The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
December 14, 2015 — 3B

‘M’ starts series with win 

By KEVIN SANTO

Daily Sports Writer

Thirty seconds had ticked off 

the clock at Yost Ice Arena, and 
the game was already tied at one.

Welcome to Michigan hockey.
The Wolverines opened the 

scoring 
16 

seconds into 
the 
frame, 

when junior 
forward Tyler Motte fired a slap 
shot into the bottom-right corner 
of the net. It was a start Michigan 
only could have dreamed of in its 
rematch with Minnesota — the 
team that dashed the Wolverines’ 
hopes of making the NCAA 
Tournament last March.

But 
their 
excitement 
was 

short-lived.

Just 
14 
seconds 
later, 

Minnesota 
forward 
Hudson 

Fasching responded with a goal of 
his own to even the score at one.

From 
there, 
the 
scoring 

continued like it has all year at 
Yost Ice Arena, as No. 9 Michigan 
cruised to an 8-3 victory against 
Minnesota behind a three-goal 
surge in the second period.

“(The scoring), it’s not all 

confidence,” said Michigan coach 
Red Berenson. “We’re putting 
our chances in. Sometimes it goes 
in too easy, and maybe this was 
one of those nights. (Minnesota) 
will be better tomorrow, and we 
have to be better. We have to go 
home now and put this game 
behind us, which is hard to do 
because everybody is going to be 
talking to our players about how 
good they were.”

Thanks to sophomore forward 

Dexter Dancs — who picked up a 
loose puck after a scrum in front of 
the net and found twine from the 
top of the crease 6:30 into the first 
frame — the Wolverines (2-0-1-1 
Big Ten, 9-2-3 overall) ended the 
first period with a 2-1 advantage.

After Dancs’ finish, the frame 

was surprisingly quiet compared 
to its opening.

Michigan effectively prevented 

Minnesota from setting up in 

the offensive zone, limiting the 
Golden Gophers (2-1-0-0, 6-8-0) 
to just four shots.

The 
handful 
of 
times 

that Minnesota did have an 
opportunity to establish itself, 
though, 
the 
Golden 
Gophers 

looked dangerous — passing well 
and getting quality shots on junior 
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort.

Nagelvoort was good enough 

throughout 
the 
game 
for 

Michigan to hold down the 
victory, accumulating 22 saves on 
25 shots. At times, the netminder 
committed costly turnovers and 
made questionable decisions. 
But he conceded only one goal 
in the first 10 minutes of the 
second period, when Minnesota 
peppered the net with shots.

The Golden Gophers opened 

the 
frame 
with 
newfound 

energy 
and 
buried 
the 

equalizing goal off the stick of 
forward Tyler Sheehy.

The Wolverines ensured that 

energy wouldn’t last too long.

Michigan 
responded 
with 

three 
unanswered 
goals, 

the first of which came in a 
spectacular fashion from senior 
center Boo Nieves.

Nieves picked up the puck 

at the defensive blue line and 
went on a tear down the ice, 
leaving Minnesota defensemen 
dumbfounded in his wake. The 
veteran 
deked 
three 
Golden 

Gophers before finishing it over 
goaltender 
Eric 
Schierhorn’s 

shoulder to give the Wolverines a 
3-2 lead.

“That was huge,” Berenson 

said. “It’s an individual effort, but 
when (Nieves) got through their 
defense and scored, you could just 
feel that pick our team up. Sure 
enough, we scored the next shift, 
and away we went.

“I have always thought he’s a 

better player than he thought he 
was, and I think he’s gonna live up 
to my expectations.”

After Nieves’ one-man show, 

freshman forward Kyle Connor 
buried Minnesota in an even 
deeper hole. The rookie tacked on 

a goal of his own just 15 seconds 
after Nieves did by putting a 
rebound from junior forward 
Tyler Motte’s shot into the net. 

Connor wouldn’t be stopped 

there, either, as he lit the lamp for 
the second time just over three 
minutes later.

After allowing his fifth goal 

of the night, Schierhorn was 
replaced by sophomore Nick 
Lehr. 
Roughly 
two 
minutes 

after 
the 
change, 
Fasching 

finally stopped the bleeding for 
Minnesota, scoring his second 
goal of the night to cut Michigan’s 
lead to two.

Though the Golden Gophers 

suffered the same fate as most 
teams do when faced with stopping 
the Wolverines’ explosive offense, 
they did improve offensively in 
the second frame themselves — 
outshooting Michigan 11-9.

But 
that 
was 
simply 
a 

consolation prize for Minnesota, 
as the two-goal deficit was the 

closest the Golden Gophers came 
for the rest of the contest.

Motte and junior center Max 

Shuart rubbed salt in Minnesota’s 
wound 2:44 and 13:51 into the 
third period, respectively. The pair 
combined to score the Wolverines’ 
first two goals of the frame, before 
Connor completed his hat trick 
with 3:10 left on the clock.

The Golden Gophers entered 

Yost Ice Arena having ended 
Michigan’s season in the Big 
Ten Tournament last year. And 
the Wolverines had to wait eight 
months to get what they have 
wanted since that moment.

