Ugh. [Marcg-Gregor Campredon]

Michigan Hockey Game #26 (Big Ten Semifinal): Minnesota 3, Michigan 2 (OT)

David March 15th, 2021 at 11:48 PM

OFFENSE

	Corsi	House	Possession %
First Period	17	7	53%
Second Period	15	7	50%
Third Period	12	4	46%
Overtime	5	1	42%
TOTAL	49	18	49%

Analysis: Michigan’s offense was very good, tonight…for the most part. They started well and created plenty of even strength chances from all over the offensive zone. Their tally dropped off a little in third period, as they were trying to kill the game away. They did, however, get chances in transition (spoiler) that will cause several players some agony in the coming days. The chances were there to slam the door, but they just couldn’t get it done. Garrett Van Whye finished an awesome chance in transition to give Michigan their only even strength goal of the evening.

DEFENSE

	Corsi	House	Possession %
First Period	15	7	47%
Second Period	15	6	50%
Third Period	14	3	54%
Overtime	7	2	58%
TOTAL	51	18	51%

Analysis: Michigan’s defense was mostly good…but ended up paying for a couple mistakes. Minnesota has a great offense and the Wolverines kept Mann pretty clean for the first couple of periods, allowing him to see everything and giving him pretty good angles. They did falter in clearing the puck a little too often and it came back to bite them on the second and third goals. I wouldn’t call this a poor performance at all. It was just pretty good…with a number of mistakes that a good team made them pay for, unfortunately.

[AFTER THE JUMP: More ugh]

KJ from Becker and Beniers. Wowza! [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

SPECIAL TEAMS

	PP For	PP Against	PP Corsi For	PP Corsi Against	PP Shots/Min For	PP Shots/Min Against
First Period	1/1	0/2	1	10	1 (1/1)	1.25 (5/4)
Second Period	0/2	n/a	8	n/a	1.25 (5/4)	n/a
Third Period	n/a	0/1	n/a	3	n/a	1 (2/2)
Overtime	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	1/3	0/3	9	13	1.2 (6/5)	1.17 (7/6)

Analysis: For the second night in row, Michigan scored on their first power play attempt on net. Matty Beniers, Jack Becker, and Kent Johnson worked a beautiful tic-tac-toe for KJ to finish from the slot. That set the tone for the first half of the game, being the only tally. Michigan’s subsequent power plays were acceptable, moving the puck, holding the zone, but not getting any Grade A chances or goals. They did cash their first and best chance of the evening.

Michigan took three penalties and killed them all. Things got a bit dicey on the second kill, as Minnesota held the zone for a while and created chances. Still, the Wolverines were able to keep the puck out of the net and hold the lead in place…for the time being. Their kill in the mid-third period was very impressive, given the circumstances.

Jack LaFontaine got one final revenge, saving Morgan’s bid to make it 3-0 early in the third period [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

GOALTENDING

	Shots Faced	Shots from House Faced
First Period	13	8
Second Period	10	5
Third Period	10	5
Overtime	6	2
TOTAL	39	20

Analysis: The most unfortunate part about this game was that Strauss Mann played a great game through two periods. There were times when Minnesota amped up the pressure and he held his line, keeping the Gophers off the board. He was also awesome on the power playing making a number of saves from the House. The first goal was probably on Owen Power who got caught on the boards, allowing the attacked to fly into the slot. Still, getting beaten five hole is not ideal. The second goal was probably Mann’s worst of the season, given all of the circumstances. Ranta shot from the edge of the House and Strauss saw it all of the way. Unfortunately, he just didn’t get the right pad down in time. That pretty much never happens to him. But…tonight, it did. The overtime goal came off of a rebound. He had no chance to save it.

Garrett Van Whye finished a phenomenal rush [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

ODD MAN RUSHES

Defense	Rushes	Advs	Escape%	Rushes	Advs	Scoring%
1st Period	1	3v2	100%	1	2v1	0%
2nd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a	2	2v1, 4v2	50%
3rd Period	1	3v2	0%	2	1v0, 3v2	0%
OT	1	3v2	100%	n/a	n/a	0%
Total	3	3v2 x3	67%	5	1v0, 2v1 x2, 3v2, 4v2	20%

Analysis: This is where Michigan really took advantage in the game. They created five chances in transition. After a couple of 2v1s, Garrett Van Whye finished a well-worked 4v2 to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. Lafontaine robbed Morgan on another fancy 3v2 to start the third period…that really changed the game. Thomas Bordeleau had a chance to seal the game late with a breakaway, but Lafontaine deflected his shot high.

Michigan gave up their share of OMRs, as well. Minnesota got three 3v2s. Nathan Burke finished between Mann’s legs after Power was beaten on the boards. It was a tough chance, but still not a great goal against Mann, either.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS

I had: Minnesota 51(18), Michigan 49(18)