CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

What just happened (TL;DR): Minnesota was the better team for most of the game. Erik Portillo played well enough to keep Michigan in it until they had a three goal outburst in 5+ minutes late in the second period. In the end, it was too much Minnesota firepower and too many Wolverine penalties. Michigan did save a point by getting it to OT, but Matthew Knies won the game with his second goal of the game and third point overall.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan didn’t play overly well for a lot of the game, but they cashed three times in back half of the second period. Aside from that, Minnesota controlled the majority of play. They took it to Michigan for a lot of the third period. Now, the Wolverines had a 3-2 lead, but it just felt the as the waves of Gopher attacks just kept coming, it was a matter of time before they broke through. I’m not sure if sitting back was more of a tactical move by the Wolverines, but they only had six shots in the period (and just three before the tying goal with 4:40 to go). I know they wanted to be defensively sound, but against a firewagon like the Gophers, a fourth goal will probably be necessary.

-Michigan jumped Gavin Brindley to the top line with Adam Fantilli and Dylan Duke. That move paid off as Brindley played as well as any forward all evening. He changed the angle and made the pass of his young career through bodies and the slot to a waiting Adam Fantilli for the second Michigan goal. Adam Fantilli might be the one forward who out-perfromed his linemate, returning the goal after forcing a DZTO and hitting Gavin in the slot to give Michigan their 3-2 lead. Brindley looked great last Satruday and is off to a great start in the second half of the season. I think Mackie Samoskevich will be fine on the second line driving play going forward, as well.

-Eric Ciccolini tallied a goal on a rebound. Good for him after getting knocked out of the game by Logan Cooley in the last series. He showed scoring promise a couple of seasons ago. If he can stay on the ice, let’s see if that can continue.

Defense Notes.

-Michigan split up their speedy defensemen and put one on each line due to the larger ice in Mariucci Arena. It seemed like a really good idea with all of the extra space. Ethan Edwards and Luke Hughes were very noticeable with much more ice to use. Luke Hughes probably had one of his best defensive games as a Wolverine.

-I thought all of Michigan’s defensemen had pretty solid games on Friday night (maybe not Seamus Casey as much, actually). Jay Keranen and Keaton Pehrson seemed to hold their own for the most part on the large sheet. Keranen had a huge block on a late Gopher power play. Edwards flew up the ice creating entries and offensive opportunities. Pehrson did get outskated by Knies on the second goal, but Knies is going to do that to a lot of guys. Aside from that, Pehrson was pretty good.

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. Michigan’s power play was actually pretty good on Friday night. They averaged over a shot per minute and got pretty decent looks on both opportunities. The problem was that they didn’t have very much time on the advantage, at all. Minnesota was the better, more consistently aggressive team, but it’s still college hockey officiating. Nothing we haven’t seen before.

Penalty Kill. The Wolverines had a couple of really good penalty kills and a couple of poor ones. Ironically, their worst kill was one where they didn’t give up a goal but probably should have. As far as the major goes…yeah, I guess that’s a penalty by the letter of the rule. Michigan always seems to get these. Maybe other teams are able to very rarely if ever avoid bumps to the head, but Michigan is not? I don’t know, man. They seem to take one almost every conference weekend. Minnesota got a couple of nice bounces off of deflections and pucks found sticks that led to open net goals (the opener and winner in OT). That does happen when a power play is run tightly. The problem is that Michigan was in the box way too often. Is that their fault? Some, definitely yes. All their fault? Ha…that’s another discussion.

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Erik Portillo started in net and played pretty well all things considered. He also got a bit of help from his iron friends about four times. Portillo basically kept Michigan in the game for much of the first half of the game, including a couple of monster leg/skates saves. Erik was a bit up and down with his puck tracking. At one point, he dropped multiple shots with his glove that almost cost him. He also had stretches of very nice plays finding, freezing, or clearing the puck. While Matthew Knies made an NHL level play to get in on him and beat him for the second goal, it was still short-side and Portillo might have been able to take that away and give Knies something more difficult. He also got across on Jackson Lacombe’s one-timer from the point, but he just didn’t get his glove low enough in time. Portillo wasn’t A+ NHL Level sharp, but he was pretty good overall and gave Michigan plenty of chances to get a point and maybe more.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Minnesota (only?) got three OMRs all evening on Olympic ice against Michigan. Erik Portillo made two saves to shut down two of the rushes. The Wolverines got a little lucky on the last rush when a pass went through Cooley’s legs, and he couldn’t get off a shot.

Michigan generated a couple of chances in transition in the first period. Eric Ciccolini walked down the slot but fired his shot rather wide of the net. Justen Close was able to make a big save on the Wolverines 3v2 chance.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Minnesota is the best team in college hockey. They got their highly drafted defensemen to stick around for a few years. Matthew Knies returned for another run at a national title. Their high end freshmen have been awesome. Even the potential Achilles Heel in goal, Justen Close, is having a phenomenal season. Michigan had them on the ropes, tonight, but just couldn’t finish the job. They’re a really tough team to beat and will be the favorites in March and April. Michigan is still very good and a top ten team in the country…but they’re not in Minnesota’s class, right now. Tomorrow night on BTN at 8pm.