“It’s tough not making the 

tournament since we’ve been 
here,” Nieves said. “But this 
season’s definitely looking up, and 
we want to keep it going.”

And behind the offense that 

just keeps on scoring, Michigan 
gave itself a new memory of the 
Golden Gophers it is sure to be 
fond of.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Kyle Connor recorded a hat trick in Michigan’s win over Minnesota Friday night.

Michigan splits series after 
lapse in Saturday’s contest

By JASON RUBINSTEIN

Daily Sports Editor

Diagnosing 
the 
Michigan 

hockey 
team’s 
identity 
has 

become nearly impossible.

Are 
the 

Wolverines 
a team that 
can 
erase 

three-goal leads at the snap 
of a finger? Or are they a team 
that will allow three-plus goals 
in a single period? What about 
nights where the nation’s top 
offense can muster only one goal 
against a much-lesser opponent 
in Dartmouth?

No one really knows the 

anatomy 
of 
the 
Wolverines 

(2-1-1-1 Big Ten, 9-3-3 overall). 
Even this far into the season. 
And not much is clearer after 
Michigan’s 3-2 loss to Minnesota 
on Saturday.

“Minnesota played with more 

conviction, they played harder and 

they got the lead,” said Michigan 
coach Red Berenson. “When they 
got that second goal, that was a 
higher hill to climb than maybe 
its been in previous weeks, and we 
just couldn’t climb it.”

Heading 
in 
to 
Saturday’s 

contest, Michigan couldn’t have 
felt comfortable. Even after putting 
up a snowball against the Gophers 
(3-1-0-0, 7-8-0) the night before 
— winning 8-3 — the past had to 
cross the Wolverines’ minds.

“Some nights the puck goes 

in too easy,” Berenson said on 
Friday, “and maybe this was one 
of those nights.”

Berenson’s 
comment 

stems from his team’s past 
performances during the second 
leg of a home series. Six weeks 
ago on Friday, Michigan came 
from two goals behind to beat 
Robert Morris, 5-3, before losing 
on Saturday, 4-0. Three weeks 
ago on Friday, the Wolverines 
dismantled 
Dartmouth, 
7-0, 

before coasting to a 1-1 tie a day 
later. And last Friday, Michigan 
erased a three-goal deficit to beat 
Wisconsin, 6-4, before tying the 
same team 6-6 the next night.

And 
Berenson’s 
sentiment 

held true on Saturday.

“Last night, it was going in too 

easy, I told you,” Berenson said. 
“And tonight, it was not going in.”

The Wolverines, who have 

come out with strong starts 
the previous two weekends, 
struggled to find any semblance 
of offense in the first frame. 
And unlike the night before, 
Minnesota had no trouble doing 
the opposite.

Jake 
Bischoff 
opened 
the 

night’s scoring on the Golden 
Gophers’ first power-play chance. 
The 
defenseman 
rifled 
one 

from the blue line, and junior 
netminder Zach Nagelvoort never 
saw the puck. It didn’t take long 
for Bischoff to be heavily involved 
in a scoring play for a second time. 

Three minutes later, like he did 
on his first tally, Bischoff found 
the puck at the top of the slot and 
fired it toward the net. Forward 
Hudson 
Fasching, 
who 
was 

screening Nagelvoort, ultimately 
redirected the puck home.

And just when it seemed 

like Michigan had any sort of 
momentum 
when 
freshman 

Kyle 
Connor 
scored 
with 

seven minutes left in the first 
period, 
junior 
defenseman 

Michael Downing was ejected 
after laying a massive hit on 
Minnesota 
forward 
Connor 

Reilly. Berenson wasn’t pleased 
with 
the 
referees’ 
decision, 

calling the call “disappointing.”

Michigan was able to kill 

the five-minute penalty, but 
those were five minutes the 
Wolverines 
couldn’t 
pester 

netminder Eric Schierhorn, who 
was pulled Friday.

It looked like Michigan would 

have control of the game, and all 
of the momentum, early in the 
third period when Connor scored 
his second goal of the game — his 
fifth of the series. And that had 
Berenson smiling.

“He’s really, really starting 

to find himself now,” Berenson 
said. “I’ve always thought that 
freshmen usually take about half a 
year in, and then after Christmas 
they take off. And he’s starting to 
take off, so good for him.”

But Berenson’s smile quickly 

turned the other way on the very 
next shift when forward Vinni 
Lettieri put one past Nagelvoort 
on a point-blank chance.

“When they got that goal, 

the timing could not have been 
worse,” Berenson said.

Lettieri’s tally sealed the game 

and for the fourth straight home 
series, Michigan was unable to 
complete a weekend sweep.

So for now, the trend of 

Michigan 
playing 
sloppy 

Saturday games will continue 
and the opportunity to sing 
“The Victors” — a tradition after 
sweeping a series — will have to 
wait until 2016.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Red Berenson lamented that his team has had trouble stringing together consecutive solid performances in weekend series.

