4B — Tuesday, January 16, 2018
SportsTuesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

A sustainable difference

M

INNEAPOLIS — Two 
shots.

That’s all 

Michigan allowed in the third 
period against No. 9 Minnesota 
on Saturday.

The 

Wolverines 
entered the 
final frame 
up by two 
goals — just 
20 minutes 
away from 
earning its 
first sweep 
at Mariucci 
Arena in 41 
years. There’s 
a reason it had been that long.

The Golden Gophers don’t 

lose often at home. They don’t 
lose often, period. In those last 
41 years, they’ve had just three 
losing seasons.

But they reach a different 

level at Mariucci. Coming into 
the weekend, Minnesota was 
11-2 there and 1-8-1 anywhere 
else this season. While they 
struggle on the road, the 
Gophers’ talent-laden roster — 
14 players have been drafted by 
NHL teams — shines through 
at their home arena, with 
more room to operate on its 
larger, Olympic-sized rink. In 
desperate need of points of any 
kind to stay afloat in the Big 
Ten, Minnesota surely had no 
plans to simply roll over.

Instead, Michigan held the 

Gophers to two shots in the 
third period. Neither of which 
seriously challenged sophomore 
goaltender Hayden Lavigne.

That type of performance 

wouldn’t have happened two 
months ago.

While this weekend was the 

most stunning result of the 
Wolverines’ season so far, they 
aren’t any stranger to surprises. 
They defeated the then fourth-
ranked Gophers 5-4 in overtime 
on Nov. 11 after rallying from 
an early 3-0 hole. They fell 
behind 4-0 a night later and 
came back yet again, salvaging 
a tie that felt just as much like 
a victory.

If the enthusiastic, 

“Michigan hockey is back!” 
takes didn’t begin in earnest 
after the Wolverines came one 
minute away from sweeping 
Penn State in its own building 
two weeks prior, they surely did 
so after a win and a tie against 
a team many picked to win the 
Big Ten.

But it turns out they were a 

bit premature.

Michigan won only one of 

its next seven games after 
the Minnesota series. It was 
outscored 30-18 over that span 
— part of a larger stretch where 
the Wolverines gave up a brutal 
44 goals in 10 games.

Despite a porous defense, 

Michigan could still score. 
That’s never been in question. 
But the Wolverines’ diet of 
goals was unbalanced. They 
were subsisting off their top 
line of seniors Dexter Dancs 
and Tony Calderone and junior 
Cooper Marody, a trio which 
in the aforementioned 10-game 
stretch accounted for 42.6 
percent of Michigan’s total 
points. The proverbial fruits 

and vegetables — the second, 
third and fourth lines — weren’t 
a part of the Wolverines’ diet, 
and their opponents were 
proving it unsustainable.

“The makeup came off and 

we saw a lot of the blemishes 
this weekend,” said Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson after a 5-1 
loss to Ohio State on Nov. 25. 
“We were able to cover some 
things up, (but) this weekend 
we saw a little bit of some of the 
issues that we’re going to have 
going forward.”

A few of those issues looked 

on course to be corrected, 
starting with two encouraging 
performances against Notre 
Dame last weekend. Michigan 
held the then-No. 2 team in 
the nation to two goals in both 
games and outshot the Fighting 
Irish a combined 70-63. If not 
for Notre Dame goaltender Cale 
Morris erecting a brick wall in 
front of the net, the Wolverines 
likely would have come away 
with points of some variety.

All of these positive 

developments culminated this 

weekend.

The defense continued to 

flourish, allowing just two 
goals in even-strength play. 
Lavigne stopped 41 of the 45 
shots sent in his direction. 
The Gophers had precious few 
opportunities to show their 
individual skill, with Quinn 
Hughes, Sam Piazza, Luke 
Martin and Joseph Cecconi 
seemingly always in the right 
position in the defensive zone.

Michigan’s penalty-kill was 

maybe the only unit that had 
even a mediocre performance 
against Minnesota, allowing 
goals in both games. However, 
the Gophers needed almost 
all of the allotted two minutes 
to score each time. The group 
stepped up when it needed 
to as well, with a huge stop 
in the third period Saturday, 
and Pearson saw noted 
improvement on special-teams 
after he “didn’t like” Friday’s 
performance.

On the other end of the ice, 

the Wolverines scored eight 
goals — less than the 11 they 

scored in November’s series, 
but more than enough to 
win. These goals came early, 
too — Michigan was on the 
scoreboard within two minutes 
in both contests.

