2B — January 11, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

that was Michigan’s offense.

Michigan 
State 
notched 

its first goal 4:27 into the 
first frame off the stick of 
defenseman Dylan Pavelek.

The Wolverines were caught 

in the middle of a line change, 
and Pavelek came away with a 
breakaway goal to show for it.

Despite 
the 
single 
lapse, 

Michigan’s defense was sharp 
throughout the first frame — 
ensuring Pavelek’s goal would be 
the only one the Spartans could 
muster before the Wolverines’ 
offense broke through.

Yet Michigan struggled to 

create scoring chances, as the 
Wolverines tallied just one shot on 
goal in the opening ten minutes.

Michigan 
managed 
to 

weather the storm while its 
offense sputtered, eventually 
getting the spark they needed 
from Dancs.

Dancs’ 
goal 
appeared 
to 

give Michigan new life, as its 
offensive production exploded 

to open the second period.

Two minutes into the frame 

sophomore defenseman Zach 
Werenski drove a shot at net. 
Michigan State goaltender Jake 
Hildebrand made a good effort 
to deflect the puck, but freshman 
forward 
Cooper Marody 
jumped 
on 

it and lit the 
lamp to give 
Michigan 
its 

first lead of the 
game.

From 
that 

point, 
the 

Spartans 
trailed 
for 

the rest of the 
game.

Just 46 seconds later, junior 

defenseman Michael Downing 
converted a long wrist shot to 
give the Wolverines a 3-1 lead.

Werenski added a goal to 

his stat sheet as well — which 
prompted 
a 
violin-playing 

celebration that earned the 
fans’ cheers of approval — 
before junior forward Tyler 
Motte rounded out the scoring 

for Michigan.

But after jumping out to a 

5-1 lead and appearing to take 
control, unnecessary penalties 
doomed the Wolverines, as the 
Spartans closed the frame with 
two unanswered goals.

For 
a 

moment, 
it 

appeared 
Michigan 
was 
going 

to 
suffer 

through 
the 

same 
fate 

that 
has 

befallen them 
in 
Saturday 

matchups 
since October.

Michigan State was charging 

into the third period, and it 
was looking as if this would 
be another split series for the 
Wolverines.

But the two finishes would be 

the Spartans’ last of the night, as 
Michigan made a stout defensive 
stand for the entirety of the 
third period. Goaltender Steve 
Racine stood tall, facing seven 
shots in the third period and 
finishing with 24 total saves. 
The netminder was impressive 
all night, tallying a number 
of impressive glove saves and 
limiting 
dangerous 
second-

chance opportunities.

“I thought we had a great 

third period,” Racine said. “We 
knew they were going to come 
out hard. I think they had a 
couple of chances early. But we 
stuck with it. They had a couple 
power plays and we did a really 
good job on the kill. After that 
third goal we knew we had to 
bear down and we did a really 
good job in the third.”

Besides 
freshman 
forward 

Kyle 
Connor’s 
empty-net 

goal with 2:22 left to play, the 
Wolverines were held at bay 
once again in the third frame, 
as they tallied 14 shots but came 
away with only one goal to show 
for them.

With its six goals against the 

Spartans, Michigan finished 
the weekend with 15 goals in 
two games.

But more importantly, the 

Wolverines 
got 
over 
their 

biggest hurdle.

They closed out a series.
They were allowed to sing 

“The Victors.”

HOCKEY
From Page 1B

“That little bit 

of history, I 

challenged our 
team last night.”

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Sophomore defenseman Zach Werenski returned this weekend and denied the rumor that he is unhappy at Michigan.
Zach Werenski staying at 
Michigan despite reports

Sophomore D-man 

denies rumors 

that he is unhappy 
playing at Michigan

By JASON RUBINSTEIN

Daily Sports Writer

Zach 
Werenski 
said 
he 

was having the best time of 
his life at the World Junior 
Championships 
in 
Helsinki, 

Finland. After all, the junior 
defenseman was the United 
States’ captain.

Life was good for Werenski, 

free of distractions, and he 
wouldn’t have preferred to be 
in any other situation. Werenski 
tallied two goals and seven 
assists — the highest point 
total of a defenseman in the 
tournament — en route to being 
named the tournament’s best 
defenseman.

However, on New Year’s Day, 

a Columbus Dispatch article 

irked Werenski. The report said 
Werenski, the eighth pick in the 
2015 NHL Draft, was “unhappy 
in college and thinking of 
turning pro.”

That report is completely 

false, and Werenski called it a 
“terrible rumor.”

“It’s not something you want 

to see while 
scrolling 
through 
Twitter,” 
Werenski said. 
“But 
that’s 

why 
it’s 
a 

rumor and you 
push it off.

“I was kind 

of like, ‘What 
is this?’ when 
I read it and 
put it behind me. At that point, 
I stopped looking at Twitter the 
rest of the tournament.”

Werenski, who has five goals 

and eight assists this season, 
said he does not even know what 
he’s planning to do at the end of 
the season.

“I haven’t even thought about 

what I’m going to do at the end of 
this year,” Werenski said. “I want 
to win at Michigan. That’s my goal, 
and I came back to win a national 
championship, and I think we have 
the team to do that.”

A rumor like this could have 

boded poorly for Werenski, as 

it never looks 
good when a 
player 
wants 

to abandon his 
teammates. 
To solve that 
problem, 
he 

immediately 
sent 
a 
text 

in the team’s 
group chat.

“He put in 

our group chat 

that he is coming back happy 
as ever and we had no doubts 
about it,” said junior forward JT 
Compher.

Thus, 
all 
rumors 
about 

Werenski 
bolting 
Michigan 

should be put to rest. You heard 
it from him.

