The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday January 28, 2019 — 3B NEW YORK CITY — If you count striking iron, Nick Pastujov had a hat trick in the first period alone, and Michigan led Penn State, 4-3. Officials don’t though, and nothing in the rulebook would have aided the Wolverines’ offensive execution on Saturday night. When Nittany Lions’ goaltender Peyton Jones blocked junior forward Will Lockwood’s shot eight minutes into the game, Pastujov shifted to Jones’ weakside, the puck careening towards right towards him. With nothing between his stick and the back of the net beside the puck itself, he reared his stick and flicked the puck forward. It hit the crossbar. Michigan got the puck back seven times after his miss before Jones gloved it. The result? Seven missed shots. All from point-blank range. Six minutes later? Pastujov took another shot. Again, a familiar clank echoed throughout Madison Square Garden. Pastujov found the bar once more, and in a period where it outshot Penn State 22-8, Michigan had nothing to show but a three-goal deficit. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes,” said sophomore forward Luke Morgan. “We came out ready to play, we hit a bunch of post. We had a lot of great opportunities. I think we got a little frustrated with that. When that happens, it led to mental mistakes and some of it we can work on, but sometimes it’s just the way the game goes.” Against Minnesota and Michigan State earlier this season, the Wolverines took 45-plus shots but failed to capitalize on many of their easier attempts. The difference against the Nittany Lions, though, was that Michigan consistently got good opportunities in the crease and actively screened off Jones instead of blindly shooting into the opposing team’s blue line. “It’s frustrating, but that’s going to happen,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “ … And that’s the game and what you have to do is you can’t get away from your game.” By the time Penn State jumped out to a three-goal lead, it was too late, though. All of the Wolverines’ offensive pressure and momentum was rendered moot by their inability to finish, and completely eviscerated each time the blue line coughed the puck up deep in the defensive zone and yielded to a Nittany Lion odd-man rushes. Contrary to what the 5-2 score suggests, Michigan, just like before, had every chance to walk out of Madison Square Garden with at least another point. Instead, it walks out of Madison Square Garden lamenting a game it had in control. It’s easy to focus on the back-breaking defensive turnovers, but in a zero-sum game, offensive miscues hurt the Wolverines just as much. “Coach said ‘we can’t outscore our mistakes,’” Morgan said. “We have to play a solid 60 (minutes) the whole way through.” RIAN RATNAVALE Daily Sports Writer Different city, different defense NEW YORK CITY — The script flipped quickly for the Michigan hockey team: Five goals scored Thursday. Five goals allowed Saturday. Any momentum the Wolverines generated from Thursday night’s five-goal outburst against Penn State was abruptly halted when they gave up five goals themselves on Saturday. In Thursday night’s 5-1 victory over Penn State, the Wolverines were dialed in from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer. There were few lapses on the defensive end and few opportunities came easily for Penn State. The Nittany Lions had few, if any, odd-man rushes throughout the game. The lone goal came more than mid-way through the third period when the Michigan was leading 4-0. A pass from behind the net deflected off senior defenseman Nick Boka’s skate and trickled past junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne. Moreover, the Wolverine defense jumpstarted the offense after its lackluster first period. The first goal for Michigan was set up after freshman forward Jimmy Lambert collected possession in the defensive zone and flipped a pass to sophomore forward Dakota Raabe in the neutral zone. It resulted in a breakaway goal for Raabe to give the Wolverines the lead. Saturday’s 5-2 loss at Madison Square Garden was in complete contrast to the near perfect defensive performance put forth on Thursday by the Wolverines. It was a tale of defensive gaffes. “We didn’t play on the right side of the puck,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “We did not sense danger — and I don’t want to say our whole team, but a few individuals. We just didn’t sense that urgency or the danger and they made us pay.” Four of Penn State’s five goals were a direct result of a defensive lapse. Just over five minutes into the game, a mishandled pass by Lambert near the defensive zone blue line lead to a wide- open shot attempt forward Evan Barratt. He capitalized on the opportunity to open up scoring, putting the Nittany Lions up, 1-0. Minutes later, a turnover from sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes near center-ice resulted in a breakaway goal, handing Penn State a 2-0 lead. And just before the first intermission, senior defenseman Joseph Cecconi lost his footing as he was turning to skate up the ice, allowing for another breakaway. This time, forward Alec Marsh finished past Lavigne to make it 3-0. Midway through the second period, the Wolverines had a chance to climb back into the game with a score of 4-1, and Michigan on the power play. As Hughes was advancing the puck up towards center ice, he looked to dump a pass back to a trailing junior forward Will Lockwood. The pass was intercepted, and the Nittany Lions, once again, successfully capitalized on a breakaway opportunity, 5-1. The play was a microcosm of the game. A Michigan misstep led to a Penn State goal. This one was a backbreaker against the Wolverines from which they were unable to recover. “It’s a game of mistakes and you have to limit your mistake and try to make less than the other team,” Pearson said. “And you have to try to take advantage of the mistakes. We did that on Thursday night, they got us tonight.” Hughes’ faults on display in loss NEW YORK CITY — Quinn Hughes went into the locker room and turned to the team. After a poor showing defensively, Hughes did what he had to do. He was accountable for his sloppiness in Saturday’s game against No. 15 Penn State, one that the Michigan hockey team lost, 5-2, with the sophomore defenseman at the epicenter. “I just thought he had a tough night as far as a couple of his turnovers,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “And he knows. He stood up in the locker room and took responsibility for them.” It’s easy to point the blame. Anyone can do it. But when two goals are scored directly after a player’s turnovers, it becomes even easier to point the finger a certain way. “As long as you play this game and you’re a hockey player,” Pearson said. “You’re going to have some nights that are hard and it’s one of those nights for him.” It began with a normal play — Hughes with the puck bringing it up the ice to start the offensive push. As a skilled skater and, as Pearson notes, an elite player, it’s a norm for him to push the puck through the neutral zone. However, midway through the first period, he was contested on his offensive zone entry attempt. Stick extended. Sticks clashed. Puck out. Hughes had seen the opposing player speed toward him and held his stick out wide to try and protect the puck from the contest. Despite his attempt to protect the puck, the two sticks clashed against one another and resulted with the puck leaking toward Michigan’s net. Nittany Lion Liam Folkes took the one-on-none chance and increased Penn State’s lead to two. The main problem with Hughes’ turnover was that no one was back to defend the breakaway. Senior defenseman Joseph Cecconi had pushed far up to take a more offensive stance, yet when the puck was loose, he lagged behind the play. “We had a defenseman back,” Pearson said. “He’s the last man, we’re trying to beat a guy in the neutral zone and his partner is not backing him up, he’s ahead of him. So, he gets stripped, there’s no support. Breakaway.” Of course, Cecconi shouldn’t have been as far up as he was, but Hughes should have recognized that and the risks of a turnover in that situation. The only thing separating Lavigne from Folkes was Hughes, and he failed to recognize it. His second lapse was the nail in the coffin. Down three and on the power play in the middle of the second period, the Wolverines needed to convert the man-advantage in the worst way. A goal would have brought them within striking distance. Instead, a Hughes’ turnover resulted in insurmountable deficit. Hughes, again, brought the puck up to the neutral zone. He made a pass back to a trailing teammate. However, no one was in the vicinity that could get to the puck in time. Instead, Nittany Lion Alex Limoges stole the puck from the intended pass and hammered it home after beating Lavigne on the one-on- none. “Obviously in the start of the second, a power play, we made a drop pass to one of our guys and we don’t have support,” Pearson said. “We’re all by the puck. We didn’t play on the right side of the puck. We did not sense danger — and I don’t want to say our whole team, but a few individuals. We just didn’t sense that urgency or the danger and they made us pay.” Again, the presumption that there was a player behind haunted the Wolverines and allowed a direct confrontation with Lavigne. Hughes was unable to recognize it, and his turnovers caused goals. He did, however, recognize his faults. “I think once you speak out, and take responsibility, then you gotta step up and you gotta do it on the ice,” Pearson said. “And it’s hard. You know. It’s hard to admit your faults sometimes.” JORGE CAZARES Daily Sports Writer TIEN LE Daily Sports Writer NEW YORK