FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

- We all knew this was going to happen. It is what Minnesota State does to everyone. Michigan struggled in the neutral zone, trying to skate through instead of dumping the puck. They ended up with three shots on net…and not a whole lot more attempts at the net.

- Michigan did adjust well in the second, though. After their power play goal, they got close a number of times to getting a two goal lead with none tighter than Kent Johnson’s shot from ten feet out that Dryden McKay dove across the crease to save with his glove. If that goes in, the game probably is not nearly as tight.

- Down a goal in the third, once again, it’s Thomas Bordeleau and Brendan Brisson who came to Michigan’s rescue. Bordeleau wins a puck along the boards and gets it to Truscott at the point. Jacob Truscott rips the puck wide, but Bordeleau has repositioned himself in perfect position to redirect the puck in to tie the game. Later in the game, Bordeleau would essentially win the game for Michigan with his play-making ability to feed an open Brisson (covered later). This appears to being the top scoring unit on this team.

- While Kent Johnson has had his moments, today was not his best game. He’s an all-world talent, but he sometimes overcomplicates things. Multiple times this weekend, he’s eschewed a good chance for a pass. This happened on the McKay game-changing save. If he shoots early, he had a great look. KJ was lucky to get the puck back, but he wound up, giving McKay just a split second to get back across the crease. If he shoots immediately, its probably a goal. Lastly, when killing the final penalty, he had a chance to flip the puck out along the boards. Instead, KJ opted for the stick-handle, and he was dispossessed, giving the Screaming Eagles another great look.

[AFTER THE JUMP: More breakdown]

Defense Notes.

- Overall, this was a pretty solid defensive performance from the defensive corps. For the most part, they kept Minnesota State on the perimeter shot-wise. There were a few DZTOs and gaffed clears, but much, much better from last week.

- Luke Hughes and Nick Blankenburg had pretty positive games. Both chimed in on offense, while still looking in control in their own zone. They used their speed and separation ability well, especially when there was trouble in the defensive end.

- This was not Jack Summers best game. He had a few uh-oh DZTOs, one leading to one of Jimmy Lambert’s, uh, penalties. He also got completely lost on the Screaming Eagle tying goal. The puck was in the zone for quite a while, and Michigan was playing great team defense…until Summers just lost his man and drifted too high. He missed the pass and was unable to break up the shot with a last second diving attempt. With seven guys in the rotation, it will be interesting to see who is on the third pairing next weekend.

Oh Captain, My Captain (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. Michigan got two whole power plays against the Screaming Eagles. Nick Blankenburg made the first chance count with a blast from straight away. Luke Hughes had another very deft assist from off of the boards, through a defender, to the wide open Captain. The Wolverines did not really threaten at all on their second man advantage. It was an off night for Michigan’s top power play unit. They had trouble in the neutral zone and barely got any (if any) offensive zone time. Still, one out of two is rather efficient.

Penalty Kill. I will not talk about the penalties. I will not talk about the penalties. I will not talk about…ugh. Just don’t get the Slack channel between Alex and I. Michigan took (ha…sorry, okay) five penalties on Saturday. They killed four of them…three with relative ease. The Screaming Eagles took the lead on their fourth opportunity after a shot from the point was knocked down in the slot. Ryan Sandelin was sitting right there to tap the puck in for All Purples. Minnesota State had one final chance with two minutes to go. Erik Portillo was strong, killing that last advantage. It was do-or-die with the goalie pulled, so killing that off was very impressive.

Once again, Erik Portillo was solid…when he stayed in net (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Once again, Erik Portillo stood very strong in the crease. While his teammates got off to a slow start, yet again, he kept his net free of goals until the offense could get going. He did make a handful of big saves sprinkled throughout the next couple of periods. When he has solid defense in front of him, he’s been unbeatable so far this season. As he’s been known to do, Portillo will go puck chasing to play it with his stick when he can. Today, he did get caught out a couple of different times as the puck came off the boards oddly (once) and he lost the race to puck (once). Neither adventures cost him a goal, but did lead to a few yelps. He could do nothing on either goal, IMO. Jack Summers lost his man, allowing the shot to come from just outside the crease from an unbothered shooter. It eluded Portillo just under the bar. The man advantage goal was deflected in front. Erik was off balance and could not get back across his crease. That deflection is impossible to anticipate. It was a great weekend for Michigan’s netminder.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Once again, Michigan was very good in transition defense. They did give up a 2v1 early on, but the attempt went wide of the net. That was it. MSU doesn’t have the most potent offense or fastest skaters, but only one OMR (after giving up zero Friday night) is almost ideal.

Michigan created a few OMRs. All of the were 3v2s. In a tie game late in the third, Thomas Bordeleau did a phenomenal job receiving a stretch pass and pivoting to the offensive zone. Working along the boards, he fired a picture perfect cross-ice pass to Brendan Brisson who one-timed Michigan into a 3-2 lead that they would never relinquish.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Alex texted me “we’re about to find out a lot about this team” about five times this weekend. Well, we did. After last night’s dominating performance, Michigan backed it up with another impressive victory against the previously Number 1 team in the country. Minnesota State wants to play a completely different style of game. After a period of slog, the Wolverines adjusted well, and eventually just out-talented the mid-twenty something year old Screaming Eagles. These will probably be two of the biggest resume-building wins for Pairwise come March. Friend of the HockeyCast Nate Wells tweeted “If Michigan looks like this in October…” Perfectly summed up, Nate.