6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 22, 2004
LINE OF THE WEEK
Brandon Kaleniecki
Forward
Saturday vs. Michigan State
I Goal, 1 Assist, 8 Shots
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
I did hit it out of the air, so there
was some talent involved."
- Michigan forward Milan Gajic com-
menting on his first-period goal.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Drew Miller
(Michigan State)
Miller scored two goals in the first
period on Saturday. Although his
efforts weren't enough to earn the
win, he got the best of Al Montoya.
T.J. Hensick
(Michigan)
Hensick posted three points Saturday
night, on two goals and an assist. Both
goals were spectacular, as Hensick used
swift skating to beat Dominic Vicari.
SATURDAY'S GAME
S Michigan State Spartans 4
Slater, Miller (2), Goldie
Struggling scorers all capitalize against State
Michigan Wolverines
Kaleniecki, Gajic,
Hensick (2), Nystrom
5
Michigan 5, Michigan State 4
Michigan St. 4 0 0 - 4
Michigan 3 2 0 - 5
First period - 1. MSU, Jim Slater 4 (Jim McK-
enzie, Corey Porter) 0:30; 2. MICH, Brandon
Kaleniecki 2 (Andrew Ebbett, Milan Gajic) 2:15;
3. MICH, Milan Gajic 6 (Brandon Kaleniecki, T.J.
Hensick) 5:09; 4. MSU, Drew Miller 4 (Chris
Snavely, Chris Mueller) 6:12; 5. MSU, Drew Miller
5 (Jim Slater, Tyler Howells) 14:44; 6. MICH, T.J.
Hensick 5 (unassisted) 16:14; 7. MSU, Ash Goldie
6 (Jim McKenzie, David Booth) 17:43. Penalties
- Jim McKenzie, MSU (obstruction-holding) 2:44;
Corey Potter, MSU (holding the stick) 4:47; Bryan
Lerg, MSU (CTH, high sticking) 11:09; David
Moss, MICH (interference) 14:00; Jason Ryznar,
MICH (hit after whistle) 16:42; Corey Potter, MSU
(hit after whistle) 16:42; Chad Kolarik, MICH
(cross-checking) 16:42; Corey Potter, MSU (HAW
instigator) 16:42; Chad Kolarik, MICH (CTH, high
sticking) 16:42.
Second period -8. MICH, T.J. Hensick 6 (Eric
Werner, Jeff Tambellini) 10:48; 9. MICH, Eric
Nystrom 3 (Jason Ryznar, Chad Kolarik) 12:21.
Penalties-Nick Martens, MICH (roughing)
2:07; A.J. Thelen, MSU (boarding) 3:10; TEAM,
MSU (too many on ice) 3:58; Mike Brown, MICH
(obstruction-hooking) 8:20; Nick Martens, MICH
(CTH roughing) 12:42; Mike Brown, MICH (hit
after whistle) 20:00; Jim Slater, MSU (hit after
whistle) 20:00; Brandon Kaleniecki, MICH (hit
after whistle) 20:00; Jared Nightingale, MSU (hit
after whistle) 20:00.
Third periodr- none. Penalties - Jeff Tambellini,
MICH (CTH roughing) 4:19; Jim Slater, MSU (high
sticking) 15:54; Eric Werner, MICH (high stick-
ing) 15:54.
Shots on goal: MSU 12-7-5 24; MICH 13-11-7 31. Power
plays: MSU 2 of 6; MICH 1 of 5. Saves - MSU,
Dominic Vicari (10-9-7) -26; MICH, Al Montoya
(8-7-5) -20.
Referee: Mark Wilkins. Linesmen: John LaDuke,
Tony Molina.
At: Yost Ice Arena
Attendance: 6,921.
By Ian Herbert
Daily Sports Writer
After Saturday's hockey game against
Michigan State, one conclusion was pretty
clear: Sophomore T.J. Hensick, with two goals
and an assist, was Michigan's most impressive
player. Coach Red Berenson even called him
"the player of the game."
But Michigan's win wouldn't have been pos-
sible without the help of three forwards who
hadn't scored in a while: junior Brandon Kale-
niecki, senior Milan Gajic and senior captain
Eric Nystrom. These three are among the most
reliable scorers for the Wolverines - Kalen-
iecki even led the team in goals last year with
20 - and all of them have had trouble finding
the twine recently. In fact, until Saturday, none
of them had scored a goal yet in the month of
November.
Kaleniecki started the scoring off for the
Wolverines just two minutes into the game
with a scrappy goal. Already down 1-0 after
an early score by Michigan State captain Jim
Slater, Kaleniecki found himself in front of
the net with the puck on his stick. He managed
to squeeze the puck through the legs of goalie
Dominic Vicari to tie the game.
