Michigan Hockey: Wolverines beat Sparty, Another One Tonight

Posted at 12:00pm — 1/24/2013

Michigan Hockey: Wolverines beat Sparty, Another One Tonight

What: #14/14 Michigan Wolverines (11-6-2) (3-2-0-0) Vs. Michigan State Spartans (8-11-3) (2-3-2-2).
When: Friday 1/24, 6:35 p.m. Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing.
TV/Radio: BTN (DirecTV Channel 610) & The Michigan Hockey IMG Radio Network (1050 a.m. Al Randall, Bill Trainor).
www.mgoblue.com for gametracker and streaming.

Michigan got enough offense to squeeze by on Thursday night, and fortunately the game winner came from one of our struggling upperclassman.

First, though, Michigan had to survive an initial MSU push right from the opening faceoff. Zach Nagelvoort stopped the very first shot of the game, but the rebound lay at his pad uncovered. The Spartans crashed the net and put the puck in, but had the goal waived off because the official lost sight of the puck and stopped the play. MSU controlled the first period and the beginning of the second period. But like most of the games played between these two teams, the first goal usually parlays most of the momentum. One of Michigan’s prized freshmen, JT Compher, provided the first goal about halfway through the second period, banging in his own rebound after an initial feed from Derek DeBlois.

The Wolverines held onto the momentum and had several other chances, yet the period closed with Michigan up 1-0 after two periods.

The Spartans appeared to gain their own mojo off of a string of penalties that the Maize and Blue took in the third period. The Wolverines managed to kill off a penalty but could not clear their zone. The play resulted in a flurry of bodies in front of Nagelvoort and the puck being fluttered past him by a Spartan flying in off the bench. Both teams attempted to break through after that, but tight checking interupted any opportunities. The game then opened up in the last few minutes as the Spartans and the Wolverines were trying to avoid overtime.

Michigan entered the Spartan zone on a rush by defenseman Nolan DeJong. The freshman blueliner flipped a shot at Spartan netminder Jake Hildebrand, who deflected the shot away. Alternate captain Andrew Copp interupted the clearing attempt and directed the puck back into the crease as he was being knocked down. Junior forward Phil Di Giuseppe was charging towards the net and took an initial shot that Hildebrand got a toe on, before DiGiuseppe regathered the puck at the edge of the crease and calmly flipped it over the sprawled netminder. It was PDG’s first goal in eight games and came with just 2:17 left in the game. Copp was awarded an assist on the play.

The Wolverines held on as MSU added an extra attacker with under a minute left, yet never threatened. The 2-1 win broke an 0-4-1 winless streak and moves Michigan back into third place in the B1G Ten conference. Both teams meet again Friday night in East Lansing to complete the weekend series.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — YostMeister

Go Blue — Wear Maize!