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

What just happened (TL;DR): Once again, Michigan just overwhelmed, outskated, and blasted Lindenwood. Like Friday night, Lindenwood was technically still in the game until the mid second period and the dam broke. Michigan’s power play went SIX FOR NINE! They also tallied twice shorthanded. So, they scored as many shorthanded goals on Saturday as Lindenwood scored in the series. Alrighty then.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

	Total Attempts	Even Strength	Power Play	Close (within 1)	Even Strength %
Lindenwood	59	50	-	7	42%
Michigan	88	63	-	15	58%

Forward Notes.

-This was almost a carbon copy of Friday night’s game. Michigan controlled the puck, the shots, the chances, and then, yes, the goals. Even when the game was not out of reach in the first period+, the Lions had like five shots. It never really felt in doubt…and it wasn’t.

-Michigan scored only two even strength goals on Saturday night. Don’t worry, they were basically on the power play for half the game and took complete advantage…as did they on the penalty kill, so fret not, dear reader. Rutger McGroarty poked home a goal from just outside the crease to make it 3-1, easing some growing tensions in the mid-second period. That was followed by a TJ Hughes blast from inside the dot, quickly escalating the game to 4-1, Wolverines.

-TJ Hughes had a FIVE point night! He tallied a couple of goals and three more assists. That gives him 15 points in 8 games. hashtag eyeball emoji.

-Gavin Brindley added two goals and two assists. Dylan Duke, Nick Moldenhauer, Rutger McGroarty, and Jackson Hallum all added two points a piece as well.

Defense Notes.

-Josh Orrico played for Tyler Duke on Saturday night. Hopefully, that is just precautionary, and Michigan didn’t want to risk Duke against a team they massacred the previous night. FWIW, when the game was remotely close, Josh Orrico looked fine and not overmatched against Lindenwood.

-With Orrico in, they did mix up the pairings a little bit to start. Luca Fantilli and Seamus Casey played together. That seems a little on the small end, so I doubt we’ll see that in Big Ten play. Jacob Truscott played with Orrico, but he was later given a game misconduct for kneeing.

-Marshall Warren tallied a couple more points on Saturday night.

-Oh look, just another three point night for Seamus Casey. He had a well-worked power play goal and a couple more secondary assists. That’s 14 points in 8 games.

 

Shortie, what it is (Bill Rapai)

 

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

	PP Opportunities	PP Corsi For	PP Shots
Lindenwood	0/5	Not Enough	7
Michigan	6/9	SO MANY	19

*Due to the game score and sheer volume and overlap of penalties/majors, I stopped counting corsi the 2nd period.

Power Play. There are not many games where you go 6/9 on the power play. Gavin Brindley sniped a shot to open the scoring from inside the dot on a 5x3. Rutger McGroarty finished a nice TJ Hughes pass on the backdoor to make it 2-0 in the first period.  Some great diagonal passing got Seamus Casey open going down the slot for his man advantage tally. Mark Estapa finished a rebound following a Frank Nazar shot from the dot. And finally TJ Hughes blistered a shot from inside the dot. Mark Estapa scored again late in the third to complete the scoring. Yikes, that is many.

 

Penalty Kill. Michigan outscored the Lions 2-0 when Lindenwood was on the power play. Gavin Brindley flew down the ice and buried a shortie. Frank Nazar and Jackson Hallum completed a 2v1 rush on the PK. That’s basically all you need to know.

 

Jake Barczewski had another solid night in net (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

	Michigan Shots Faced (House)	Lindenwood Shots Faced (House)
First Period	5 (4)	19 (10)
Second Period	10 (8)	25 (21)
Third Period	13	8
Overtime	n/a	n/a
TOTAL	28	52

Notes. Jake Barczewski reclaimed his place in net on Saturday night after giving Noah West a game. Jake made 27 saves. His most exciting of the night came on a post-power play breakaway where he stoned the initial shot…and the rebound! He did give up a goofy goal on a shot from the corner that appeared to hit his shoulder and go in. Not great, but he was solid the rest of the game. Not sure what else to say.

 

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Defense	Rushes	Advs	Escape%	Offense	Rushes	Advs	Scoring%
1st Period	n/a	n/a	n/a		1	3v2	0%
2nd Period	2	1v0, 4v2	100%		4	4v2, 2v1 x3	25%
3rd Period	I refuse	to count	anymore		I refuse	to count	anymore
OT	n/a	n/a	n/a		n/a	n/a	n/a
Total	2+	1v0, 4v2	100%		5+	Many	20%

Notes. Through two periods of play, Michigan gave up a couple of OMRs. One was immediately following a power play. Jake Barczewski shut down the breakaway attempt…and the ensuing rebound for his most memorable stops of the night. He also later denied a 4v2 power play rush.

Michigan created at least five OMRs before I stopped counting. Frank Nazar hit Jackson Hallum for an open net short-handed goal. That made it 9-1, lol.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Michigan doubled up their Friday night thrashing of the Lions by dumping in seven goals in the second period. While it is nice to see a lot of guys get on the scoreboard and fill their stat sheet, the takeaways from this game/weekend (other than showing up, doing your job, and putting together back to back curb-stompings) are mostly minimal. Michigan heads to Madison next weekend which will be quite a showdown with the Badgers who are coming off a six point weekend in Minneapolis.