4B — February 10, 2020
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

lsa.umich.edu/philosophy
Lecture is free and open to the public

CHARLES W. MILLS
The City University of New York

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020
4–6pm | Rackham Auditorium

2020 TANNER LECTURE ON HUMAN VALUES
Michigan earns sweep with 5-3 win

Less than five minutes into 
the third period Saturday night, 
senior forward Jacob Hayhurst 
went hunting solo.
He entered the attacking 
zone near the left side, with 
multiple defenders headed his 
way. Hayhurst quickly got to 
the net to set up his trap. He had 
the puck stretched far and away, 
which lured goaltender Daniel 
Lebedeff to bite left. But then 
Hayhurst seamlessly brought 
the puck back in and across to 
finish the job backhanded.
That 
goal 
widened 
the 
Michigan hockey team’s lead to 
three in an eventual 5-3 victory 
over Wisconsin (10-17-1 overall, 
5-14-1-1 Big Ten). The outcome 
helped the Wolverines (13-12-3, 
8-8-2-1) seal their second sweep 
of the new year.
After the 8-4 victory on 
Friday, Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson 
was 
disappointed 
in how his team performed 
despite the wide margin of 
victory. Preparation, defense, 
turnovers 
and 
effort 
were 
areas that troubled him. But on 
Saturday — Pearson’s birthday 
— he saw improvement.
“Better 
effort 
tonight,” 
Pearson said. “Even though you 
could look at the score and say, 
well better effort? But we did. 
We played with more urgency 
and they played hard, too, 
tonight. I thought it was a good 
game.”
Less than six minutes into 
the contest, senior forward 
Nick Pastujov won a faceoff in 
his team’s defensive zone. Soon 
after, 
freshman 
defenseman 
Keaton Pehrson got the puck 
and went on the attack. He took 
a shot at the left side of the net 
that Lebedeff appeared to have 
under control, but then Pehrson 
crashed in to grab a quick 
rebound and score through 
Lebedeff’s legs.
Michigan extended its lead 
with 
under 
three 
minutes 
to go in the first frame. 
Sophomore 
forward 
Jimmy 
Lambert 
skated 
the 
puck 
down the right side of the 
offensive zone, with freshman 
forward Nick Granowicz on 

his left. Granowicz grabbed the 
opposing defense’s attention, 
getting close to the crease. 
Lambert then swung the 
puck across the ice, to senior 
forward Jake Slaker who came 
trailing in down the left side. 
Without 
hesitation, 
Slaker 
rifled the puck into the net to 
double the margin.
Nearing the end of the 
opening period, the Wolverines 
went on their first penalty kill 
of the night after Summers 
got called for roughing. The 
Badgers made the most of the 
extra man.

Sophomore 
goaltender 
Strauss 
Mann 
collected 
a 
loose puck near the goal line 
and handed it over to senior 
defenseman 
Luke 
Martin. 
Martin wrapped around the net 
and attempted a pass across the 
low slot, but it hit an opposing 
player right in front of the 
crease. Right away, forward 
Cole Caufield sent a pass to 
forward Max Zimmer who 
found twine from the left side 
with less than six seconds to go 
in the first frame.
Michigan returned from the 
initial intermission ready to go. 
Less than two minutes into the 
second frame, Summers helped 
his team regain the two-goal 
lead. Lambert collected the 
puck at the far left side of the 
goal line and sent it directly 
backwards to the blue line. 
Summers was waiting there, 
and soon took a strong shot that 
sounded the buzzer.
After that goal, Slaker got 
a 
one-on-one 
opportunity 
with Lebedoff but couldn’t 
convert. And a short while later, 
Pastujov’s shot clanked off the 
right post.
Both 
goaltenders 
got 
involved with seven minutes 

remaining in the second period, 
starting with Lebedeff. He 
charged far away from the 
net and dove to flick the puck 
away before a streaking Slaker 
could touch it. And then right 
away, forward Sean Dhooghe 
went on a rush but crashed into 
Mann with force. Dhooghe got 
called for charging, sending the 
Wolverines on their sole power 
play of the night. Michigan 
couldn’t convert.
Each side faced calamity in 
the final frame. First, Lambert 
dove to try and block a passing 
lane near his goal but then hit 
the boards awkwardly. And a 
bit later, Dhooghe collided with 
Beecher in the neutral zone 
and hit the ground hard. Both 
needed help coming off the ice 
and never returned.
“We won’t know much till 
Monday or Tuesday,” Pearson 
said of Lambert’s injury. “I’d 
say he’s questionable for the 
weekend. I don’t think it’s, 
hopefully as bad as what it was. 
But they’ll look at him, probably 
some time tomorrow. But we 
need him. I mean, he was really 
good. But again, it’s next man 
up, that’s what we need to do 
and injuries are part of the 
game.”
Wisconsin tallied a second 
goal midway through the final 
period when forward Linus 
Weissbach found the puck near 
the crease for a tap-in. And then 
with just over a minute left, 
defenseman 
K’Andre 
Miller 
fired a shot from the right side 
to bring the game within one 
while Lebedeff was pulled.
But by then the Wolverines 
had enough separation that it 
didn’t matter. Lebedeff stayed 
on the sidelines as the Badgers 
tried to level the game, and 
sophomore forward Garrett Van 
Wyhe notched an empty-netter 
with six seconds remaining for 
the final say.
“It’s late in the season and 
as you can see in the standings, 
it’s 
really 
tight, 
so 
every 
game counts,” Hayhurst said. 
“Obviously a sweep just lifts 
morale in the room and makes 
everyone that (much) more 
happy and makes them want 
to work that much harder to 
continue to win.”

