Michigan Hockey Game #18: Penn State 3, Michigan 1
OFFENSE
| Corsi | House | Possession % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Period | 10 | 3 | 38% |
| Second Period | 18 | 14 | 50% |
| Third Period | 18 | 6 | 55% |
| Overtime | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| TOTAL | 46 | 23 | 48% |
- Analysis: Michigan generated nice chances to start the game but couldn’t convert. While the last half of the first period slowed down for them offensively, the rest of the game was the opposite. Michigan created even-strength chances from all over the offensive zone during the last 40 minutes. Honestly, these chances were good enough that on almost any other night, they probably get four or more goals. Jones played out of his mind and arguably stole this game. All of Michigan’s lines moved the puck well and were able to get into dangerous areas. This was maybe the crispest I’ve seen the Wolverine attack all season. Any other night, man…
[After THE JUMP: "Any other night" redux]
DEFENSE
| Corsi | House | Possession % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Period | 16 | 6 | 62% |
| Second Period | 18 | 11 | 50% |
| Third Period | 15 | 3 | 45% |
| Overtime | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| TOTAL | 49 | 20 | 52% |
- Analysis: Facing one of the best offenses in the country, Michigan defense was very solid for most of the evening. They got a little overrun at times during the second period, surrendering a number of attempts from the House/slot. Aside from a couple of those stretches, however, the Wolverines cleared the puck out of dangerous areas, broke the puck out of their zone, and left very, very few open shooters. Penn State is one of the best possession teams in the country, and Michigan defended them to a draw on Saturday. This was the best complete game from the Wolverines that I’ve seen this season.
Many dangerous, clean attempts, tonight [Scott]
SPECIAL TEAMS
| PP For | PP Against | PP Corsi For | PP Corsi Against | PP Shots/Min For | PP Shots/Min Against | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Period | 0/1 | 1/3 | 5 | 10 | 1(2/2) | .8(4/5) |
| Second Period | 0/2 | n/a | 7 | n/a | 1(4/4) | n/a |
| Third Period | 0/1 | n/a | 5 | n/a | 2(4/2) | n/a |
| Overtime | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| TOTAL | 0/4 | 1/3 | 17 | 10 | 1.25(10/8) | .8(4/5) |
- Analysis: Michigan was extremely dangerous on the power play. While they didn’t score a goal, they gained the zone with ease and set up different schemes with relative ease. The Wolverines generated attempts from all over the zone. On any other night, they might get plural tallies. This was the best I’ve seen the power play this season.
- On the flip side, the penalty kill was good…until the end. They killed the first two Penn State advantages with relative ease. The Nittany Lions have a phenomenal power play with a variety of scary attackers, and eventually they triple-crossed the slot for a wide open net. I wasn’t frustrated with that as much as the fact that all three Wolverine penalties were in the offensive zone. Penalties of that nature are unacceptable against a power play that scores north of 30%.
Another ho-hum phenomenal perforMANNce [Scott]
GOALTENDING
| Shots Faced | Shots from House Faced | |
|---|---|---|
| First Period | 13 | 5 |
| Second Period | 11 | 10 |
| Third Period | 10 | 3 |
| Overtime | n/a | n/a |
| TOTAL | 34 | 18 |
- Analysis: Staruss Mann was in net, again, on Saturday, Once again, he was his phenomenal self. He didn’t have a chance on either goal. The man-advantage tally was the product of multiple quick cross-slot passes before a one-timer. The amazing effort by Barratt was a semi-breakaway that was attempted from the edge of the crease. Mann also kept Michigan in the game, snaring snipes and deflected others away from dangerous areas. A number of his saves were also from point-blank range. He’s the best I’ve seen at Yost in years.
ODD-MAN RUSHES
| Defense | Rushes | Advs | Escape% | Offense | Rushes | Advs | Scoring% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Period | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 2nd Period | 1 | 1v0 | 100% | 1 | 1v0 | 0% | |
| 3rd Period | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| OT | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Total | 1 | 1v0 | 100% | 1 | 1v0 | 0% |
- Analysis: Each team gets a breakaway. Neither is able to convert. Not much else to mention. Although, PSU got their on a Wolverine power play, which is not great.
