8 — Friday, January 25, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan dominates Penn State, 5-1

The 
first 
two 
matchups 
between the Michigan hockey 
team and No. 15 Penn State 
resulted in a total of 23 goals 
scored.
In turn, Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson shifted his focus to 
defense — something he had 
emphasized all season. But for 
Thursday’s matchup especially, 
he made clear that he wanted 
to see the team protect the net 
better.
And 
after 
a 
scoreless 
first period, the game plan 
showed. From start to finish, 
the Wolverines made junior 
goaltender 
Hayden 
Lavigne’s 
night easier throughout the 
period — and the game, one that 
ended in a 5-1 win for Michigan. 
Though the Nittany Lions had 
32 shot attempts and 15 on target 
in the first period alone, few of 
them were high-quality looks.
Michigan blocked nine shots 
and held Penn State’s only power 
play of the period to zero shots. 
It wasn’t until the dying minutes 
of the period that Penn State 
had a clean look on net, which 
was stopped by Lavigne after a 
barrage of shots.
Offensively, the Wolverines 
were held to a low-shot count — 
seven.
“I thought our first period was 
a little slow,” said junior forward 
Jake Slaker. “After a week off, 
it’s tough. I thought they were 
a little more ready for the start 
of the game, just looking at the 
shots, they had 15, we had seven. 
Then the rest of the game, we 
took over.”
The 
second 
period 
saw 
the 
Wolverines’ 
offensive 
aggression pay off. Sophomore 
Dakota Raabe made a sprint 
to the offensive zone. The 
majority of both teams were 
still in Michigan’s defensive 
zone, but freshman forward 
Jimmy 
Lambert 
saw 
Raabe 
in the neutral zone and shot a 
push forward. The pass landed 

perfectly at Raabe’s stick as he 
staked into the zone, with only 
one defender trailing him.
The one-on-one confrontation 
was 
too 
much 
for 
the 
inexperienced 
Oskar 
Autio 
— who was starting his first 
collegiate game. Raabe cut right, 
but smacked a backhanded shot 
into the net to break open the 
scoring.
“Usually 
for 
left-handers 
coming down the left, it’s kind 
of a standard move a lot of guys 
do –– forehand, backhand, five-
hole,” Raabe said. “So, that’s 
kind of what I was going for.”
And from there, the goals 
started to rain in for the 
Wolverines. Scoring four goals 
in a period against Penn State 
isn’t new. Michigan has done 
it twice in the previous two 
meetings. But this time, there 
was a defense to back it up.
“Our guys did the simple 
things. We got to the net,” 
Pearson said. “We stopped in 
front of the net. Pucks and people 
to the net and we competed 
there. We haven’t done a lot 
of — first period, we didn’t do 
any of that. If you look at the 
shot chart, everything’s off to 
the side. There’s nothing from 
in front. You look at the second 
period, we’re getting to the net.”
With 
the 
Nittany 
Lions’ 
offense unable to start up, the 
Wolverines’ offense took over. A 
little over halfway through the 
period, they scored three goals 
in under a minute to create the 
separation they haven’t been 
able to all season.
Lambert battled against the 
boards and came up clean with 
the puck. He cut toward the net 
where he saw Slaker waiting 
at the opposite side of the net 
unguarded. The passing game 
and the goal followed.
“Jimmy made a great play to 
me,” Slaker said, “And I was just 
kind of sitting there, wide open, 
so I just had to do my job as soon 
as he got it to me.”
Leaving 
little 
time 
for 
celebration, 
senior 
Nicholas 

Boka scored a goal 14 seconds 
after. Penn State made a bad pass 
in the defensive zone that led 
to freshman Nick Blankenberg 
stealing the puck. He took the 
puck to the net but failed to 
convert. Boka, however, was in 
the right place to clean it up. He 
curled around towards the right 
of the net, where the rebound 
had leaked, and hit a low shot 
that went past Autio.
Thirty-eight 
seconds 
after 
that, Lockwood scored his ninth 
goal of the season. He initially 
shot on net and a fight in traffic 
ensued. The puck leaked out 
back to where Lockwood lied in 
wake, and he converted on the 
distracted goalie.
The period was the breakout 
Michigan looked to have all 
season, and the momentum 
stayed 
until 
the 
ending 
seconds of the second period. A 
breakaway by the Nittany Lions 
forced senior defenseman Joseph 
Cecconi to take a roughing 
penalty to stop the Penn State 
skater from converting.
The penalty bled into the 
third period, but Michigan had 
no problems with the penalty 
kill, a consistent trait for the 
team all season.
The 
Wolverines 
drew 
a 
power 
play 
of 
their 
own, 
after junior defenseman Luke 
Martin got slashed clearing 
the puck. The man-advantage 
ended with a few high-quality 

