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

 

What just happened (TL;DR): In what was clearly Michigan’s best single performance of the year, Michigan just dominated and finished Michigan State in all phases on Friday night. The Wolverines got FOUR power play goals, a shorthanded goal, and then two even strength goals to take three points at Munn. Also, apparently sending about eight dudes to the showers early breaks the stats/shot tracking system.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Michigan State	The	Stats	System	Broke	Tonight
Michigan	Hopefully	It’ll	Be	Back	Tomorrow

Forward Notes.

-Michigan’s speed, skill, and puck control were turned up to eleven on Friday night at Munn. The Wolverines created chances in transition, cycled the puck, and got shooters open all over the ice. I don’t even need to see actual numbers to feel confident of that. They won this game early, and blew the Spartan doors off late.

-Not to step on the last section, but the Wolverines created bushels of OMRs, finishing two of them. They looked like the more prepared team. Their compete level never waivered. They finished the game without a real letdown.

-Michigan also went with the Hero Line approach, putting Frank Nazar, Gavin Brindley, and Rutger McGroarty all on the same line. It definitely worked tonight. I think it is something that can continue, as long as they produce. Michigan didn’t get any in-zone even strength goals, but won the game on special teams and in transition. Before the injuries, I thought that the Nazar/Schifsky and Brindley/Rutger pairings were two solid lines. Guys can be fit around them, there are plenty of guys for a solid fourth line…then you just need the right combo for the third/depth line. This will be something to monitor going forward.

Defense Notes.

-This was the best defensive performance of the year. After a couple of early bobbles in the opening minutes, Michigan State never really truly threatened at even strength (aside from a couple of giveaways that will be discussed soon). The Wolverines also kept their House clean. They cleared loose pucks and rebounds. These were the sticking points during the first half that just never seemed to get adjusted. It’s only one game, but it was against a very dangerous offensive team. Michigan just shut them down. Do it again.

-One point that must be talked about a little bit is Jacob Truscott. Ugh, he is the one guy who almost got MSU back into the game. He had at least 3-4 very poor giveaways that probably should have lead to at least a goal. Jake Barczewski came up massive on the most egregious one. Truscott was never the most dangerous offensive defenseman, so holding his own in his end needs to be where he makes his hay. He’s been a very solid player throughout his career, so he should hopefully bounce back. Just not his best night.

-Watching Seamus Casey with the puck is probably my favorite part of this team. They definitely have some Dudes, but Casey skating, creating, and vision are maybe the best combination that I’ve seen wear the Block M. It was on display again on Friday night with a super slick set up to Dylan Duke and just another smooth toe-drag to create space for his goal. Just special with the puck. He also made a couple of very nice noticeable defensive plays, as well!

-Ethan Edwards played against a real opponent for the first time since Tampa, last Spring. He didn’t look out of place, but didn’t do anything extraordinary either. That’s fine. It will come. Having him back should only be a boon for the team.

-Steve Holtz rag-dolled Artyom Levshunov in a fake college hockey fight. That was an enjoyable watch.

 

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots/Minute
Michigan State	0/3	not enough	Not as good a ratio
Michigan	4/8	enough	A good ratio

**Stats were frozen with a few minutes to go in the game, so there is not Final Box, right now**

Power Play. In a battle of very good power plays, Michigan’s came to play on Friday night. Dylan Duke had two on the evening. He had a nice finish after Seamus Casey created the play by getting below the goal line and finding him open in front. Dylan also skate-redirected a Gavin Brindley shot from a sharp angle for the Wolverines’ fourth goal of the contest. Nick Moldenhauer fired a shot through an MSU screen to beat Trey Augustine. Finally, Seamus Casey toe-dragged a Spartan to get alone in the slot, and his extra point was good, giving Michigan a 7-1 victory.

Penalty Kill. If Michigan’s power play was lethal, Michigan State’s was anemic. Michigan’s penalty kill also looked much improved. The Spartans created a couple of decent looks, one open chance from inside the dot…but that’s about it. Michigan kept State to the perimeter most of the time, and then even created their own offense. Frank Nazar won the puck along the offensive boards and backhanded a JJ-to-Roman-esque pass to Kienan Draper gliding down the slot who finished his chance. Michigan also got loose a couple more times to get solid looks at Trey Augustine. Down a man, they did just about everything right.

 

All the right moves in all the right places (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Michigan State Shots Faced (House)
First Period	8	11
Second Period	5	10
Third Period	10	14
Overtime	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	23	35

Notes. Jake Barczewski started in net and looked very solid. While he made 22 saves, not many of them were extremely dangerous. Michigan did a good job protecting him and Barczewski was able to do his part and keep pucks out of the net. That has been the narrative on him all season. If you play well and defend around him, Jake is more than capable of doing the rest. He did that again, tonight. He even made a couple of Hero Saves after a few Truscott DZTOs. Barzo also came up big on the first penalty kill, deleting a few sharp angle shots, including a very nice kick save. He did let in one squeaker late in the third after everyone remotely associated with this game was just begging for it to be called early. Eh, well.

 

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Defense	Rushes	Advs	Escape%	Offense	Rushes	Advs	Scoring%
1st Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		2	1v0 x2	50%
2nd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		1	1v0	0%
3rd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		3	2v1 x2, 3v2	0%
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	n/a	n/a	n/a		6	1v0 x3, 2v1 x2, 3v2	17%

Notes. Michigan State got absolutely shut out in transition. Michigan did a great job managing their gaps and staying positionally sound.

Michigan just dissected the Spartans. Their speed and passing ability created three breakaways in just over 20 minutes. Rutger McGroarty finished a great stretch pass from Tyler Duke to start the scoring. Draper got a breakaway. So did Brindley. TJ Hughes finished a 3v2 that Josh Eernisse started by blowing past everyone and getting the puck to the front. This was quite an impressive showing of speed and skill.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ll be honest. I did NOT see that coming. I didn’t think that Michigan couldn’t win at Munn (although they have had trouble over the years), but I didn’t think they’d absolutely PUNK MSU. I was just impressed with all facets of the game. They were ready, motivated, and focused. Then, they executed down to the minor details. If they stay sound in their own end and carry that to the penalty kill…to quote Jordan “The ceiling is the roof.” Or something like that. They’ve dug a deep enough hole in the Big Ten that winning the regular season is probably a pipe dream (2nd place, maybe too). However, tightening up loose ends like they did tonight will go a long way to making this team the worst matchup come March. First though, they need to back up this performance tomorrow night at 7pm at Yost. BTN-.