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

What just happened (TL;DR): After both teams traded goals in the first 10+ minutes of the game, the goaltending and defense took over at Yost…for pretty much the rest of the evening. Ryan Bischel and Jake Barczewski both played really well in a game that looked destined for overtime. With under three minutes to go, Gavin Brindley fed grad transfer Marshall Warren above the slot. The fifth year player launched a shot through Bischel’s five hole to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead. In storybook fashion, Michigan had to close down the remaining few minutes with stellar defensive structure and a goaltending performance to remember.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Notre Dame	74	60	14	53	46%
Michigan	76	71	5	71	54%

Forward Notes.

-While Michigan’s offense got better as the game moved along, they still struggled to overwhelm the Irish the way they did on Friday night. Notre Dame was much better at shutting down the Wolverine attack…and Ryan Bischel made a bunch of good saves. This has been a bit of a consistent theme for Michigan: struggling with creating –especially high danger chances- on the second night of series.

-Gavin Brindley had a highlight reel goal to tie the game in the first period. He snatched a loose puck in the neutral zone. Flew down the wall, curling below the dot. Then he absolutely sniped the short-side top corner to surprise Ryan Bischel. While giving up a goal short-side is suboptimal…that was quite a shot from Brindley. He also looked more and more dangerous as the night moved progresses, as well. His skating, passing, and shooting are a sight to behold.

-The top line was looking better tonight, as well. Garrett Schifsky and Frank Nazar had a handful of really nice looks. I think this line swap will only add scoring depth and give Michigan two very good lines. The bottom six played well, too. I don’t expect tons of scoring, but they work really hard and play very smart. There’s a lot to like down there.

De-Fense! De-Fense!! (Bill Rapai)

Defense Notes.

-Again, Irish caveats do apply…BUT, Michigan played some very  good defense again…for most of the game. There were a couple of stretches where it got a tad hairy, not being able to clear the zone and such. However, they limited Notre Dame to nine SOGs from the House…and a handful of those were on the power play.

-The last couple minutes after being given the lead were something that this unit absolutely NEEDED. They’ve struggled all year to protect leads, play well late (especially in their own zone), and just close out games. Tonight, that is 100% what they did and did it with flying colors.

-How about Marshall Warren? A ex-captain from Boston College, hasn’t exactly had the year we all expected. But, boy, did he come through at the biggest moment of the season! He fired a shot from straightaway as the minutes were counting down to give the Wolverines a joyous lead. Honestly, he looked pretty good all weekend in all areas of the ice. He wasn’t too bad last weekend, either. If he starts to hit his stride, it would be a massive boon heading into postseason play.

 

 

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots/Minute
Notre Dame	1/3	14	1.3 (7/5.5)
Michigan	0/2	5	1 (4/4)

Power Play. After a dynamic Friday night on the power play, Michigan’s Man Advantage was rather quiet on Saturday night. Maybe that was partly because they didn’t really get many chances. Their second opportunity saw them get a few more shots on goal, but neither power play chance created a whole lot of dangerous looks.

Penalty Kill. Michigan actually had great penalty kills all night. They gave up a goal on the opening Irish power play after getting a bit unlucky. A couple clears hit their own players, not allowing the puck out of the killers to get a change. Eventually, Danny Nelson fired a shot home from the House. Ideally, the puck gets out on one of those clearing attempts, but stuff happens. Michigan’s last kill of the game was on a total BS penalty, but they killed it almost perfectly. Absolute A+ when they needed it.

 

Jake the Great? (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Notre Dame Shots Faced (House)
First Period	8 (3)	7 (1)
Second Period	11 (3)	8 (4)
Third Period	10 (3)	15 (8)
Overtime	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	29 (9)	30 (13)

Notes. After recording his second shutout on Friday night, Jake Barczewski backed it up on Saturday with perhaps his best performance in a Maize and Blue uniform. Not only did he save 28 of 29 shots on goal, but he made some darn impressive ones, especially down the stretch. Again, when his defense stayed sound around him, he made all of plays necessary to secure a low score victory. Jake tracked the puck really well through traffic and had multiple sparkling glove snags. His best save of the night might have been a sliding deflection in which he got back across the crease to cover a previously open net. On the weekend, Barczewski stopped 50 of 51 shots. #EyeballEmoji
 

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	3v2	100%		1	2v1	0%
3rd Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	1	3v2	100%		1	2v1	0%

Notes. After Friday’s up and down affair, Michigan only gave up one OMR, a 3v2, all game. Jake Barczewski met it with a nicely deflected shoulder save. The Wolverines were very disciplined staying positionally sound all evening.

Michigan created one 2v1 in which Frank Nazar had a great look on net, but he fired it wide, unfortunately. That was it for the Wolverines on rushes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Michigan sweeps Notre Dame at Yost for the first time in the regular season since ‘96-97? Wow. They also clinch home ice advantage for the first round of the Big Ten Tournament (sorry, Ryan Zuke). Additionally, they finish a DEFENSIVE game really strongly, and score late to win…instead of what’s been happening too often. A shutout on Friday and a dramatic ending win with fine goaltending and superb defense is exactly what this team needed. They got it. And…they still control their own destiny for finishing third in the Big Ten if they win both games in Minneapolis next weekend. Both games will be on BTN at 8:30pm on Friday and Saturday nights.