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

 

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Ohio State	59	51	8	45	42%
Michigan	87	71	16	61	58%

Forward Notes.

-Again down mulitple Olympians, Michigan’s top line was able to generate a number of shots and plenty of good chances. Mackie Samoskevich seemed to be getting a solid look at the net on most shifts. Dylan Duke tallied on the power play and was dangerous throughout the game. While he still isn’t finding the net with much consistency, Johnny Beecher is playing the skater Michigan thought they’d be icing. He’s working hard on every shift and getting the puck to the two freshman in scoring areas. He’s also backchecking well and blocking shots.

-Until the end when he took a really frustrating penalty down the stretch, Mark Estapa was also having a dependable game. He made a phenomenal pass to Nick Blankenburg on the game winner. Estapa is always in front of the net or in the corners winning battles and keeping possession. He’s worked himself from scratched player to key contributor in just a few months.

-Thomas Bordeleau finally had his second half moment. With Michigan down a goal, Bordeleau showed his NHL-level handles and created space where there was no space, getting to the crease and finishing high/shortside to tie the game. Thomas has played well, but he’s not been at the level that he was last season. This could be his launching point.

Defense Notes.

-Luke Hughes must be guest-starring on Friends and Seinfeld because he is Must See TV, right now. Unfortunately, it went a little both ways, on Friday. He scored two goals (one empty-netter), but he also almost gave away a few. He fell at the attacking blue line, leading to OSU’s first breakaway. He also made a few drop passes that almost didn’t find their receiver. Despite all of that, his goals set the Michigan freshman record for goals in a season. He has 15! That’s just two off the team lead. Lol.

-Nick Blankenburg had a Hughes-esque game, as well. He went down to block a shot and got pump faked on Quinn Preston’s wraparound. He also went rocketing into the neutral zone that lead to Westlund’s 2v1 goal. The pump fake was a legit move, but I have no idea on the 2v1 vacation. In Hughes-like fashion, though, he created a number of chances in the offensive end and scored the game-winner! In the end, probably a net positive in what could have been a negative evening.

 

Tell me that game-winner against OSU didn’t mean anything to Nick Blankenburg (James Coller)

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots/Minute
Ohio State	1/3	8	.67 (4/6)
Michigan	2/5	16	.71 (5/7)

Power Play. Once again, Michigan’s power play looks very dangerous, despite being down multiple superstars. Ethan Edwards nearly give up a short-handed breakaway, but was able to keep the puck in the zone. A couple of friendly bounces later and Mike Pastujov is feeding an open Dylan Duke for a goal from the slot. Late in the third with the score tied, Mark Estapa made the pass of his career through the crease to an open Nick Blankenburg on the back post. Jakub Dobes was able to get across to make the initial save, Michigan’s Captain stayed with it to finish the eventual game-winner. One issue: the Wolverines were a bit sloppy and the Buckeyes got one breakaway and almost a few more.

 

Penalty Kill. Another game, another solid night on the penalty kill for Michigan. While Portillo did surrender a sloppy goal (and a previous 2v1), Michigan did a pretty good job limiting Buckeye shots and chances. They even broke out on a 2v0 and probably score if Lambert can hit the net on Van Whye’s dish. On most nights, Portillo keeps that five-hole shot out and the Wolverines breeze through another night down a man. Eh, oh well. Still pretty good.

 

 

Not his most memorable game, but Erik Portillo was hung out to dry a lot on Friday (James Coller)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Ohio State Shots Faced (House)
First Period	8 (5)	9 (3)
Second Period	11 (5)	16 (6)
Third Period	6	12
Overtime	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	25	37

Notes. This was not Erik Portillo’s best evening, overall. While he did make a number of big saves, Portillo was at fault on two of the three Buckeye goals. I do think Blankenburg could have played the first goal better,  but Erik was way too deep and did not keep his five hole closed on Quinn Preston’s wraparound, allowing Kamil Sadlocha to poke the puck through him. Portillo was also beaten five hole on a shot from the point from Travis Treloar’s point shot on the power play that temporarily tied the game in the third. Alex was a bit more defensive of the rest of Portillo’s game, saying he rescued Michigan a number of times. I was still a little concerned about some of the rebounds from the Swede tonight. He did have his high points, but he was definitely sloppier than his normal Swedish Shutdown Self.

 

Despite this being OSU’s OMR goal…this is a sweet photo (James Coller)

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Defense	Rushes	Advs	Escape%	Offense	Rushes	Advs	Scoring%
1st Period	1	1v0	100%		n/a	n/a	n/a
2nd Period	3	1v0, 2v1 x2	67%		1	2v0	0%
3rd Period	1	2v1	100%		1	2v1	0%
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	5	1v0 x2, 2v1 x3	80%		2	2v0, 2v1	0%

Notes. That’s FIVE? Ohio State got their best chances in transition on Friday night. And boy were there enough. The Buckeyes got two breakaways, but missed the net on both chances (one post). They finally tallied on a 2v1 (Westlund from Singleton) after Nick Blankenburg went shooting up ice for an unbeknownst reason, leaving Ethan Edwards alone back in his zone. In the third, the Buckeyes had an open net on a 2v1 on the man advantage, but could not connect. Way too many OMRs surrendered from Michigan…especially in a big game.

The Wolverines had a golden chance early in the second period with Garrett Van Whye and Jimmy Lambert killing a penalty got in on a 2v0. GVW dishes to Lambert, but Jimmy one-timed his open-net chance wide. Oof. Lambert and Moyle were able to finish a 2v0 a month ago. Tonight, no dice.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

In a hard fought rivalry game, Michigan eliminated both Ohio State and Notre Dame from the Big Ten title race. They haven’t skipped a beat without their Olympians, and still look like a very good team without them. Minnesota also beat Penn State. Michigan gets a chance to win the season series at Yost on Saturday at 8:30pm.