You’d probably bet that sophomores Will Horcoff and Michael Hage or senior captain TJ Hughes would be the ones to don the cape but they’d been kept quiet by MSU’s defense. So the question became, who’ll step up? How about freshman defenseman Asher Barnett, senior assistant captain Kienan Draper, and junior Jayden Perrone?
Asher Barnett turns on the jets: 3-2
Halfway through the period, MSU had the puck deep in the Michigan zone, but Barnett, paired with sophomore Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, had kept the play along the boards. Cleverly, Barnett controlled MSU's Junior Joey Larson's stick so his partner could steal the pass. Rheaume-Mullen sent it along the boards to Draper, who got it to freshman Aidan Park. Park carried it into the offensive zone, then put on the brakes, looking for a pass. He had a drop pass to linemate Draper and a cross-ice one to forward freshman Malcolm Spence. But wait. Steaming down the center of the ice is Barnett. Yes, he of the stick lift and formerly of the end boards. Park zipped it to the defenseman, who controlled it on his backhand, then onto his forehand and beat the All-American goalie top shelf on the short side. Sweet mitts (hockey term for excellent stick control) for the freshman. And Michigan is back in the game.
Kienan Draper did Draper things: 3-3
With 7:49 left in the game, MSU was on the power play with freshman Adam Valentini off for boarding. With 1:23 left in the power play, Draper picked up a loose pass in the defensive zone, steamed up ice with junior Garrett Schifsky to his right, and against a single MSU defenseman, who was taking away the pass to Schifsky. Draper slowed down, looked at Schifsky, then shot a “twisted wrister” (hockey term for a hard non-slapshot) to beat the all-american goalie top shelf on the shortside, perhaps buying the Draper pass fake. And Michigan is even.
Jayden Perrone game winner: 4-3
With 3:24 left in the overtime, MSU freshman Eric Nilson is in the penalty box for tripping. In overtime power plays, teams play four against three, and because the defense has too much ice to cover, the penalty killers play deep and cluster around the goal. This is to prevent “back-door tap-ins” (hockey term for a cross-crease pass that is, well, tapped-in). So the offense is looking for is a “one-timer” (hockey term for a shot off the pass) where the goalie has to move to face the shooter, leaving gaps for the puck to find. Well, this is exactly what happened.
On the ice was the aforementioned Horcoff, Hage, and Hughes, with Perrone being the fourth fiddle. With Horcoff to the left of the goalie, Hughes camped in front of Augustine, and Hage at the top with the puck, Perrone was all alone to the right. Hage skates slowly away from him then suddenly whips a pass to Perrone, who was in ready position, knowing the skilled Hage was going to find him. Perrone unleashed a perfect shot that beat the all-american goalie to the short side. Game over. W to the Maize and Blue.