"We have got to get (Kaleniecki) going
because he's having a real tough time right
now," Gajic said. "I mean, that's what he does
- he scores goals. He's working his tail off.
He's working hard, and he's getting chances,
but they just aren't going in."
After getting his first shot to go in on Sat-
urday, Kaleniecki got another opportunity just
two minutes later. Hensick fed him in the high
slot, and Kaleniecki fired a one-timer at the
net. The shot went off of Vicari's mask but
right to Gajic, who hit it out of the air into the
net and gave Michigan a 2-1 lead just 4:06 into
the first period.
Gajic said that the plan coming into Yost
on Saturday was to get Kaleniecki scoring.
Berenson even moved Kaleniecki to a line
with Gajic and junior centerman Andrew
Ebbett and put him in on Michigan's first
power play line, in an attempt to spark his
offensive production. The two-point night
was a good start for the junior. Before Sat-
urday, Kaleniecki had managed to score just
three points in 11 games so far this season,
with his only goal coming on Oct. 21 against
Lake Superior State.
"He led our team in goals last year, and he's
a big part of our power play, too," Gajic said.
But Kaleniecki wasn't the only struggling-
but-talented goal-scorer to have a good night.
Gajic's goal was his first since a game against
Ferris State on Oct. 29. He had started the
season off quickly, even scoring the team's
first goal of the season, and earned 10 points
through the first month of the season. But he
has struggled to get on the scorer's sheet as
of late.
"I don't want (Kaleniecki, Gajic and Nys-
trom) to worry about scoring, but they know
that that's part of their job and part of their
contribution to the team," Berenson said.
The last scorer to rejuvenate himself with
a goal this weekend was Nystrom, and his
goal ended up being the most important. At
12:21 of the second period, freshman Chad
Kolarik found his linemate, senior Jason
Ryznar, at the blue line on the left side of the
ice. Ryznar brought the puck into the zone,
and it looked like he was going to give it
back to Kolarik right in front of the net. But
instead, he passed it behind Kolarik to the
trailing Nystrom. Nystrom took advantage of
the setup and put a wrister over the glove of
Vicari.
"Everything was going in (for them), and I
was getting pretty down on myself," Nystrom
said. "And luckily, I got that one chance to
make a difference, and I had a clean shot."
Nystrom's goal was his first since a tally
against St. Lawrence on Oct. 16 - Michigan's
first series of the year. It was his third goal of
the season, and it gave Michigan a 5-4 lead
and the eventual win.
After the game, all of the focus was on the
sweep of archrival Michigan State. But for the
Wolverines, getting three of the players who
are usually some of their most frequent point-
earners onto the scorer's sheet may have been
just as important to the team's success.
"It obviously feels nice every time you can
get a goal," Kaleniecki said. "But I wasn't too
worried about it. Right now, we're playing
State, so I was more worried about just play-
ing the game."
i*
Player
Hensick
Tambellini
Gajic
Moss
Werner
Ebbett
Ryznar
Kolarik
Porter
Nystrom
Rohlfs
Kaleniecki
Hunwick
Martens
Rogrs ;
Brown
Woodford
Dest
Cook
Montoya
Ruden
Player
Montoya
Ruden
GP
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
9
11
12
12
12
12
11
5
12
12
12
1
GP
12
1
STATS
G A Pts
6 10 16
6 8 14
6 6 12
3 7 10
3 7 10
2 8 10
2 6 8
4 3 7
3 3 6
3 2 5
3 2 5
2 3 5
1 4 5
1 4 5
1 2 3.
2 0 2
1 1 2
0 1 1
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
+/- PIM Sht
+3 8 41
+7 8 60
+1 20 32
+4 8 26
+4 14 15
+5 8 32
+1 12 21
+2 12 27
+4 20 16
+3 21 13
+7 4 13
+4 12 40
+4 22 10
+6 10 11
+8,34,2
+1 18 21
+2 6 6
+6 16 16
+4 16 3
-- 16 0
0 0
GAA PCT
2.40 .901
0.00 .000
Junior Brandon Kaleniecki (14) got back on track Saturday after struggling recently.
OFF THE DRAW
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CCHA STANDINGS
Team
CCHA Overall
a uan vvaaa-a vV iuim
Ohio State
Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha
Alaska-Fairbanks
Bowling Green
Northern Mich.