chances for both sides but no 
goal. However, minutes after, 
senior forward Brendan Warren 
hooked a players leg to prevent a 
breakaway.
Right as the penalty ended, 
Penn State scored a goal. A 
Nittany Lion skater centered a 
pass, but it deflected off of Boka’s 
skate and in between Lavigne’s 
legs that ended what would have 
been Lavigne’s second shut out 
of the year.
“Just in control. He just looks 
calm in the net, keeps things 
simple, 
doesn’t 
overreact,” 
Pearson 
said. 
“But 
he’s 
competing. He’s really working 
hard to compete on every shot”
Nick Pastujov committed a 
penalty that put Penn State on 
the power place again. Down 
three, the Nittany Lions opted 
to pull their goaltender for the 
6-on-4 
advantage. 
However, 
freshman forward Garrett Van 
Wyhe gained a rebound at the 
blue line and took a long look at 
the net. With no one around him 
to contest the shot, he sealed the 
game with an empty netter.
“I think for us, we were 
focused on defense more,” Slaker 
said. “And our defense led to our 
offense tonight. When we keep 
them to one goal that gives us a 
pretty good opportunity to win 
a game every game. So if we can 
do that night in and night out, as 
long as we get two (goals), that’s 
a win.”

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

Second period stretch propels Wolverines

All it took was 52 seconds.
At the end of that stretch, 
the 
game 
was 
effectively 
over. The Michigan hockey 
team drained any momentum 
Penn State had left, scoring 
three goals in under a minute 
to extend its lead to 4-0 with 
5:47 remaining in the second 
period.
It started on the power play.
Freshman forward Jimmy 
Lambert was in a scrum for 
the puck along the left boards. 
He escaped with possession, 
creating space for himself. 
As he drifted towards the left 
faceoff circle, the freshman 
floated a backhanded pass 
across 
to 
junior 
forward 
Jake Slaker in the right slot. 
Slaker fired a one-timer past 
goaltender Oskar Autio’s glove 
side to give the Wolverines a 
2-0 lead.
“Big-time play on the Slaker 

goal,” said Michigan coach 
Mel Pearson. “He does a good 
job on the wall, steps up, wins 
a battle, steps off and has the 
poise and presence and vision 
... He’s got talent. He’s just 
connecting the dots, and he 
had a good game tonight.”
Just 
14 
seconds 
later, 
Michigan 
scored again.
Freshman 
forward 
Nick 
Blankenburg 
— in his debut 
as 
a 
forward 
— 
collected 
the 
puck 
on 
an errant pass 
intended 
for 
forward 
Alec 
Marsh in the 
Nittany Lions’ defensive zone. 
Blankenburg deked past one 
defender, making him fall to 
the ice, and made a beeline 
for the net. Though the initial 
shot 
was 
blocked, 
senior 
defenseman 
Nicholas 
Boka 

crashed the net and cleaned up 
the loose puck. He fired a shot 
past Autio, who was sprawled 
out in the crease after saving 
Blankenburg’s attempt.
Boka’s goal came as the 
crowd was still on its feet 
celebrating 
the 
goal 
from 
Slaker. And 38 seconds later, 
Michigan 
completed 
its 
second-period 
assault on Penn 
State.
After 
sophomore 
forward 
Michael 
Pastujov forced 
a turnover in 
the right faceoff 
circle 
in 
the 
Wolverines’ offensive zone, 
junior forward Will Lockwood 
secured the loose puck. He 
got a shot on net which was 
saved by Autio. Michigan had 
several shot attempts in the 
scrum that ensued in front of 

the net, Lockwood finished 
what he started as circled back 
towards the net and flicked 
the puck into the back of the 
net, 4-0.
It was like an all-out blitz 
of sorts that seemed to catch 
the Nittany Lions off guard. 
Michigan 
continued 
the 
pressure and kept Penn State 
on their heels for the entirety 
of 
those 
52 
seconds 
and 
emerged on the other end with 
a 4-0 lead. 
“We would’ve been happy 
with three goals, probably, in 
the game, the way we were 
going,” Pearson said. “… (We) 
came through tonight. That’s 
good. It’s nice to see them 
rewarded by getting to the net. 
We have to do more of that. We 
have to get those gritty goals. 
We’re not gonna make a lot of 
great plays and fancy plays. 
We have to simplify things. If 
we can do that, then we have 
enough guys who are hungry 
around the net.”

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior forward Will Lockwood scored a goal in Michigan’s 5-1 win Thursday.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore forward Dakota Raabe opened the scoring with a breakaway backhanded shot, giving Michigan the early lead in the second period.

Big-time play 
on the Slaker 
goal. ... He’s got 
talent.