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

Jack Summers and Keaton Pehrson add offense from defense in win

Last season, two of the five top 
point scorers for the Michigan 
hockey team were defensemen. 
It was part of the system — 
defensemen creating offense — an 
emphasis coach Mel Pearson made 
sure to call out after Michigan 
swept Notre Dame in mid-January.
It was the reason for its success 
then, 
and 
against 
Wisconsin, 
Saturday, 
a 
defensive 
pairing 
stepped up to fit that role in the 5-3 
win to seal another sweep.
Jack Summers and Keaton 
Pehrson have had their fair share 
of disappointment. 
Against Ohio State the prior 
weekend, Summers made a dive 
for a loose puck that jeopardized 
his defensive positioning. The 
Buckeyes scored off his turnover, 

sealing the game in their favor. 
Pehrson had a puck deflect off 
his skate against the Wolverines’ 
last matchup with the Badgers to 
convert a game-winning goal for 
Wisconsin.
But 
Saturday, 
the 
two 
generated 
much-needed 
offense in a 
high-scoring 
affair.
“Both 
(Pehrson) and 
(Summers) 
have to be a 
little 
more 
aggressive,” Pearson said. “They 
play a lot of hockey, our team has 
done extremely well and they 
continue to play as a good solid 
pair.”

Pehrson opened the scoring 
by tapping in a rebound from a 
poor goaltender catch. Wisconsin 
Daniel Lebedeff saw Pehrson 
approach and swing his body to 
face the defenseman. Pehrson saw 
his options. He had a 
teammate waiting on 
his far side, but there 
were 
two 
Badger 
skaters in front of him, 
blocking the passing 
lane.
He took the smart 
approach, 
a 
simple 
flick on net to see if 
the goaltender would 
slip-up. And Lebedeff 
did. He dropped the 
puck and was unable to cover it 
immediately. Upon seeing the error, 
Pehrson perked with excitement 
and drove in with his stick for a 
tap-in goal — the first of his career.

Pehrson 
has 
never 
been 
pegged as an offensive-minded 
defenseman. He’s stout defensively 
and plays fundamentally — to the 
point where Pearson noted he’s one 
of the only players Pearson doesn’t 
harp on in-game 
for his defense.
But Saturday, he 
played aggressive 
and 
determined, 
and it resulted in 
a goal.
On the other 
hand, 
Summers, 
his defensive-pair 
partner, 
focused 
on controlling the 
aggression. Often 
times, he would play the puck too 
forcefully and if the puck didn’t 
bounce his way, the opposing team 
would create a Grade-A breakaway. 
But he sat back and played a safer 

game to ensure his turnovers 
wouldn’t be costly.
And playing at the point, he 
received the puck near the start of 
the second period and swung it on 
target.
“Honestly, 
I 
was just trying 
to get something 
on 
the 
net,” 
Summers said. “I 
wasn’t expecting 
it to go in.”
The 
purpose 
of the play was 
to 
spread 
the 
defense out for 
an easier time to 
crash the crease 
for rebounds. The Badger skaters 
had packed center ice. Freshman 
forward 
Nick 
Granowicz 
recognized this and played the 
puck low to high to create space, 

passing it out to Summers camped 
at the point. Summers simply 
wanted to send it to the net so one 
of them could make the play. But 
instead, he scored.
Head held high, arms around 
his 
teammates, 
Summers’ 
celebration couldn’t have been any 
more contrasting to the look of 
disappointment he had shown just 
last week, wearing his head deep 
into his gloves after his turnover. 
And the first one to his side was his 
partner, Pehrson.
“We’ve been trying to play 
well together and to get a couple 
points really helps our confidence,” 
Pehrson said. “So it felt good.”
Added Pearson: “They don’t 
get the press or the coverage 
or the points the other guys do. 
But they’re a solid pair for us. A 
freshman and a sophomore, they’re 
doing well.”

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

HOCKEY
SQUAD
GOALS

MICHIGAN SWEEPS 
WISCONSIN WITH 13 
GOALS ON WEEKEND

 Asha Lewis/ Daily | Design by Jack Silberman

Both (Pehrson) 
and (Summers) 
have to be ... 
aggressive.

I was just 
trying to get 
something on 
the net.

We played with 
more urgency 
and they 
played hard.