“We played with the lead 

all weekend and when you can 
do that on the road that really 
helps,” Pearson said. “Not like 
the previous games where it 
seems like we’ve been down 
2-0 every game, so that was 
a change this weekend and I 
thought it really gave our guys 
some confidence.”

While Marody, Calderone 

and Dancs still pulled the cart 
on offense, that cart weighed 
much less this time, as the unit 
tallied just six of Michigan’s 
19 points. At the same time, 
other lines emerged — for 
the first time this season, the 
Wolverines’ lineups remained 
the same for both games of 
a weekend series. Junior 
forward Brendan Warren 
scored Michigan’s first goal 
Saturday with a snipe from the 
slot, and sophomore forward 

Josh Norris, playing on the 
wing for the first time this 
season, followed suit with a 
one-timer off a beautiful feed 
from sophomore forward Jake 
Slaker.

The third line of freshman 

Dakota Raabe and sophomores 
Adam Winborg and James 
Sanchez excelled, as did the 
fourth line of sophomore Nick 
Pastujov and freshmen Jack 
Becker and Michael Pastujov, 
which totalled four points on 
Friday. Even the Wolverines’ 
floundering power-play, which 
had scored just 14.8 percent 
of the time entering the 
weekend, was much improved, 
as it capitalized on two of their 
three opportunities with the 
man-advantage Saturday.

“I liked Winborg, Raabe, 

Sanchez — they had a shift 
there at the end of the game 
and didn’t let Minnesota out 
of their zone for literally 45 
seconds,” Pearson said. “Just 
a great shift that you need at a 
time like that. Becker, Pastujov 
and Pastujov are playing well. 
I like Slaker and Norris, we put 
Norris on the wing, and he’s got 
some renewed energy — think 
he’s got three, four points in his 
last couple games here, so good 
for him.”

After being swept, Minnesota 

fell to 4-9-1 in the Big Ten, 
ahead of only Michigan State. 
This is a talented, but horribly 
inconsistent, Gopher team. 
Despite how monumental such 
a result is for Michigan, it 
hardly means the Wolverines 
are “back.”

But this weekend, Michigan 

did something that those 
Wolverines teams of yesteryear 
never accomplished, and looked 
dominant in doing so, no 
less. Sure, there’s always luck 
involved, but what Michigan 
did this weekend — winning 
with goaltending, defense and 
depth on offense — is perfectly 
sustainable.

No makeup needed.

Shames can be reached at 

jacosham@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Freshman forward Josh Norris scored the game-winning goal in Saturday’s game to complete Michigan’s first road sweep of Minnesota in 41 years. 

DAILY
WRITER

Wolverines defeat Golden Gophers, 3-1, to earn weekend series sweep

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s been 

three years since the Michigan 
hockey team recorded a sweep 
on the road.

It’s 
been 

about 
as 
long 

since Minnesota 
was 
swept 
at 

Mariucci Arena.

And it’s been 

41 
years 
since 

Michigan 
came 

away 
from 

Minneapolis 
with a sweep.

All three of 

those 
streaks 

came to an end Saturday night.

On Saturday, the Wolverines 

(5-7-2 Big Ten, 10-10-2 overall) 
defeated 
the 
ninth-ranked 

Golden Gophers, 3-1, putting 
finality 
on 
their 
most 

impressive weekend of 
the season.

After falling 5-3 a 

night prior, one might 
have expected Minnesota 
(4-9-1, 13-12-1) to come out 
in attack mode Saturday. But 
instead, Michigan blitzed the 
Gophers out of the gate.

The Wolverines couldn’t do 

anything wrong to begin the 
game. 
The 
puck 
practically 

never left Minnesota’s zone, and 
every pass by a Michigan player 
seemed to hit the 
sweet spot of his 
teammates’ stick.

While 
the 

Wolverines 
didn’t score 15 
seconds into the 
game 
as 
they 

did Friday, that 
hardly mattered 
— they needed 
just 
58 
more 

seconds 
this 

time. Junior forward Brendan 
Warren, on the heels of a two-
goal outing, took the puck on the 

right wing, skated in front of the 
crease and snapped the game’s 
first score past Eric Schierhorn.

A minute later, freshman 

forward Josh Norris bullied 
his way towards the net with 
the puck, but a replay review 

determined 
that it did not 
cross the plane 
of the goal. An 
undeterred 
Norris, however, 
was 
rewarded 

for his efforts 
shortly after, 
streaking 
down 
the 

ice 
and 

lacing 
a 

one-

timer 
off 

a 
pinpoint 

pass 
from 

sophomore 

forward Jake Slaker.