Eliminating head 
contact in hockey

By JUSTIN MEYER

Daily Sports Writer

With eight minutes to play 

in the second period of the 
Michigan hockey team’s game 
Saturday night, junior forward 
JT Compher stood at center 
ice flailing his arms in an 
animated fashion at the official. 
Another referee pushed Michael 
Downing toward the exit behind 
Michigan’s net while the junior 
defenseman hollered at the rest 
of the officiating crew.

It was a scene that college 

hockey 
fans 
have 
become 

familiar with.

The loudspeaker announced 

the call — contact to the head 
— and Downing received an 
automatic five-minute major and 
game misconduct penalty. The 
Wolverines’ defensive rock was 
tossed mid-comeback.

Minnesota won the game, 3-2, 

splitting the weekend series.

The advent of concussion 

research brought forth a variety 
of suggestions for reducing 
dangerous hits in contact sports. 
Today, automatic ejections are 
in vogue.

Division I football reached 

its own apex of controversy 
this season with hard-to-define 
targeting rules. In football, a 
player is automatically ejected 
for “contact to the head or neck 
area of a defenseless opponent.” 
Senior linebacker Joe Bolden 
was the subject of such a call 
during the Michigan football 
team’s loss to Michigan State 
this season.

While the targeting rule has 

been widely lambasted for a lack of 
clarity, the success of the contact-
to-the-head rule in NCAA hockey 
is still up for debate.

Positive signs include year-

over-year declines in penalty 
minutes at the Division I level. 
Also comforting is the evidence 
of a rapid return to a normal rate 
of game misconduct penalties. 
When the NHL adjusted its 
rulebook, it saw a dramatic 
spike for only one year — about 
30 percent in 2010 — before 
settling back to historically 
normal levels.

But some still feel that the 

penalty doesn’t fit the crime.

It’s 
unfair 
to 
say 
that 

Downing’s ejection was the 
reason Michigan lost. Instead, 
it seemed to light a fire under 
the Wolverines, who killed off 
the long penalty and eventually 
evened the score at 2-2.

But it would also be wrong 

to deny the significance of 
the call, which left Michigan 
with just five defensemen and 
required 
junior 
defenseman 

Nolan De Jong to play in extra-
attacker scenarios.

Michigan coach Red Berenson 

said after the game that the call 
was “disappointing.” The players 
didn’t use it as an excuse.

But was the game better off 

because of the dramatic call?

Minnesota 
was 
flat-out 

embarrassed Friday night to 
open 
the 
series. 
Freshman 

goaltender 
Eric 
Schierhorn 

posted an abysmal .667 save 
percentage, and the Gophers 
looked 
helpless 
as 
the 

Wolverines piled on eight goals.

Saturday, 
Minnesota 
was 

determined not to get pushed 
around.

Both teams came out hard in 

a game that featured 31 penalty 
minutes. In the early going, the 
contest was a sluggish affair 
because of sloppy passing and 
physical play in the corners. 
Bodies flew, the boards rattled 
and several hits took the breath 
out of the crowd.

For the most part, though, the 

refs were lenient when sending 
players to the box. It’s what 
made the Downing ejection 
such a surprise 
— the offending 

hit certainly wasn’t the worst of 
the game.

Downing himself went to 

the box earlier for breaking his 
stick on a slash across the back 
of a Minnesota player — a minor 
penalty 
was 
assessed. 
Later, 

the 
normally 
mild-mannered 

senior 
forward 
Boo 
Nieves 

took a Golden Gopher player to 
the ground following a cross-
checking bonanza in front of the 
net. Nieves received a two-minute 
minor as well.

Either offense might have 

warranted a more costly penalty, 
but 
Downing’s 
head 
contact 

penalty was the one that changed 
the game.

The NCAA updated the rule 

before the 2010-11 season. A few 
months 
later, 
Sidney 
Crosby 

sustained a concussion that would 
keep him out of the NHL for close 
to a year. That injury made rules 
of this sort more palatable, and 
may have permanently changed 
the conversation on concussions 
in the sport.

Downing 
received 
his 

game misconduct for a hit on 
Minnesota’s Connor Reilly. The 
replay makes apparent that, 
in the process of going for the 
big hit, Downing connected 
with Reilly’s head in an illegal 
manner. Reilly was shaken up for 
a second, but climbed gingerly 
to his feet and finished the game 
without any visible symptoms.

It was an awkward hit in 

which 
Michigan’s 
enforcer 

appeared to miss his mark 
due to last-second movement. 
Detractors would argue the 
game misconduct penalty was 
intended for use on a malicious 
play, not a questionable hit.

Downing has had trouble 

in this area before. He was 
suspended 
three 
times 
last 

season, earning him an extra-
game suspension as a repeat 
offender. Two weeks ago, while 
talking about his timing on big 
hits, he said he was working to 
stay on the ice this year.

But with automatic ejections, 

trying just isn’t good enough.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Michael Downing was ejected from Michigan’s loss Saturday night.

MINNESOTA
MICHIGAN 

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MINNESOTA
MICHIGAN 

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