Hero Line

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

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan lead from start to finish, scoring in every frame. Dylan Duke tallied at even strength and on the penalty kill. Garrett Schifsky and Gavin Brindley both found the net on the power play. Notre Dame got an off game from elite goaltender Ryan Bischel, and the Wolverines took advantage. Jacob Barczewski tallied his second shutout of the season recording 22 saves. Very positive performance from in all areas of the ice.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-After the first 12 or so minutes, Michigan turned it on and never really stopped. They got to all areas of the offensive zone and challenged Ryan Bischel and Irish defense all night. While the only goal was a Dylan Duke unscreened shot off a faceoff –that Bischel just whiffed- the Wolverines generated plenty of good looks that did not go into the net. Regardless, they did win the even strength battle on Friday night.

-Brandon Naurato finally broke up the Hero Line, moving Gavin Brindley down with TJ Hughes and Dylan Duke. Garrett Schifsky slid up with Frank Nazar and Rutger McGroarty. Pairing Schifsky and Nazar together again will probably work out down the stretch. Giving Duke a creator like Brindley should be fun, as well. Neither line looked unstoppable, but both grew as the game developed.

-Kienan Draper played after missing the Penn State series. I had previously heard that he could be out for a while, but that was clearly not the case. I think Michigan is better with him in the lineup. He hasn’t scored a ton, but he’s developed as a player and has been a part of Michigan’s increased success on the penalty kill.

Defense Notes.

-Once again, when Michigan’s defense plays well, they tend to keep pucks out of their net. After a bit of a slop-fest (from both teams, all over the ice) in the first period, Michigan’s defense locked down the game in the second and third periods. (Spoiler: the OMRs were all on Wolverine power plays). Notre Dame is far from an offensive juggernaut, but mostly keeping the House clean –at the net as well- is something to be proud of this season.

-Again, there was not a guy that stood out either super positively or negatively on the defense corp. And I think that’s a good thing, right now. Just getting consistency up and down the lineup, not having to hide pairings of clench up when certain guys are on the ice is a solid takeaway. Let’s see if they can do it on back to back nights, now.

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Penn State outplayed, outshot, and outscored Michigan in an all but Must Have game for the Wolverines. They scored on the power play, through an even strength screen, and after a Jake Barczewski bobble to outpace the inept Michigan offense. Michigan generated some shots, but could not breakdown the PSU defense or solve suddenly viable Liam Souliere. The collar is getting a little tight, now…

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan clearly got some shot attempts on net. They didn’t, however, get enough of them to the net or into the net. After the first period of Friday’s game, Michigan tallied on a short-handed breakaway, an empty net goal, a even strength breakaway, and a sweet shot after a slick pass on a 3v3 rush. That’s it. Four goals in five periods…one of them being an empty-netter. All of this was against a team that entered the weekend with a .865 save percentage. Now, after the first minute of Friday’s game, Liam Souliere played very well. Basically…like he did in Allentown, last March. But that output is just not good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

-Both of Michigan’s goals came in transition. Dylan Duke and TJ Hughes created the opening goal on a breakaway (Spoiler Alert). Gavin Brindley hit Frank Nazar with a lovely flip lead pass pushing Nazar to snipe Souliere to tie the game at 2 early in the third period.

-The Hero Line was okay, I guess. They did create Michigan’s best chances, but it did not seem like there were a lot of them on even strength (what’s a guy got to do to get some xG around here?). I noticed Garrett Schifsky skating with Brindley and McGroarty a little. TJ Hughes did the same. It will be interesting if the top line stays together next weekend against Notre Dame.

-Penn State was a different team on Saturday night. They played very, very good defense in their own zone. They did not get beat in transition (after the one happened about five minutes into the game). They also protected Liam Souliere really, really well…and then he made the saves for them. Hmmmmm…interesting.

Defense Notes.

-The defense overall wasn’t really at fault tonight. I suppose if you want to play Steve Holtz and/or Philippe Lapointe for screening Barczewski on the second goal…okay, fine. But…they were trying to block the shot. So, whatever. For the most part, the defense as a whole was fine. They didn’t turn it over in their zone repeatedly. They didn’t hang Barczewski out to dry all night. They even kept the OMR Count pretty low. It was good enough to win, tonight. Except for…

-Jacob Truscott didn’t have the best night, individually. He had a bit of a lazy clear that didn’t get out of the zone, leading to the second goal upon reversal. He also was beaten to the net on the third goal (the Jake rebound fumble), allowing Dane Dowiak to knock in the rebound.

-Seamus Casey also wasn’t himself all weekend. A couple of times, he maestro’d around the offensive zone, but it was not at the rate we’ve been accustomed to seeing him do so. It happens. It’s hard to be Steve Nash every night. He also was beaten twice badly…one for a goal.