After a dizzying first eight 

minutes of hockey, Michigan led 
in shots, 8-0, and in goals, 2-0.

“I thought yesterday we had 

some good chemistry,” Norris 
said. “And tonight we got a 
couple quick ones first five 

minutes, so that 
felt good.”

The 
Gophers 

managed to turn 
the tide slightly — 
granted, 
simply 

possessing 
the 

puck 
in 
the 

Wolverines’ zone 
for any length 
of 
time 
would 

have counted as 
such for these 

purposes — but did little with 
their eight shot attempts in the 
first period, all of which were 

saved by sophomore goaltender 
Hayden Lavigne.

However, it 

wasn’t any 
of 

those 
shots 
that 
told 
the 
story 
of 

Minnesota’s 
night. On a power-
play late in the first, forward 
Casey Mittelstadt cruised into 
the slot, gearing up for a golden 
opportunity to score. But all he 
did was uncork a weak knuckler 
that bounced well wide of the 
net.

The Gophers capitalized late 

on their second power play, 
though. A series of desperate 
swings at the puck by a cadre 
of Michigan defenders couldn’t 
knock it away from Darian 

Romanko, who gave Minnesota 
some life with 4:34 remaining in 
the second period.

But that momentum didn’t 

last long. After Minnesota’s Sam 
Rossini was sent to the box for 

roughing, 
senior 

forward 

Tony 

Calderone 

set up behind the 

net and found junior 

forward Cooper Marody just 
behind the red line. Somehow, 
Marody precisely angled his 
shot up and into the goal.

The third period saw no goals 

and just 10 shots combined for 
both teams — a surprisingly 
anti-climactic ending to the 
Wolverines’ biggest road win of 
the season.

That 
anticlimax 
was, 
in 

large part, a result of a marked 
improvement on special teams, 

after 
Michigan 
coach 
Mel 

Pearson stated that he “didn’t 
like” his team’s penalty kill on 
Friday. The Wolverines spread 
all 
over 
the 

ice 
to 
block 

shots from the 
Gophers’ power 
play 
in 
the 

third 
period, 

but 
according 

to 
Pearson, 

Lavigne, 
who 

registered 

17 
saves 

on 
18 

opportunities, 

was 
most 

responsible 

for 
the 

special 

teams’ 

success.

“I thought we did a great 

job penalty killing,” Pearson 
said. “Your goaltender’s got to 
be your best penalty killer… 
The one we killed in the third 
period was excellent. Blocking 
shots, doing a lot of good things, 
getting sticks.”

With 1:53 left to play, during 

the final timeout of the game, 
Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” 
began 
to 
echo 
throughout 

Mariucci Arena. At that point, 
though, faced with a confident 
and 
rock-solid 
Michigan 

defense, it seemed like the 

few 
Minnesota 

fans left in the 
building had long 
ago ceased to do 
so.

The 

Wolverines, 
meanwhile, 
arrived 
in 

Minneapolis 
earlier 
this 

weekend ranked 
No. 
27 
in 
the 

PairWise rankings, far below the 
cutoff for NCAA Tournament 
contention. Coming away with 
a positive result of any kind 
seemed absolutely necessary. 
Winning 
one 
game 
would 

have likely been seen as a solid 
weekend.

Sweeping the No. 9 team 

in the nation, in one of the 
toughest 
places 
in 
college 

hockey for visitors to play, 
where they hadn’t done so in 
multiple 
generations? 
That’s 

closer to unbelievable.

And now, after a historic 

weekend, 
Michigan 
returns 

to Ann Arbor after jumping 12 
spots in Pairwise and recording 
its first sweep in Minnesota in 
decades.

This weekend could have 

been a mortal blow to the once-
slipping belief in the Wolverines’ 
postseason chances. The end 
result couldn’t have been more 
different.

 “This is a huge weekend 

for us in terms of standings, 
Pairwise, so we’re just going to 
enjoy the win,” Lavigne said. 
“It’s hard to sweep anywhere, 
let alone on the road.”

Added Pearson: “You let them 

enjoy it. We haven’t had one for 
a while, it was good to sing the 
song, and we’ll let them enjoy 
it until Monday. Then we’ll get 
back to work.”

Sweep a result of a strong all-around game for Michigan, and it was its first sweep at Mariucci Arena in 41 seasons

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“Your 

goaltender’s got 
to be your best 
penalty killer.”

“This is a huge 
weekend for 
us in terms of 
standings.”

“I thought 

yesterday we 
had some good 

chemistry.”