FINAL CORSI NUMBERS
I had: Penn State 49(20), Michigan 46(23)
www.collegehockeynews.com had: Michigan 50, Penn State 50
December 8th, 2019 at 2:57 AM ^
Explain to me why Penn State, who only recently started a competitive hockey program is a highly ranked, dominant team, and historical-power Michigan has been garbage over the same period.
WTF is going on in college hockey?!
Honestly, I've played hockey since the 70s, have been to countless GLI tourneys, mostly through the 80s and early 90s, and have no idea why things are the way they are in college hockey today.
December 8th, 2019 at 6:28 AM ^
I mean, none of that is really true. They’re in their 8th season, so they’re not really “new.” And Michigan was really good for the majority of that period.
Penn State is a quality school with phenomenal hockey facilities. Michigan just went through a period with an aging coach (difficult to recruit) and a coaching change. BC is down too for much of the same reasons. They’re rebuilding. Period. Everyone does it. You’re not going to be a top 10 program every year.
December 8th, 2019 at 9:14 AM ^
And for what it’s worth, it’s not like Penn State started this program from scratch. They’ve had a non-NCAA team since the ’70s, and had essentially playing a Division III schedule for decades when they made the move to varsity. A big-pocket donor puts $102M into top-notch facilities, an established coach brings in a bunch of transfers and gives local talent a reason to stay home, and voila.
As for what happened to Michigan, it seems pretty obvious if you’ve been following the team. A hall-of-game coach earns the right to retire on his own schedule, but recruiting saps a lot of energy from even the spriest 70-year-old. Soon the talent isn’t there to make the system work anymore, and given the nature of college hockey recruiting it takes 2-3 years before a new coach can start to bring in his own guys.
It’s not time to form a judgment on Pearson yet. Improvement should be visible starting next year.
December 8th, 2019 at 1:20 PM ^
In retrospect, it's amazing that you had (1) a very large state, (2) in a northern location, (3) with a history of supporting hockey at the professional and high school and youth levels, (4) that did NOT have a high-profile school playing college hockey at the D-1 level.
(In #4, I'm not trying to disparage Mercyhurst or Robert Morris, but they are lower-profile.)
Penn State essentially just filled a vacuum.
And yes, Michigan hockey will be perfectly fine. They're just in a valley for a small period of time.
December 9th, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^
Nobody, not even a hall-of-fame coach, earns the right to damage the team and the program by staying past the point he can contribute. That's like saying a player who makes some great plays has earned the right to take a few plays off and allow the other team to score. Just doesn't work that way.
December 8th, 2019 at 5:16 AM ^
It's Stunning how far the Michigan hockey program has fallen.simply Stunning
December 8th, 2019 at 7:48 PM ^
Not really. It was completely expected. Pretty sure Brian even predicted it near the end of Red’s tenure. Red’s recruiting fell off. Those kids are now the upperclassmen. The nature of hockey recruiting dictates that it’s 2-3 years before a new coach gets any of his guys in the program.
December 9th, 2019 at 1:00 PM ^
Nice writeup, David. Were you at Friday's game? That's the first one I've been able to attend this season, and they also played really well that night -- and got a comfortable win to show for it. Solid play both nights of the weekend series against a good Penn State team -- could Michigan be figuring some things out to get back to at least a respectable level?
December 9th, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
How many times do some say that the opposing goalie played out of his mind or that we didn't get that illusive "puck-luck" when, in fact, the story is that this Michigan team, and the last several, just doesn't have much real offensive talent. We constantly make opposing goalies look great because we don't have anyone who can consistently bury the puck in the net. We won Friday night because the PSU goalie was weak and lost Saturday because the goalie was capable and we are not offensively capable. The team played about as well as this team can play this weekend but it is fantasy to pretend they were robbed on Saturday. They are are a poor team again this year and likely will finish in last place in the B10. It is shocking to see, but is the program's own damn fault. They let Red (who I love) stay too long. He should have retired 5 years before he did.
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