10 - Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Pair of weekend goals a reminder of
the importance of the little things
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - Notre Dame goalie
David Brown faced 11 first-period
shots alone Saturday night. On most
occasions, his
defense quick- NOTEBOOK
ly cleared any
rebound out of the zone to prevent
second-chance opportunities.
But when the Irish defense failed
to bottle up these rebounds, the
Wolverines took advantage by scor-
ing their lone goal of the game.
In the final seconds of the first
period, sophomore Jack Johnson's
shot on Brown from the right circle
was deflected to the slot, where
junior Kevin Porter launched the
loose puck past Brown.
In the playoffs, a forward pok-
ing a loose puck into the goal or the
defenseman not cradling a rebound
can end or extend a team's season.
"We know that, it's no big secret,"
senior Jason Dest said of second-
chance opportunities. "It's just a
matter of doing it. The team that
buries (its) chances, (it's) going to
get the momentum and take it from
there."
When Notre Dame lit the lamp
for the first time, it also came on a
loose puck near the net.
Michigan goalie Billy Sauer
deflected Notre Dame freshman
Kevin Deeth's shot, which was
going from the red line toward left
side of the goal to the other side of
the crease. Unfortunately for Sauer,
sophomore Erik Condra was in a
perfect position to poke the puck
past the Wolverine netminder.
In a one-goal game, two loose
pucks around the net could be the
difference between advancing and
going home.
Offensive p-killers: When Michi-
gan played Notre Dame twice in
December, the Irish power play
played the Wolverines' penalty kill
to the tune of five goals.
So when the Irish had six power-
play opportunities in the CCHA
Championship game this weekend,
logic would point to an Irish advan-
tage.
But it actually looked like the
Wolverines were on the man advan-
tage.
The 42nd-ranked Michigan pen-
alty kill silenced the 17th-ranked
Notre Dame power play in the 10:16
it was on the ice this weekend and
generated some quality chances
offensively.
The Wolverines have created
more shorthanded scoring chances
than any penalty kill unit this sea-
son. Michigan leads the nation in
shorthanded goals (14).
Senior David Rohlfs hit the post
on a shorthanded rush in the middle
of the first period that would've put
Michigan ahead early in the game.
"I thought we were good on the
penalty kill, and we had some really
good scoring chances on the pen-
alty kill and again didn't capitalize,"
Berenson said. "The kind of play-
ers that we use on our penalty kill,
they're quick to take advantage of
loose pucks."
Added Notre Dame coach Jeff
Jackson: "It definitely makes them
a threat any time they're on the ice.
That's something that we'll deal
with over time but right now, its
immaterial to me."
Unlike earlier in the season, the
penalty kill unit prevented Notre
Dame from setting up its offense.
Later in the game, the Michigan
penalty killers forced Notre Dame
to pass in the zone for nearly a min-.
ute without creating a solid scoring
chance.
The improvement comes just in
time to face North Dakota's No. 3
power play.
More than a game: At the end of
Thursday practices, the Michigan
hockey team plays a game to prac-
tice penalty shots.
Once a goalie is beaten, another
netminder steps between the pipes.
When a shooter fails to score, he
is eliminated.
The practice game paid off for
goalie Billy Sauer this weekend
when he stopped the first penalty
shot of his career midway through
the first period of Friday's CCHA
Tournament semifinal against
Michigan State.
Spartan forward Justin
Abdelkader was clipped from
behind by Johnson, sending the
Spartan star crashing into Sauer to
setup the penalty shot.
In the lull before the showdown,
Michigan captain Matt Hunwick
skated over to the sophomore net-
minder to pass on some advice from
Berenson, who wanted Sauer to be
aggressive and everything would
work itself out.
Abdelkader carried the puck
across the right side of center ice,
faked a forehand shot at the left edge
of the right circle, pulled it back and
then tried to go through Sauer's five
hole. But the Walworth, N.Y., native
stopped the attempt with his right
leg pad.
"We had the power play and giv-
ing them any momentum (can be)
huge," Sauer said. "To keep it at 0-0
was definitely a good thing."
TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Junior Kevin Porter was the recepient ofa favorable bounce in Michigan's 2-1 loss to
Notre Dame on Saturday. Despite the early good fortune, Porter and his teammates
were on the bad-luck end for the rest ofthe game, as the Irish got breaks of their own.
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