rutger mcgroarty

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Similar to Friday night, Michigan lead after the first period 2-1. Notre Dame won the second period, 2-1. Gavin Brindley finished a well-worked goal to give Michigan a 4-3 lead early in the third. Down the stretch though, Jake Barczewski made two amazing pad saves, and the defense limited the Irish shots and chances. Sounds like a game-closing #NarrativeChange to me. TJ Hughes tallied two goals. Rutger McGroarty dishes three assists. Gavin Brindley chipped in a goal and an assist.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-At even strength, the game was relatively, well, even. Michigan had slight edges in shots and chances, but the difference ended up coming in the quality department. The Wolverines were able to dissect the Irish defensive zone and get looks and shots from the House with relative ease. Notre Dame, on the other hand, didn’t create a ton of chances, but finished the chances they got.

-Once again, it was Michigan’s Names that did the damage. TJ Hughes finished a very nice play between Gavin Brindley and Rutger McGroarty in the dying seconds of the opening period. Rutger’s Grade A look was denied, but Hughes crashed the net and poked the puck in to give Michigan a lead going to intermission. He also tallied on a power play tip.

-Dylan Duke tied the game in the mid second period on a very Dylan Duke goal. After his wraparound was denied, Josh Eernisse’s chance deflected back to Dylan, and he was able to slam the puck in with his second chance at the edge of the crease. Duke lead the team with even strength shots on net and chances attempted. He’s up to 21 goals, now, to pair with his 21 assists…in 36 games.

-After scoring twice on Friday, Rutger McGroarty did his work passing the puck on Saturday night. His most impressive play was skating down a loose puck in the offensive end, and flipped it back to Tyler Duke. Tyler got to the net, and slid it across to a waiting Gavin Brindley for the go-ahead, game-winning goal. Rutger leads the team with 34 assists. Gavin leads the team with 23 goals. Both guys will be counted on to continue to push Michigan through this tournament and into the next.

Defense Notes.

-Once again, Michigan’s defense all around was pretty good. They did a solid job of keeping Notre Dame to the edges and not asking Jake Barczewski to bail them out with tons of Hero saves. This is the third game in a row where it is tough to blame many goals on the in-zone defense. As a unit, their puck management has also started to improve, not giving away as many DZTOs as in previous months.

-Seamus Casey and Tyler Duke each had an assist. Casey came on a shot that was deflected on a power play. Tyler’s was on a nice skating and passing play that got the puck across to an open Gavin Brindley for the final goal of the game. While the rest of the backend crew has continued to solidify, these two have been the most proficient in the offensive end, as well.

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan jumps all over Notre Dame in the first period gaining a 2-1 lead. They follow up their dominant period with a goofy period from goalie Jacob Barczewski. He gives up a couple of stinkers and a third one that he probably wants back. Down 4-2, the Wolverines claw back with a late second period tally, followed by a couple third period power play goals. Barczewski and the defense see the rest of the game out, holding the Irish to only four third period shots on goal. Garrett Schifsky has a goal and two assists. Seamus Casey had four assists. Rutger McGroarty scored a couple goals.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Despite giving up a goal in the opening six minutes, Michigan blistered the Irish all first period, outshooting them 20-4. Peter joked that they wouldn’t even need the zamboni for the north end of the Yost ice. Ryan Bischel was the only reason the game wasn’t over after the opening frame. After a poorer second period offensively, the Wolverines once again dominated the puck and chances in the third period to see out the game.

-Garrett Schifsky and Dylan Duke bounced between a couple of different lines of Friday night. Schifsky had himself a night. He scored a goal late in the second period to get Michigan back within one. His assist on Rutger’s first goal was probably his slickest move of the evening. He took a pass from Gavin Brindley, skated through the slot to the back post before sliding the puck back to the front post where Rutger was waiting to finish. Garrett is up to 30 points in 35 games on the season.

-Rutger McGroarty and Gavin Brindley each recorded two points on Friday night. Michigan keeps ever so slightly tinkering with their top six skaters, swapping wingers game to game and at times within games. These are the two headliners of the forward corps, though. As postseason hockey heats up, you go as far as your stars can carry you. Friday night was a productive one for McGroarty and Brindley.

