 minutes combined, as the Wolverines were quickly able to get even and then take control back. In all six games Michigan has played against Notre Dame this season, I've never felt that same terror as I used to about falling behind the Irish or the need to score first. Ryan Bischel is a high level college goalie, but the team in front of him doesn't look like it used to. A couple of the goals Michigan scored were really quite startling. Look at this one: 

[Click the JUMP to see it]