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.