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

 

What just happened (TL;DR): Penn State controlled the puck and took twice as many shots as did Michigan. The Wolverines finished over twice as many shots as the Lions did, though. Penn State did get into the House, but Erik Portillo outplayed Liam Souliere before Souliere was chased, going down 4-1. The game never got too tight and the Wolverines added two empty netters and another goal after that. Xander Lamppa scored all three goals for the Ice Lions giving him a hat trick and doubling his goal count for the season.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Penn State	109	94	15	17	67%
Michigan	50	46	4	3	33%

Forward Notes.

-Adam Fantilli showed why he’s almost always the best player on the ice, collecting four points (five if you count the assist on the second Lamppa goal, ha) after his empty-netter. He buried a chance on the power play, forced the DZTO that lead to Philippe Lapointe’s third tally of the year, and slammed home an empty-netter to unofficially end the game. That doesn’t even take into account the goal that he had taken away early in the second period (a bad call by the way). After his empty-netter, Fantilli pointed rather emphatically at the net saying “This one is going to count!”

-Jackson Hallum found the net after a fortunate deflection. Rutger McGroarty also sniped his tenth goal of the year on a wide open look in the slot. Philippe Lapointe also scored a similar goal from Fantilli. Michigan got scoring from their prized star AND plenty of depth scoring. This is the weekend for it against a highly-rated Penn State team and not the brightest outlook for Mackie Samoskevich…at least for this weekend.

 

Seamus Casey is a Dude (David Wilcomes)

Defense Notes.

-Seamus Casey put on a show on Friday night, showing why he might just have the highest ceiling of any defenseman on the ice. While he got a bit fortunate on his first assist that Jackson Hallum finished, his second was one of the plays of the year. He stickhandled through multiple Lions as he skated down the wing and dished to an open Rutger McGroarty blazing down the slot. Casey also created 2-3 more really good looks that could have been goals. He’s really fun to watch.

-Brendan Miles dressed for his first action of his career and looked…good? He didn’t do anything that will make the SC Top Ten, but he made smart plays and was not noticeable for anything negative. He did get stuck out there for a Forever Shift in the third, but that wasn’t all on him by any means. Luca Fantilli also got his first goal as a Wolverine, catching a puck on his backhand, switching to his forehand and beating Noah Grannan with a nice shot.

 

 

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots/Minute
Penn State	1/3	15	8/7
Michigan	1/2	4	2/2.5

Power Play. Michigan has two power plays on Friday night. Their first lasted just seconds after Luke Hughes danced behind the net, popping out the other side and dishing to an open Adam Fantilli in the slot for a nice marker. Michigan tried a 3 low, 2 high Trapezoid  on their second power play, getting good puck movement, including a couple diagonals, but they could not get a good look on net. I like that as a secondary option to pair with the 1-3-1. It’s good to have different ways to attack on the power play, and I’m looking to see more of that one going forward.

 

Penalty Kill. Jay Keranen was given a five minute major for checking a guy into the boards…right after the shot, from the side, when he was standing outside the goal line. I don’t even know. Anyway, Penn State scored on a one-timer from the top of the House just a few seconds into their major. It was a quick release from Xander Lamppa. Penn State did garner plenty of chances, but Michigan did a good job staving them off, headlined by Erik Portillo’s eight (!!) saves. Michigan cleared pucks, grabbed rebounds, and got changes. It was probably the worst major call I’ve ever seen.

 

One of fifty-one tonight! (James Coller)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Penn State Shots Faced (House)
First Period	18 (6)	7 (2)
Second Period	20 (7)	12 (7)
Third Period	16 (7)	8 (4)
Overtime	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	54 (20)	27 (13)

Notes. Erik Portillo started in net on Friday and put in a shift of work. Penn State shot, shot, and then shot some more. Portillo had a bit of a rough start, dropping a couple of pucks on his glove hand…one of them resulted in a shot off the crossbar. After that, though, he was rather on point. He can thank Adam Fantilli for setting up Zander Lamppa’s second goal right in the crease. The third goal was as Score Effects as it gets. He was great on the Kill. He made handfuls of big saves from dangerous areas, as the Lions turned Michigan’s zone into a shooting gallery. In the end, he made 51 saves resulting in a .944 for the evening.

 

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

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	2v1	100%		1	2v1	0%
3rd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		1	2v1	0%
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	1	2v1	100%		2	2v1 x2	0%

Notes. Brendan Miles was the guy back for Michigan on PSU’s 2v1. Miles played it perfectly, getting low and taking away the pass, allowing Portillo to see the shot…which he engulfed.

Michigan got a pair of 2v1s. One ended with a deflected pass across that was basically dead before it started. Fantilli and Brindley had another in which Brindley got away a shot, but it was late enough that Noah Grannan was able to get over and stop it easily.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is a world where Michigan kinda got lucky on Friday night. Penn State doubled them up in shots and attempts. However, Michigan has much better finishers who finished really good looks. Penn State could not. Is that sustainable for Michigan? Maybe not. But if Portillo plays well (which he did) and Michigan does get good enough chances, they can win these games and it will not be surprising. That is what high end talent can do for you. Michigan now has a chance to go for a sweep for the first time since Michigan Football was 7-0. If they get it, they are right back in the race for second place in the Big Ten. It will also be another win over a Top 3 PWR team. A lot on the line tomorrow evening at Yost. 7pm on BTN.