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

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-This was not a close hockey game. Michigan overwhelmed Wisconsin starting halfway through the first period. They could have easily had another goal as multiple guys got dangerous chances. Once the puck started going in, it was only a matter of time. Michigan drew calls, outshot, outcorsi’d, out played the inferior Badger squad all evening. When the game was tight, possession was still 2-1 in Michigan’s favor.

-In his penultimate game before heading to the Olympics, Matty Beniers put on a show. He handled through the entire Badger team setting up Luke Morgan’s tap-in goal. Late in the game, Matty had an awesome give-and-go with Nick Blankenburg before he finished his open chance in the slot. He’s becoming Michigan’s best player and continuing to show why he’s an obvious choice to be an Olympian.

-Over the next month, Michigan is going to rely heavily on the Beecher & Kids line. Johnny had a nice night, getting a couple of dangerous looks at the net and feeding an open Mackie Samoskevich in the House for the game-ender. Mackie totaled seven shots and three points looking threatening all evening. Dylan Duke got his greasy goal after nice plays from Mackie and Ethan Edwards. Duke always seems to be around the net, and he’s being rewarded for it.

Defense Notes.

-Ower Power was not in Madison with the Wolverines but in Switzerland with Team Canada. So far, Michigan has not missed him too much. They played pretty well on defense all evening, limiting the Badgers dangerous chances and opportunities overall. Nick Blankenburg and Ethan Edwards added helpers on the offensive end. The Wolverines have been pretty locked down since that fateful series in Columbus, and Friday night was no exception.

-My Ethan Edwards update: He looked like he could have done better on the power play goal. I’ll have to go back and break it down, but he was late getting to the wraparound. He also took a goofy cross-check penalty in the corner. It looked like the Badger went down easily, but he did still hit him in the back. On the positive side, he took a nice shot that lead to the early Duke goal. He also set up Beecher before the Samoskevich goal. Overall, probably up and down, but I like to see the offensive creations.

A little friendlier bounce this time around against the Badgers for Thomas Bordeleau (James Coller)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. On Michigan’s first power play attempt, Johnny Beecher got a really nice look from the House, but he drew iron (of course). Soon after, Bordeleau had the puck along the goal-line and had his stick hit as he took a shot. The puck hit a defenseman and dropped in behind Jared Moe. So, it all evened out. Bordeleau took a spill on his way to the bench forcing a mistimed change, ending Michigan’s advantage with a too many men call. Michigan did have a really nice third power play, moving the puck well and creating several dangerous chances.

Penalty Kill. Michigan had an odd night on the penalty kill. They took a number of penalties, but only spent about six minutes on the penalty kill. They did give up a goal on their first kill after no one tracked Carson Bantle around the net. We’ll talk about how that happened on the HockeyCast, but first look seems to point at Edwards. After that, Michigan faced a 5v4-5v3-5v4 combo. They did really well, allowing very few attempts on net. Wisconsin got one last power play late in the third after the game was essentially over. Overall, another good performance down a skater.

One minor hiccup and a bunch more steady saves for the Swede (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Erik Portillo had another quietly solid game. He was not called upon overly frequently, but he did manage to make a few big saves, including a breakaway when the game was still 2-1. Michigan scored soon after that, and the route was on. The goal he did allow was still not ideal. Carson Bantle wrapped around the net on a power play and walked in front of the crease, beating Portillo far side on the ice. While you’d want Portillo to save that, it would also be nice if any of the penalty killers bothered Bantle at all on his net-rounding jaunt. All told, Portillo did save 26 of 27 shots faced. Ho-hum.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Michigan gave up a couple of breakaways. The first one during a very crucial sequence. Zach Urdahl got behind Michigan’s defense, but Erik Portillo matched him and deflected the puck into the corner. Wisconsin got another breakaway on a Michigan man advantage, this time a 2v0. Urdahl again beat Portillo but not the post. That was set up by a Brendan Brisson gaffe at the blue line.

Michigan also got breakaways of 1v0 and 2v0. Jimmy Lambert was in alone and his shot went high. Luke Hughes and Garrett Van Whye were in alone, and Luke made a late decision to pass, handcuffing his teammate. The play was complicated by a Badgers skating back to knock the net off…but after last week, that’s not something to complain about. Michigan also had a 4v3 on a power play. It did not go in. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Early in the season, I kept mentioning that it’s good to beat an inferior team, but elite teams do it twice. Michigan is in the situation again. They have their American Olympians for one more game, and reaffirmed tonight how much better they are than Wisconsin. Ohio State dropped two points in State College on Friday, and the Irish dropped three to Minnesota. If Michigan can double their result and get another friendly out of town result or two, perhaps that Olympic Stretch won’t appear as daunting.