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)
|
Total Attempts
|
Even Strength
|
Power Play
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Close (within 1)
|
Even Strength %
|
Notre Dame
|
49
|
40
|
9
|
30
|
43%
|
Michigan
|
73
|
53
|
20
|
38
|
57%
|
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.
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