The Maestro Is Back (Bill Rapai)

Defense Notes.

-With the exception of a few instances in the second period, Michigan’s defense was very good all night…again, a weird thing to say after giving up four goals. However, they limited chances and shots in the first period. Luca Fantilli and Jacob Truscott did give a bit too much ground to Landon Slaggert on the Irish opening goal, but that was about it for remotely dangerous chances until midway in the second period. In the third, the Wolverine defense shut down the Irish, allowing just four shots on net.

-Seamus Casey is alive! After being MIA for the better part of February, Casey built on a three point night last Saturday evening with a four assist night on Friday at Yost. He assisted on Michigan’s final three goals, with the last power play assist being his best of the evening. The pass to Rutger’s tape could not have been placed more perfectly. The Seamus Casey scoring engine is so vital to Michigan’s offensive success.

-As previously stated, Michigan’s defense was particularly solid. The best part was that it was not just one guy or pair. Up and down the pairings, Michigan’s play with the puck in their own end didn’t fluctuate very much. Tyler Duke was very noticeable in the third period, though, making a handful of plays in his own zone to get the puck up and out.

Michigan Hockey went to Minneapolis this weekend knowing they needed at least one victory to stay in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament. After being tied following the first period on Friday, the Wolverines put together a lackluster and uninspiring latter two periods and were felled by the Gophers 6-2, losing their goalie in the process. On the heels of that, Saturday needed to be an all-hands-on-deck, emphatic performance. For two periods it was, but then came another third period collapse, albeit this one being nearly all goaltending. Michigan gave up five goals in the third but still made it to OT, where Seamus Casey won it for Michigan. Not ideal, but they got a lot of help elsewhere in college hockey and are still alive for the NCAA Tournament. For right now, in this seesaw season of adversity, there are worse places to be. 

HockeyBullets from Minnesota 

- About Friday night. Friday's game was a bit of an odd one, Michigan getting on the board first before a couple of iffy goals gave Minnesota the lead. A really nice play by Rutger McGroarty helped keep the puck in and set up a Garrett Schifsky equalizer to make the score tied just before the period break. It felt like Michigan didn't play great in that first period, but both teams were sloppy and the score was tied. It was okay. The first seven or so minutes of the second period were rather tepid, not a ton going on, then Michigan went on the PK and: 

Corner Pocket 🎱 pic.twitter.com/0bNZnkcaX9

— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 2, 2024

We would see a similar one to this on Saturday, but this goal cannot go in. It really seemed to take the wind out of Michigan's sails and for some reason, they lost their legs in the second half of the game once they were again trailing Minnesota. Michigan looked small and slow against the Gophers, who had more jump and urgency, disappointing for a Michigan team that was fighting for its life while Minnesota wasn't. They were getting outworked in the corners, outskated, and kept taking penalties, while questionable goaltending continued to harm the scoreboard. Barczewski had a down game and then got run into on an unintentional (possibly friendly fire) collision with a Gopher. He did not return for the third period (and then missed Saturday's game) but Michigan trailed by 5-2 by that time.

Michigan never really made a push and they lost 6-2. It was a bad effort but thankfully they responded with a marvelous first period on Saturday. Before we get to the second game, I want to note that Michigan allowed three power play goals just one week after I praised the Michigan penalty kill. Cause for alarm? I don't really think so. Part of it was some degree of mean reversion, as Michigan wasn't going to continue killing nearly every penalty the rest of the season. Related: a lot of it puck luck and bad goaltending. That goal I showed was one of the three PPGs against. That's entirely on Barczewski. The second goal involved a monster bounce off the end boards, while the third was a puck battle/scrum that eventually went in. *shrug* The hallmarks of Michigan's earlier poor PK from the first half of the season, the unrestricted puck movement, the inability to suppress A+ chances, none of that happened here so I don't think we need to sound the alarms.

[AFTER THE JUMP: More talking points]