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

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan blitzed Liam Souliere and the Ice Lions early, scoring twice in the opening minute, eventually taking a 4-0 lead in the second period. Penn State scrapped back into the game, making it 4-3 with just under four minutes to play. Jacob Barczewski got the Wolverines to the final buzzer with help from Gavin Brindley’s fortunate empty net goal. Rutger McGroarty tallied a couple of goals. TJ Hughes grabbed a couple of assists. Gavin Brindley also had a three point night.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan overwhelmed Penn State in the first minute, changing the trajectory of the game very early. The Wolverines only had nine shots in the first period, but scored on three of them. Liam Souliere had a rough go early, but came on rather strong as the game progressed. Michigan got good chances,  but Souliere kept Penn State within shouting distance.

-Josh Eernisse had a nice game sitting on the third line. He fired a shot off the faceoff for a goal in the first period. He also almost got an assist off a nice pass to Estapa later. Like in the OSU series, he had another nice speed burst through the neutral zone to create a chance. While he’s not scoring at the rate he did last year, he does have a chance to get ten goals on a third line with limited power play time. Not too shabby so far.

-The only thing I would have liked Michigan to do is shoot the puck more. Facing the worst goal-tending tandem in college hockey, just dial up the shots. Souliere did finish better, but ideally the shot counter would push 35-40.

Defense Notes.

-Michigan’s defense was mostly good, overall. They kept Jake Barczewski pretty clean for the majority of the game. Once they got a big lead, they seemed to get a little more conservative and Penn State started to make a strong push in the second period. In the third period, though, the Wolverines limited the Ice Lions to only six shots.

-Steve Holtz got spun like a top for the opening PSU goal. The puck was literally pass across the crease through his skates. Not great for a guy still fighting for the sixth spot.

-Michigan’s defense didn’t contribute as often as usual on the scoresheet. Seamus Casey did tally and assist, but overall it was an off night offensively for the defense.

Shorty for a Shortie! (David Wilcomes)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. The Wolverine power play started with a bang on Friday night, getting a first period goal to stretch their lead to 3-0. After Gavin Brindley baseball-whiffed on a floating puck, TJ Hughes played a perfect backhand pass to a waiting Rutger McGroarty for a one-timer. Michigan also got a couple of power play opportunities in the third period with a chance to extend the lead and close they game, but they just could not beat Souliere down the stretch.

Penalty Kill. Michigan has another productive night on the penalty kill. Not only did they keep Penn State off the board (and mostly off the goal frame), they tallied their own short-handed goal. Dylan Duke ripped the puck at the blue line, skated in alone, and beat Liam Souliere to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead. Michigan’s defensive penalty kill was highlighted by Jacob Barczewski’s great pad save…maybe a save of the year candidate.

Goaltending photo caption (David Wilcomes)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Jake Barczewski started in net on Friday night. Overall, he played well. While the save percentage isn’t ideal (.892), it’s hard to pin anything on him, specifically. He’s really unlucky on the second goal, as the puck bounces off his pad, Seamus Casey, and finally Reese Laubach…and in. It took several re-watches to figure that out (h/t Peter!). Jake did make two outstanding cross-crease pad saves, one on an early penalty kill. Once again, Barczewski does enough to get his team across the finish line.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Holy OMRs, Batman. Michigan hemorrhages five (That’s Five?!) on Friday evening. Wooooof. It looked like Michigan might get away with that mess until late in the third. Rutger McGroarty made an irresponsible back hand neutral zone pass that was intercepted. Jarod Crespo came in on a 2v1, Jacob Truscott slid over late (once Luca Fantilli mostly evened up the rush), but looked to screen Barczewski on the shot. Maybe Truscott could have played it better, but I think this one starts with Rutger’s turnover in the neutral zone. Honestly, if you give up that many great chances in transition and only one goal? Maybe it’s okay. Just…don’t give up that many!

Michigan also generated six chances of their own. Despite having a couple breakaways and a couple more 2v1s, they couldn’t take advantage. Nick Moldenhauer’s late breakaway was the best opportunity, but it looked like he waited too long to make a move.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We’re basically at the point where Michigan beat a worse team with awful goaltending, so…great. That needs to happen. It also needs to happen again tomorrow. It feels like the Wolverines have used up about seven of their nine lives. We can’t use any on Penn State. Saturday at 7pm on ACTUAL BTN.