CITY — For the second time in two periods, sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes turned the puck over near center ice. And for the second time in two periods, No. 15 Penn State (14-10- 2 overall, 6-9-1-1 Big Ten) took its chance and ran with it. This time, the turnover came when the Wolverines were on the man advantage and hoping to cut into the Nittany Lions’ 4-1 lead early in the second period. Hughes lost control of the puck in the middle of the ice, which allowed forward Alex Limoges to grab it and skate in right in front of junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne. Lavigne sprawled out to make the save as Limoges wound his way to the front of the crease, waiting to shoot the puck until Lavigne was flat on the ice. One quick flip of his stick later and Penn State led, 5-1. Though Michigan (9-10-6, 5-6- 4-2) tacked on another goal in the third period, the comeback came up short. The Nittany Lions went on to take the second game of the series, 5-2. “We did not get the result we wanted,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “Very frustrating in the locker room because we know we’re a better team. We beat ourselves tonight, plain and simple.” Penn State averages an NCAA- leading 4.52 goals per game, and the Wolverines allowed them all of that and then some Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Early in the first period, freshman forward Jimmy Lambert lost the puck at Michigan’s defensive blueline. Forward Evan Barratt, who ranks second in the country with an average of 1.45 points per game, took advantage of his opportunity and fired a shot that beat Lavigne to the upper corner of the net. Five minutes later, Hughes’ turnover at center ice led to a one- on-zero breakaway for Penn State and Liam Folkes converted. “It was nice,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky. “(Scoring on breakaways) hasn’t been the case in the past, either. It was nice to get it early. Any time you can capitalize on anything, I think it’s important, but we were able to capitalize on a couple of their mistakes as well.” Just before the horn sounded to end the first period, junior forward Nick Pastujov had an opportunity on the power play — but his shot rang the post, just as all three of his shots did in the game. And as the puck went down toward Lavigne, Penn State was able to capitalize on a third one-on- zero chance with a goal from Alec Marsh. With another 40 minutes left to play, Michigan faced a three- goal deficit that looked — and was — insurmountable. “We made some horrendous turnovers, they took advantage of it,” Pearson said. “That was the game. They got the lead 3-0 and we couldn’t outscore our mistakes tonight.” Down 4-0 early in the second period, the Wolverines found twine on a shot from Hughes that redshirt junior forward Luke Morgan was able to send past goaltender Peyton Jones. But it proved to be too little, too late as the Nittany Lions extended their lead back to four goals just minutes later. And once that goal went in to make it 5-1, Lavigne was pulled in favor of Strauss Mann. The freshman goaltender stopped all 19 shots he faced the rest of the way. “Excellent,” Pearson said of Mann’s performance. “You know, we really like him as a goaltender, and we think he has a bright future at Michigan. I didn’t want to have to get him in like we did but he went in and I give him credit, that’s a tough situation to go in and he played extremely well. He gave us an opportunity to try and get back into the game.” But despite Mann’s play, defense — or lack thereof — was Michigan’s downfall, just as it was what allowed it to beat Penn State 5-1 at home on Thursday. “Disappointing outcome, especially after Thursday night’s game,” Pearson said. “I can’t tell you our team wasn’t prepared to play. I thought we had a pretty good first period, outshot them 22-8, out-attempted them 37-16. Hit four posts. But we didn’t make a commitment to team defense.” Michigan outshot the Nittany Lions for the majority of the game, though Penn State finished the game with a 39-37 shot advantage. Catching the post four times put the Wolverines within millimeters of making it a much closer game. But as Pearson said, they couldn’t outscore their mistakes. Coming within millimeters just wasn’t enough. Wolverines fall to Penn State in New York, 5-2, and the season hangs by a thread Madison Square Meltdown BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer ALEX POMPEI/Daily The Michigan hockey team’s season is on the brink after it fell flat in a 5-2 loss to Penn State at Madison Square Garden. We came out ready to play, we hit a bunch of post. ALEX POMPEI/Daily The Michigan hockey team’s defense was sloppy, allowing five goals to Penn State in a blowout loss on Saturday. ALEX POMPEI/Daily Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes’ turnovers led to two Penn State goals.