Michigan Wolverines Hockey Update: Hot Dogs & Steak Against UNO

Posted at 8:00am — 10/27/2010

Michigan Wolverines Hockey Update: Hot Dogs & Steak Against UNO

What would you prefer… a consolatory hot dog or a nice juicy Omaha steak? For the Michigan hockey team this past weekend, they had a little of both. UNO, riding a road sweep against the Minnesota Gophers, breezed into Yost arena and dominated the listless Wolverines on Friday, 4-2. Michigan turned the tables on Saturday and rolled to a 6-1 rout of the Mavericks.

UNO scored a fluky goal late in the first period Friday to skate off with a 1-0 lead. The period was pretty even through the first sixteen minutes with both teams gaining decent scoring chances. It took a desperation centering pass from the corner by Ryan Walters which struck a skate in front of Shawn Hunwick, bounced off of his mask and down his back to give the Mavericks their lead. Michigan outshot UNO 9-8 in the period.

The momentum (and the luck) carried forward into the second period as Michigan blitzed Mav goaltender John Faulkner in the opening moments of the period. But, as hockey fate usually dictates, UNO came down on their first chance of the period and connected. Terry Broadhurst rifled his own rebound past Hunwick at 3:40 to extend the lead to 2-0. The backbreaking goal came on the PP six minutes later, as freshman Brock Montpetit undressed a Michigan defender and slipped the puck through Hunwick to put the game out of reach. Freshman Matt White scored his 5th goal of the season late in the period to give UNO a commanding 4-0 lead. UNO outshot the Wolverines 14-11 for the period and 22-20 after forty minutes.

Michigan finally broke through in the third period, as Kevin Lynch tallied at 13:59 and David Wohlberg :59 later to trim the margin to 4-2. The Maize and Blue pressed UNO into two late penalties, but couldn’t pull closer. UNO outshot Michigan 14-6 in the period and 36-26 for the game. Faulkner stopped 24 shots in route to his fifth victory of the season, while Hunwick and Michigan dropped their first game of the season. UNO finished 1 for 4 on the PP, while Michigan was 0 for 5. The game was fairly tame, with UNO taking 8 penalties for 16 minutes. Michigan was penalized 7 times for 14 minutes. Each team had three offsetting minors. Coach Berenson described the effort as “disappointing” especially since his team was outworked and showed little “determination” as he described it. Parent’s night ended in frustrating fashion.

Saturday was a much better showing as Michigan stormed the Mavericks from the opening faceoff. Berenson inserted four different players into the lineup and juggled the top two lines in hopes of sparking some needed offense. Carl Hagelin was paired with Louie Caporusso, and David Wohlberg was brought up to the top line with Matt Rust. It paid dividends immediately as Wohlberg roared into the Mav zone chasing a Rust dump in. He gathered the puck at the bottom of the left faceoff circle and blasted a shot top shelf past Faulkner’s glove. It was the fastest goal in U-M hockey history at: 08, eclipsing the old mark of: 12 set in 1994 by Mike Knuble. Michigan built on the momentum to outshoot UNO 16-11, but could only muster one goal in the period.

Much like the night before, the second period was the key to the contest. Carl Hagelin, starving to put the puck in the net, popped the game winner at the: 55 second mark from a Caporusso feed. Hagelin took an initial shot that was blocked in the slot then followed it with a seeing eye laser along the ice, just inside the post. Just less than three minutes later Michigan’s latest offensive weapon, Scooter Vaughn, went to work. Derek Deblois led Vaughn on a rush, fed Scooter in the right faceoff circle and Vaughn labeled a perfect shot over Faulkner’s trapper into the top corner to stake Michigan’s lead to 3-0. UNO then yanked Faulkner in favor of backup Fredrik Bergman. Vaughn victimized the UNO goalie seven minutes later by banking a shot form the left corner off of a skate and past Bergman. DeBlois picked up his second assist of the night.
Alex Hudson gave the Yost faithful an uneasy feeling by tallying a 4×3 PPG with 4:25 left in the period. Michigan held off any momentum from that goal and took a 4-1 lead to the locker room. UNO outshot Michigan in the period 16-7 thanks to a rash of penalties late in the frame.

The Wolverines played a cautious third period, focusing on their defensive effort. Luke Glendening put the Mavs away with a deflection of a Kevin Clare point shot. Ben Winnett added the sixth goal on the PP at 13:25. Michigan was outshot for the contest 36-35, but gave up very few grade A chances. Emotions ran a little raw after the last Michigan goal, as UNO forward Brandon Richardson sucker punched Matt Rust right after the faceoff then laid out a heavy slash to the Michigan forward. Tristin Llewellyn jumped to his teammate’s aid and wrestled the UNO player to the ice as the other players squared off. Richardson was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct for his actions- including a rink long tossing of Llewellyn’s helmet after the two separated. Michigan was penalized 10 times for 20 minutes while UNO was sent off 12 times for 35 minutes. Bryan Hogan was solid in net for Michigan, turning away 35 shots in earning his second victory of the season. Michigan grilled the Mavericks, who coach Dean Blais described as “outplayed and outworked in every aspect of the game.”

UNO (5-1) will take next weekend off before returning to WCHA league play against Minnesota State. Michigan (3-1-2) will journey to Big Rapids for a CCHA contest against Ferris State on Friday before returning to Yost for a rematch on Saturday.

YOST Bits:

Scooter Vaughn is now tied with David Wohlberg with four goals apiece to pace the team.

Friday night’s loss broke a Yost win string of nine games against UNO dating back to 2004. Michigan still holds a 15-2 home mark against the Mavericks with Saturday’s win. Michigan also broke a three game losing streak to UNO dating back to last season.

Louie Caporusso added two assists on Saturday to lead the team with eight points.

Michigan finally dropped from being the #1 penalized team in the country- but still holds an astounding average of 23 minutes per game. North Dakota assumes the new #1 penalized position.

Coach Red Berenson was honored prior to Saturday’s game for his 700th victory earned against BG two weeks ago. A.D. David Brandon conferred Berenson with keepsakes from the occasion as he took the ice flanked by a representative from each of his previous teams.

Michigan held their ground as the #4 team in the country as selected by the USCHO and the USA Today. Miami took the top spot after BC lost to Notre Dame. The CCHA went 7-1-1 in nonleague action this past weekend.

Overall, the Wolverines still are trying to find their consistency. They probably played their most complete game on Saturday, yet are still giving up too many PP chances and shots. It doesn’t feel as if the team chemistry is quite the same as the end of last season, especially with the constant lineup changes.

Yostmeister three star selections:

Friday Night:

1) UNO – John Faulkner, goaltender – stopped 24 shots and was outstanding when he needed to be
2) UNO – Terry Broadhurst – 1G and 1A to pace the Mavericks offense
3) UNO – Brock Montpetit – Scored the GWG and was an outstanding PK/overall checker

Saturday Night:

1) Michigan – Scooter Vaughn – 2 goals and a solid overall effort
2) Michigan – Bryan Hogan – The Michigan netminder kept the Wolverines in the game when it was still tenuous, finishing with 35 saves.
3) David Wohlberg – Got Michigan ahead early, and was dangerous on every shift.

Written by GBMWolverine Staff

Go Blue — Wear Maize!