“I was kind of 
like, ‘What is 
this?’ when I 

read it.”

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

Forty-eight hours of fun

B

efore the Michigan hockey 
team scored six goals 
against Michigan State 

on Saturday 
to bring its 
weekend total 
to 15, before 
the Wolver-
ines erased 
their one-
goal deficit, 
before they 
even made 
their first line 
change, they 
set the tone 
for how the game was going to go.

In the first shift, Michigan 

State’s Mason Appleton had 
Michigan junior forward Tyler 
Motte lying on the ice in the 
corner of the Wolverines’ zone. 
Junior defenseman Nolan De 
Jong tried to pry Appleton off, 
but Appleton took his time 
getting up. When Motte finally 
got back on his feet, he and 
Appleton were still tangled up — 
and Motte flipped Appleton over 
on his backside.

Sixty minutes, 12 penalties 

and nine goals later, that 
moment felt insignificant. But it 
embodied the rest of the game: 
tight, physical and intense. By 
the final buzzer, Michigan had 
done what it hasn’t been able to 
do all season. It dominated not 
one but both games of the series, 
asserting superiority over its 
in-state rival.

The Wolverines emerged from 

the scrum the same way Motte 
did — skating away, with the 
opponent lying there on the ice.

“I like the fact that our team 

can play from behind and 
continue to play our game,” said 
Michigan coach Red Berenson. 
“And when the puck starts going 
in, we can take a team right out 
of the game.”

Was Michigan the better team? 

Absolutely. Should the Wolverines 
have expected to dominate a less 

talented Michigan State team? 
Probably. Would a hard-fought 
performance against a top-tier 
opponent have been better for 
Michigan’s NCAA Tournament 
resume? Sure.

But this week, Michigan State 

was on the schedule, so all the 
Wolverines could do was keep 
rolling at their rival’s expense.

The last time Michigan played 

the Spartans in a two-game 
series was last March. The 
Wolverines were the better team, 
just like this season. They went 
up to East Lansing on a Friday 
and took care of business, 5-3.

Then, they returned to Ann 

Arbor needing a Saturday 
win to share the Big Ten title 
with Minnesota and earn a 
first-round bye in the Big Ten 

Tournament. Instead, Michigan 
State goaltender Jake Hildebrand 
stopped 37 shots, and the 
Spartans escaped with a 2-1 upset. 
The Wolverines had to win three 
games in three days the following 
weekend 
to make 
the NCAA 
Tournament, 
and they fell 
short. Perhaps 
with a sweep of 
Michigan State 
and a bye in the 
tournament, 
things would 
have been 
different.

The sluggish Saturday 

performances recurred in the 
first half of this season. Going 

into this weekend, in six two-
game series, Michigan had 
dominated its opponents by a 
combined score of 34-17 in the 
series openers but had been 
outscored 18-16 in the finales.

Saturday’s 

game began to 
show similar 
signs. The 
Wolverines 
gave up the 
first goal after 
just 4:27 and 
remained 
behind for 
most of the 
first period.

But they tied the game 

toward the end of the first, 
took control in the second and 
coasted in the third. In the 

end, the better team won. And 
given how Michigan has played 
against lesser opponents this 
season — dropping a Saturday 
game against Robert Morris, 
4-0, and tying another against 
Dartmouth a month later — 
that’s no small feat.

“Our best players are our best 

players,” Berenson said. “They’re 
showing up every night.”

After his team bludgeoned 

Michigan State on Friday, 9-2, 
Berenson challenged his players 
to respond with another good 
performance the next night. 
While they didn’t put together 
their prettiest game, they passed 
Berenson’s test. And they had 
fun doing it.

For Michigan’s first goal Friday, 

junior forward JT Compher 

picked up a turnover, skated in 
from the corner and hammered a 
shot over Hildebrand’s shoulder. 
Saturday, sophomore forward 
Dexter Dancs took a pass from 
behind the net and slid it through 
Hildebrand’s legs. And finally, 
with the game starting to get out 
of hand, sophomore defenseman 
Zach Werenski joined in on the 
action.

The Columbus Dispatch 

reported last week that 
Werenski was unhappy at 
Michigan and thinking of 
turning pro. Werenski saw 
the rumor on Twitter while in 
Finland at the World Junior 
Championships. He refuted 
it after the game Friday 
and again during the game 
Saturday. Midway through 
the second period, he skated 
toward Hildebrand and flicked 
in a wrist shot from the slot, 
then turned back toward the 
Children of Yost and played the 
violin on his arm with his stick.

He certainly appeared to be 

having fun. So did everyone 
else at Yost Ice Arena. The 
Wolverines led, 4-1.

That’s all the weekend seemed 

to be about. Michigan did little 
to bolster its postseason resume, 
save for avoiding a crushing loss. 
It had a large margin for error, 
so any small mistakes played 
little role in the final outcome. 
It wasn’t a turning point, and 
it wasn’t a highlight game. It 
wasn’t Penn State, and it wasn’t 
Minnesota. But it was Michigan 
State, and it was fun.

So while the win shouldn’t 

be overstated, it shouldn’t be 
understated, either. Not every 
weekend can be a statement 
win. Sometimes you just cruise 
onto the next one, leaving your 
in-state rival lying on the ice.

Lourim can be reached 

at jlourim@umich.edu and 

on Twitter @jakelourim.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

The Michigan hockey team did a lot of celebrating in a convincing sweep of Michigan State this weekend, its first series sweep since October against Mercyhurst.

JAKE
LOURIM

“When the puck 
starts going in, we 

can take a team 
out of the game.”

