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

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Mackie Samoskevich didn’t skate tonight. He looked to leave the game after an injury last night. Mark Estapa played for Phillip LaPointe. Eric Ciccolini played…and I honestly don’t remember seeing him do much of anything on the ice. Nick Granowicz also slid onto the KJ/Beniers line.

-By all accounts (Twitter, announcers, my eyeballs), the ice looked bad, tonight. Guys were seemingly falling on every shift. There were multiple instances at line-crossings or in corners where it seemed that players would slow up to be extra cautious of their footing. There’s no evidence to say that Western used this to slow down the speedier Wolverines, but baseball and football groundskeepers used to vary grass-length based on what type of speed their team would have. Alex compared it to the Lake Tahoe ice…a game that was postponed eight hours.

-Michigan’s forwards were much better in the first period, actually creating chances early and challenging Bussi. They did draw iron four times throughout the contest. However, after going up 2-0, Michigan really struggled to create many dangerous chances. The Beniers line finally got a Forever Shift in the third period. It ended up being wiped out by matching penalties.

-Garrett Van Whye and Nolan Moyle created a nice even strength goal when GVW took a hard low shot from a sharp angle. The rebound was kicked out to Moyle in the slot who buried it immediately. It was good to see the fourth line finish one.

[AFTER THE JUMP: The rest of the summary]

Defense Notes.

-Jack Summers and Jay Keranen replaced Keaton Pehrson and Ethan Edwards, tonight. Obviously, the top pair isn’t going to sit. Luke Hughes won’t either. However, after that, all bets are off. Michigan has had a few dreadful defensive performances, and it looks like they are willing to have quick hooks, giving multiple guys chances to win a spot. FWIW, I thought Jay Keranen was fine on the third pairing, tonight.

-It’s always hard to see as much on streaming services, but the in-zone defense didn’t look as bad. Power still had blips, but he goes forward a ton, and I’m coming around on that. Especially in games where the offense is struggling, that can be a jolt. The Wolverines didn’t seem to turn the puck over in their own end quite as often. They did cede too many good chances, but Western moved the puck and created well.

-Luke Hughes had a rough game, defensively. He turned the puck over at the attacking blue line at least three times. Two of those times lead to breakaways for Western…one eventually became a penalty shot. The third was saved by a back-checker (Morgan, I think). Hughes has huge upside and will get better, but tonight was one to forget.

Western dominated Michigan on special teams (Bryan Fuller)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. While Michigan did get enough opportunities with a man advantage, they really did not do a whole lot with them. Once again, they got the puck to Brisson on his dot, and he sniped the Wolverines into a lead. However, after that, they seemed out of ideas. It’s been a minor issue this season, but it is getting bigger with each game that transpires. Michigan also struggles to get the puck into the zone way too often. This is becoming a glaring coaching weakness.

Penalty Kill. This was not a whole lot better than last night, either. Western threatened throughout their first chance, but Portillo bailed Michigan out numerous times. The Broncos cashed their third and fourth power plays after shot deflections fell to either open shooters or unchecked skaters who found open shooters instantly. Michigan struggled to clear the puck or check guys around the net all night. Western moved Michigan around relatively easily. The Broncos outclassed the Wolverines all weekend on special teams.

Like a Rock (Bryan Fuller)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Think whatever you want of Portillo last night (he was better than you think, BTW), he was awesome tonight. He made many saves from tough, close range shots. He also saved a number of hard shots from distance. Erik was not only the best played on the ice for Michigan, he was also the reason that the Wolverines weren’t blown out, tonight. He was hung out on way too many rushes and was equal to every one he faced. Erik also stoned a penalty shot just after a breakaway. Lol. Portillo also tracked the puck pretty well through traffic. For concerns with this team, goaltending is near the bottom of the list. Both power play goals were set up from shot deflections that were redistributed to open shooters. Good luck saving those.

Just can’t chase all night (Bryan Fuller)

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Holy Fish. After lasts night’s embarrassment of six OMRs ceded for Michigan, they follow it up with…six more tonight. Come on, man. That just cannot happen. To top it off, they were all 2v1s and 1v0 breakaways. Portillo made saves on five of the six. For a team that is going to be more talented than most of its opponents, giving up gobs of OMR chances is one of the best way to even the playing field. They got away with it tonight, but this cannot be a trend.

Owen Power had a breakaway in this first period and beat Bussi…but drew iron. Of course, haha.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Western is good. They have a great goalie. They are well-coached and have a few scorers. The Broncos also play very good defense and look remarkable on special teams. That’s a really tough out. This is a great series for Michigan to play, now…and they managed to win (tie?) a game. Michigan’s talent and ceiling are both undeniable. But they have a lot of work to do in defense and special teams. They won’t be able to out-talent everyone and skate circles around the rest. Michigan needs to get better fundamentally and learn to out-think and out-prepare teams. They’ll see a beleaguered Wisconsin team at Yost on Thursday evening.