MICHIGAN-Irish Rewind / LSSU Lakers Down bound to Yost
Posted at 7:00pm — 11/19/2010
MICHIGAN-Irish Rewind / LSSU Lakers Down bound to Yost
#9 MICHIGAN (6-3-3, 5-2-1-0) vs. Lake Superior State University (5-5-2, 3-4-1-0)
Friday 11/19 7:35 p.m. & Saturday 11/20 7:35 p.m. Yost Arena, Ann Arbor
TV: Friday – Comcast local channel 900 … Saturday – None
Rewinding Last Week’s Action:
The Wolverines played #12 Notre Dame last weekend at Yost and once again came out of it with mixed results. Friday saw Notre Dame winning 3-1, scoring two goals in the third period to ice the win. Lee Moffie was victimized by getting trapped in the Irish zone setting up a 2×1 break which they capitalized on. Calle Ridderwall scored late in the game to seal the deal. It was Ridderwall’s ninth goal in his career against Michigan. The Wolverines rebounded on Saturday by out lucking the Irish, 5-3. Three of the strangest goals at Yost were scored by the Wolverines. Chad Langlais took advantage of being the only person on the ice to spot a blocked shot, swooped in from the point and buried a shot into an open net. Greg Pateryn gave the Maize and Blue some breathing room by having a shot bounce off of a defenseman, come down and roll off the back of Irish netminder Mike Johnson into the net. Carl Hagelin had scored what was to be the winning goal late in the second period by having a point shot bounce in off of his shin guard.
Michigan held the Irish off of the board in the third period to climb back within a point of the first place team from South Bend. Michigan also accomplished another feat on Friday: being the first Michigan team to not take a penalty in a game in more than two years. They held that streak on Saturday until taking three straight penalties in the last minutes of the third period. They fought them off to hang on to the win.
Shawn Hunwick took the loss last Friday, while Bryan Hogan backstopped Michigan to victory on Saturday. Michigan dropped in the rankings, though for the third straight week, falling to #9.
Treading Water:
Michigan’s next opponent is the LSSU Lakers. Lake State comes into Yost riding a three game winning streak including a home sweep of Ferris State last weekend. They held the Bulldogs without a goal, winning 1-0 and 4-0 behind super Freshman goaltender Kevin Kapalka. Lake State is looking to break an eleven game losing skid to the Wolverines dating back to February, 2007. They have not won at Yost arena since February, 2006 when they stunned Michigan 3-2 in OT.
Michigan holds an overall 59-46-6 advantage over the Lakers who have not seen major success on the ice in fifteen seasons. Michigan swept LSSU last season, winning two regular season games at the Soo and taking the Lakers out in the first round of the CCHA playoffs last March.
Righting The Ship:
The Lakers are looking for program respectability and bring a hard working, low luster approach to their system. They are not blessed with grade A roster talent, but make up for it with a strong defensive style. Kapalka emerged after Senior Brian Mahoney-Wilson got off to a terrible start this year. It appears that he has been relegated to backup duties (1-4-1 3.99 GAA .874 save %) with the strong play of his young understudy. Kapalka is sporting a 4-1-1 record with a 1.90 GAA and a .929 save%. The Lakers have yet to win on the road, though, but have forced Miami to a tie and a shootout loss.
The Lakers supporting cast include Seniors Tyson Hobbins, Will Acton (1-7-8), Chad Nehring (3-0-3) and Rick Schofield (4-8-12). Junior Fred Cassiani (2-1-3) and Sophomores Domenic Monardo (7-6-13) and Zach Trotman lead the charge.
If you base results on the statistics so far, though, the Lakers are in for a long season. They rank 35th in the country in scoring (2.67 GF) and allow 3.17 GA per game (T-38th). They actually have executed a better PP than Michigan at 17.2% (30th) compared to Michigan’s putrid 15.8% conversion (37th). The PK is also a nominal 80.5% (37th) even though they don’t take many penalties (10.8 PPG) which is ranked in the bottom third of the country. The difference is, the Lakers play a patient wait and see kind of game. Michigan has jumped on similar Laker teams in the past which tends to blow up that game plan.
Goaltending will be the ex-factor for LSSU. The plan will be simple, much like Alaska- get an early lead, limit mistakes, neutralize Michigan’s speed, pack it in around the net and keep everything to the outside.
Wolverine Notes:
Michigan enters the weekend 1-3-1 on Fridays and 5-0-2 on Saturdays. This is a must sweep weekend, especially at home. Carl Hagelin has the team lead in points, mustering 5-8-13 (+9) followed by Louie Caporusso’s 4-6-10 (+7). Scooter Vaughn and David Wohlberg are tied with Hagelin for the team lead in goals with five. One bright spot compared to last season is the points output from the blueline. Michigan is currently tied for second in the country with a 7-25-32 line from the defensive corps. Jon Merrill leads the way at 1-7-8 and Brandon Burlon has added 3-4-7.
Overall the Wolverines look quite nominal on paper. They are 16th in national scoring average at 3.25 GPG. They are tied for 18th giving up an average of 2.50 GPG. The PP, as previously mentioned, has been ugly. The PK is a subpar 21st overall at 84.1%. Michigan’s discipline continues to improve, as their PM’s have dropped to 15.9 minutes per game, 16th in the nation. They still struggle killing any penalties- and were fortunate to hang on last Saturday night in the late going.
Bryan Hogan and Shawn Hunwick will continue to rotate in net. Hunwick is 1-2-3 with a 2.73 GAA and a .911 save%. Hogan checks in at 5-1 with a 2.17 GAA and a .919 save%. Both are still seeking that perfect blend of consistency.
Michigan will look to utilize their speed to dictate the flow and tempo of the game. The Lakers will try to clog the neutral zone and force Michigan to become impatient. More importantly for the Lakers, they will try to stay close or win the special teams battle. Michigan has given up 30 goals this season while scoring 30 of their own- so it is obvious that they could but more likely will not run away from the Lakers. Another telling stat is that Michigan has given up one more PPG than they have scored, meaning that LSSU, no matter what talent level they bring to Yost, will not be beaten unless Michigan dominates the 5×5 play.
This should be a winnable scenario regardless, but, because of this Friday night hex this season, Michigan will have to amp it up early to take six points. One more inceptive: Michigan is aiming to collect the 600th victory at Yost this weekend. It would be nice to get it Friday.
Keys To The Weekend:
1. Play with urgency to start the weekend. Michigan has to bury the lower division teams at home to stay in the conference championship hunt.
2. Break LSSU’s goalie confidence early. If Kapalka gets hot, Michigan will struggle to keep their composure opening the door for LSSU to steal a game.
3. Continue to get good scoring balance. The third line was key against Notre Dame, and it will be key against lesser competition this weekend.
4. Goaltending must be solid. LSSU is very capitalistic and doesn’t need any help.
Yost’s Prediction:
Friday – Michigan 2 LSSU 1
Saturday – Michigan 3 LSSU 2
Written by GBMWolverine Staff
Go Blue — Wear Maize!