Passed torch
Senior guard Katelynn
Flaherty was honored during
the men’s basketball game
for surpassing Glen Rice’s
all-time scoring record.
» Page 3B
A “tired” victory
The Michigan men’s
basketball team was able to
overcome Rutgers despite
playing sloppily throughout
the matchup.
» Page 4B
SPORTSMONDAY
For the second straight game,
the No. 20 Michigan hockey
team denied No. 12 Penn State’s
offense — ranked the best in
the nation with four goals per
game coming into the weekend
— quality chances throughout
most of the evening.
For the second time in as
many nights, Jack LaFontaine
skated out to fellow sophomore
goaltender Hayden Lavigne to
give him a bear hug as the final
horn sounded.
And
for
the
second
consecutive
weekend,
the
Wolverines (7-7-2-1 Big Ten,
12-10-2 overall) headed into the
dressing room and sang “The
Victors” — a sign of a weekend
sweep — after avoiding a late
disaster
and
defeating
the
Nittany Lions (6-7-3-2, 13-10-3),
3-2, Saturday night.
“I’m really proud of our
players, they found a way to
win the game,” said Michigan
coach Mel Pearson. “We came
a little unglued there, we didn’t
play the situation with the extra
attacker at the end very well.
“…
But
overall,
great
weekend. … We’ve been on the
other end where we’ve felt that
we should’ve done better for us
this year, so it all evens out. But
great effort, great win for our
team.”
It took just 26 seconds into
regulation for Michigan to
strike first. After an odd-man
rush for Penn State to open the
game, the Wolverines broke out
of their defensive zone with a
three-on-one counterattack.
Junior
forward
Brendan
Warren found a streaking Josh
Norris down the middle of
the ice, and the new linemates
didn’t
miss
a
beat.
The
freshman forward took the
puck and buried a one-timer
for his second goal in as many
contests, putting Michigan on
the board first.
After a dominant 4-0 victory
Friday night, the Wolverines
picked up right where they
left off, firing on all cylinders
early. Michigan easily entered
its offensive zone, maintained
control
of
the
puck
and
quickly stifled Nittany Lion
opportunities on the other end
of the ice.
Halfway
through
the
opening period, Penn State was
called for interference, and the
Wolverines found themselves
on the power play for the first
time. After going 0-for-4 with
the man advantage the previous
night, Michigan made sure its
golden opportunity wouldn’t go
to waste this time around.
With 34 seconds left on the
power play, and after a handful
of
quality
chances,
senior
forward Dexter Dancs received
a pass from junior defenseman
Joseph Cecconi in front of
the net and stuffed it past
goaltender Peyton Jones’ right
pad to double the lead.
The Nittany Lions had a
power play of their own with
three minutes to go in the first
period, but Lavigne stood tall
between the pipes to make some
key saves — including one with
the toe of his skate — and keep
the two-goal advantage intact.
The second period began
with Penn State knocking on the
doorstep, with multiple scoring
chances in the opening minutes.
And less than six minutes
into the stanza, sophomore
defenseman Griffin Luce was
called for interference, giving
the
Nittany
Lions
another
opportunity to tack on their
first goal of the weekend.
But again, timely saves from
Lavigne — including seven
on the ensuing penalty kill
— protected the Wolverines’
lead. Despite being outshot
17 to eight, Lavigne’s mix of
both routine and flashy saves,
combined with solid play in
the defensive zone, muted the
powerhouse Penn State offense
for the fifth straight period.
Lavigne would go on to make
a career-high 43 saves on 45
shots, a feat Pearson chalked
up to his netminder’s newfound
confidence and composure in
the crease.
“I thought we got away from
our game in the second period
and Hayden did a great job of
keeping us in,” Pearson said.
“… We had to rely too much
on
Hayden
this
weekend,
especially tonight. He was the
star of the game.
“He just looks like he’s so
calm in the net and he’s in the
zone. He made some great saves
in that second period, you just
shake your head. But when
you’re on, you’re on.”
The third period started with
back and forth play, with both
teams creating similar scoring
chances and their respective
goaltenders making highlight-
reel saves to continue the
stalemate. Through the first ten
minutes, Michigan narrowly
outshot the Nittany Lions seven
to six.
With 7:25 left in the final
period, Luce was assessed a
penalty for roughing, giving
Penn
State
its
third
man
advantage. However, 37 seconds
later, forward Andrew Sturtz
was
called
for
goaltender
interference after running into
Lavigne, resulting in four-on-
four play.
And with 12 seconds left of
both sides being down a man,
forward Dakota Raabe received
a crisp outlet pass from junior
defenseman Luke Martin and
found himself on a breakaway.
The freshman deked Jones and
laid the puck into the back of
the net for his first career goal
and a bit of insurance — which
seemingly all but solidified the
win and weekend sweep for the
Wolverines.
“(That was) a big goal from
Dakota Raabe in a critical
moment,” Pearson said. “It
didn’t seem like it was a huge
goal, but it ends up being
the winning goal, so good
for
Dakota.
We’re
getting
contributions from a lot of
players now and that makes us
a better team.”
Though
down
by
three
goals, Penn State and its deadly
offense
wouldn’t
go
away
without putting up a fight. With
1:57 remaining in the game and
an extra attacker for the Nittany
Lions, forward Liam Folks
tapped the puck into the net off
an errant rebound to finally get
Penn State on the board. Sixty-
four seconds later, defenseman
Kris Myllari snuck a shot under
the crossbar to cut the deficit to
one with just 53 seconds to go.
But
as
was
the
case
throughout the entire weekend,
Lavigne made his presence
known in net as the final
seconds ticked off the clock and
three blocked shots in the last
minute preserved the win —
and the sweep.
“You just have to stay calm
in that moment,” Lavigne said.
“Obviously, that’s not the swing
you want to see when you’re
up 3-0, especially not against
a team like that, but we know
they can score and they put the
puck to the net.
“But when that happened, we
all just took a deep breath and
I don’t think they got another
shot after it was 3-2. We locked
it down defensively and paid the
price to win.”
BENJAMIN KATZ
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 22, 2018
Design by Jack Silberman
Evan Aaron/Daily
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Michigan earns second consecutive sweep