stay out of the box llewellyn

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…

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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.

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan blitzed Liam Souliere and the Ice Lions early, scoring twice in the opening minute, eventually taking a 4-0 lead in the second period. Penn State scrapped back into the game, making it 4-3 with just under four minutes to play. Jacob Barczewski got the Wolverines to the final buzzer with help from Gavin Brindley’s fortunate empty net goal. Rutger McGroarty tallied a couple of goals. TJ Hughes grabbed a couple of assists. Gavin Brindley also had a three point night.

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Forward Notes.

-Michigan overwhelmed Penn State in the first minute, changing the trajectory of the game very early. The Wolverines only had nine shots in the first period, but scored on three of them. Liam Souliere had a rough go early, but came on rather strong as the game progressed. Michigan got good chances,  but Souliere kept Penn State within shouting distance.

-Josh Eernisse had a nice game sitting on the third line. He fired a shot off the faceoff for a goal in the first period. He also almost got an assist off a nice pass to Estapa later. Like in the OSU series, he had another nice speed burst through the neutral zone to create a chance. While he’s not scoring at the rate he did last year, he does have a chance to get ten goals on a third line with limited power play time. Not too shabby so far.

-The only thing I would have liked Michigan to do is shoot the puck more. Facing the worst goal-tending tandem in college hockey, just dial up the shots. Souliere did finish better, but ideally the shot counter would push 35-40.

Defense Notes.

-Michigan’s defense was mostly good, overall. They kept Jake Barczewski pretty clean for the majority of the game. Once they got a big lead, they seemed to get a little more conservative and Penn State started to make a strong push in the second period. In the third period, though, the Wolverines limited the Ice Lions to only six shots.

-Steve Holtz got spun like a top for the opening PSU goal. The puck was literally pass across the crease through his skates. Not great for a guy still fighting for the sixth spot.

-Michigan’s defense didn’t contribute as often as usual on the scoresheet. Seamus Casey did tally and assist, but overall it was an off night offensively for the defense.

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

What just happened (TL;DR): Once again, Michigan just overwhelmed, outskated, and blasted Lindenwood. Like Friday night, Lindenwood was technically still in the game until the mid second period and the dam broke. Michigan’s power play went SIX FOR NINE! They also tallied twice shorthanded. So, they scored as many shorthanded goals on Saturday as Lindenwood scored in the series. Alrighty then.

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Forward Notes.

-This was almost a carbon copy of Friday night’s game. Michigan controlled the puck, the shots, the chances, and then, yes, the goals. Even when the game was not out of reach in the first period+, the Lions had like five shots. It never really felt in doubt…and it wasn’t.

-Michigan scored only two even strength goals on Saturday night. Don’t worry, they were basically on the power play for half the game and took complete advantage…as did they on the penalty kill, so fret not, dear reader. Rutger McGroarty poked home a goal from just outside the crease to make it 3-1, easing some growing tensions in the mid-second period. That was followed by a TJ Hughes blast from inside the dot, quickly escalating the game to 4-1, Wolverines.

-TJ Hughes had a FIVE point night! He tallied a couple of goals and three more assists. That gives him 15 points in 8 games. hashtag eyeball emoji.

-Gavin Brindley added two goals and two assists. Dylan Duke, Nick Moldenhauer, Rutger McGroarty, and Jackson Hallum all added two points a piece as well.

Defense Notes.

-Josh Orrico played for Tyler Duke on Saturday night. Hopefully, that is just precautionary, and Michigan didn’t want to risk Duke against a team they massacred the previous night. FWIW, when the game was remotely close, Josh Orrico looked fine and not overmatched against Lindenwood.

-With Orrico in, they did mix up the pairings a little bit to start. Luca Fantilli and Seamus Casey played together. That seems a little on the small end, so I doubt we’ll see that in Big Ten play. Jacob Truscott played with Orrico, but he was later given a game misconduct for kneeing.

-Marshall Warren tallied a couple more points on Saturday night.

-Oh look, just another three point night for Seamus Casey. He had a well-worked power play goal and a couple more secondary assists. That’s 14 points in 8 games.