OFFENSE

• Analysis: Michigan’s offense was very meh. They created a few looks here and there, but they were never an overwhelming threat. Robson also played very well and took away almost all of the Wolverines Grade A attempts. Both of the Michigan goals were basically Gopher breakdowns. Mike Pastujov fired a puck across the slot, and it hit multiple Gopher defenders before it went in the net. Their second goal was a Becker dump-in, Nick Pasta flip on net, and Lockwood snuck a shot past Robson…but no one checked Lockwood. At 2-2, Luke Morgan had a wide open net on a rebound, and he pushed it wide. Once again, Michigan was ridiculously close…but didn’t finish. Apropos.

[Hit THE JUMP for the story on defense, goaltending, special teams, and more]

DEFENSE

• Analysis: The Wolverines were mostly good on the defensive end, then they would have breakdowns and give away very bad chances. While Mann played his best game of the year, Michigan’s defense was too inconsistent, again. After the first couple of periods, Michigan never got a chance to go into Lockdown Mode, as they have enough through the second half of the season. It is the same old thing, though, for this defense. They’ll be good to great and then off of a cliff to very poor. Inconsistency.

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Not so good [Bill Rapai]

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Analysis: Michigan had four power plays, but two of them only lasted a minute. They looked decent in two of their six minutes and created a couple of chances. Outside of those few looks, though, the Wolverines struggled to put much together. They only managed two shots on frame in total. Michigan’s power play continues to be an anchor of the team, especially in Minnesota.

Michigan gave away six man-advantages in total. They did a solid job killing the first few (despite the shots/minute), but the penalty at the beginning of the third got extremely loose. Minnesota probably should have scored once or twice on that opportunity. The Wolverines kept taking penalties, and it finally caught up with them. They needed to play this series at even strength, and so far it has been played on the man advantage.

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Strauss was The Mann tonight [James Coller]

GOALTENDING

• Analysis: Strauss Mann started in net, and he was amazing. Mann was hung out to dry too often, and he saved Michigan over and over. After his meltdown in the first couple of periods of last Friday’s game, he was great in the final couple of periods and it carried over to tonight. He handled his angles better and didn’t give away many rebounds. On top of that, Strauss made a number of do-or-die stops. Goaltending was not an issue on Friday night. I imagine he’ll be in net on Saturday, as well.

ODD-MAN RUSHES

• Analysis: Michigan gave up six OMRs, including four in the third period. That’s just unacceptable. Minnesota scored on two: a 3v2 where Raabe was lax in back-checking the winger and a 2v1 where Blankenburg just got beat leaving the offensive blue line. Michigan played very good defense, but broke down in transition way too often. OMRs had seemingly become less of a problem, but they’ve crept up again, and that is not a good sign going forward.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS

I had: Minnesota 43(25), Michigan 38(18)

www.collegehockeynews.com had: Minnesota 45, Michigan 40