Lake Superior
Western Michigan
Miami (OH)
Michigan State
Notre Dame
Ferris State
7-2-1
7-1-0
5-4-1
4-2-0
3-2-1
3-2-1
3-4-1
3-6-1
3-5-0
3-5-0
1-4-3
1-6-1
9-4-1
9-2-1
7-4-1
5-3-0
6-3-1
5-3-2
3-6-1
5-6-1
5-7-0
5-6-1
2-5-4
4-9-1
- Skating w/ puck " Skating w/o puck " * * Pass - - Shot
How it happened: Jason Ryznar and Chad Kolarik made
this play happen, but in the end, Eric Nystrom was the one who
got credit for the game-winning goal on Saturday. Kolarik gave
Ryznar the puck at the blue line and then skated to the slot.
Ryznar brought the puck into the zone and saw Kolarik in front
of the net. But so did the State defense. Ryznar decided instead
to pass the puck back to his captain, Nystrom. Nystrom collect-
ed the puck and fired a shot high, over the glove of Dominic
Vicari.
Analysis: This ended up being the game-winning goal, just
12:21 into the second period. After the first period, no one at
Yost thought that the game-winner would come this early. The
credit for this goal has to go to Ryznar, who passed up the easy
option, Kolarik, for the better look.
FRIDAY'S RESULTS:
Western Michigan 2, MIAMI (OH) 1
NEBRASKA-OMAHA 4, Ohio State O
Ferris State 2, LAKE SUPERIOR 2
SATURDAY'S RESULTS:
MICHIGAN 5, Michigan State 4
Wayne State 9, BOWLING GREEN 3
Ohio State 4, NEBRASKA-OMAHA 4
LAKE SUPERIOR 5, Ferris State 4
MIAMI (OH) 4, Western Michigan 1
SPARTANS
Continued from page 16
the latter stages of the first period,
Hensick gathered the puck deep in
his zone. He skated out and sped
through the neutral zone untouched.
He and Kolarik sped into the Spar-
tans' zone, but Hensick saw an
opening and skated towards the net
himself. He deked to the left, in
front of Vicari, and slid the puck
into the net, tying the game at three.
It was Hensick's first of two goals
on the night.
"I thought that (Vicari) was going
to poke-check me," Hensick said. "But
he stayed in the butterfly, so that gave
me a chance to get around (him)."
Hensick's end-to-end scoring
effort certainly caught the eye of
his coach.
"I thought the player of the game
was T.J. Hensick, with the way he
just took over the game at times,"
Berenson said. "And a kid like that,
he's still only 18 years old. And he
just took charge of that game."
Michigan State center Ash Gold-
ie answered Hensick's goal before
the first intermission and the teams
went to their respective locker
rooms to regroup and get their
defenses in order with Michigan
State ahead, 4-3.
shots in the second and third peri-
ods combined.
"Coach kind of came in and
chewed (the defense) out after the
first period," Nystrom said. "But
sometimes you need that little kick
in the butt to get you going. And
from that point on, they did a great
job just playing simple hockey, and
that's when we're at our best - just
chipping it out (and) chipping it in.
We had a relentless forecheck going
in the second and third. And that's
the type of hockey we have to play
if we want to be successful."
Hensick's second goal was almost
as sensational as his first. He took
a pass from senior defenseman Eric
Werner and skated to the net with the
puck on his stick once again. This
time, Hensick juked right instead of
left and beat Vicari for his second
goal and third point of the game.
"Their team speed is so tough to
defense against all the time," Mich-
igan State coach Rick Comley said.
Junior forward Brandon Kale-
niecki opened the scoring for .the
Wolverines just two minutes into
the game and senior forward Milan
Gajic scored a power play goal off
a rebound just minutes later to give
Michigan a 2-1 advantage.
Michigan State sophomore for-
ward Drew Miller answered with
two goals of his own - one of
which came on the power play
- but Michigan shut him and the
rest of the Spartan offense down for
the final 40 minutes to secure the
weekend sweep.
"(The sweep) was good, and it
was hard-earned," Berenson said.
"These two teams are both going
to compete for first place (in the
CCHA). It may not look like it
right now with Michigan State,
but they're a good team and down
the road, you're going to see them
bounce back."
0
0
DAVID TUMAN/Daily
Minnesota captain Judd Stevens.
UP NEXT:
MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN
The Wolverines go on the road for the 12th
annual College Hockey Showcase. The team
is in for quite a struggle as it travels to take
on two of the best teams in the country. On
HOW THE USCHO TOP 15 FARED
USCHO Poll for the week of Nov. 15
Games updated through Sunday
Team:
1. Boston College
2. Michigan
3. Minnesota
Last week:
lost to Harvard 3-1, tied Prov. 2-2
beat Michigan State 4-2, 5-4
beat Denver 5-4, lost to Denver 5-2
This week:
Holy Cross
At Minnesota, at Wisconsin
Michigan, Michigan State