justin selman

Friday, March 11, 2016

#9 Michigan 7, #14 Penn State 1

1st period

Sturtz goal, Penn State

UM 0 PSU 1 EV 02:25 Assists: Glen & Goodwin

The puck’s careening around the defensive zone when Cecconi comes to close to gathering it, but a Penn State skaters swipes at it and knocks it toward the net. Sturtz fires a backhander that misses, hits the boards, and travels toward the top of the zone.

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As all of the Michigan defenders in the frame gravitate toward the puck, Sturtz slips in behind the defense and heads for the front of the net. Juha carries up the boards for a split second before dropping the puck back for Goodwin.

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Connor carries Juha to the top of the zone, so Compher comes over to the wall to cover Goodwin. This opens the middle of the ice, and Glen notices; he cuts underneath Motte and gets himself ready to receive a pass off the wall. Both defensemen step forward once he gets the puck, and no one sees that Sturtz is in Racine’s face.

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Goodwin releases a really strong shot without anyone close enough to alter it, and Sturntz, who’s still unchecked, tips it in.

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CONNOR GOAL, MICHIGAN

UM 1 PSU 1 EV 15:14 Assists: Compher

Juha sees that the forechecking pressure is soft, and he has time to think through his next move before passing. He decides his best outlet is up the boards, but his pass misses Kerr and is intercepted by Compher.

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Compher immediately dishes to Connor, who is cutting underneath Kerr. All three PSU skaters in the area jump in to defend Connor; he manages to outskate them all.

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Connor stickhandles once—just once!—and it causes McAdam to almost hit the ice. It seems almost like his muscle memory led him to do so, because he immediately bounces up and tries to push to his right. That’s the Kyle Connor Effect; he doesn’t even make a true move and goalies are worried to the point they’re getting themselves out of position before Connor’s even attempting to shoot. Look at Connor and you can see that this shot doesn’t come off a huge windup; he’s basically going to shovel the puck on net, but his release is quicker and stronger from that position than most everyone else’s in the nation.

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McAdam essentially falls over himself trying to do the aforementioned get-up-lateral-push-butterfly-again move.

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[If you don’t hit THE JUMP you’ll miss more Connor insanity and you’re smart, you wouldn’t do that]

Friday, January 15, 2016

Ohio State 5, #6 Michigan 5

1st period

Jobst goal, Ohio State

OSU 1 UM 0 EV 09:12 Assists: Larocque & Brevig

Brevig shoots for the boards, and the puck rolls around to Larocque at the opposite point. This looks like a pretty innocuous start to a play until we focus on what’s happening in that scrum in front of Racine.

osu 1-1

The next three screen caps take place as the puck is making its way from Brevig’s stick to Larocque’s. Martin shoves Jobst, who bumps Racine hard enough that he ends up nearly outside the crease. Racine’s first reaction after the goal is to skate directly to the ref to complain about the contact, but it was initiated by his own skater.

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To make matters worse, Cecconi accidentally skates into Racine. He’s able to reset and lock down the opposite post, but it’s a panicked scramble just to get there.

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Jobst, who you may remember as the guy who ran into Racine a couple of screen caps ago, has now skated out of the crease and is lingering in the bottom of the faceoff circle. Larocque throws a shot on net from the point, and Jobst redirects it just inside the far-side post.

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Martin gets bumped by another skater in the crease and loses Jobst, allowing him to get out of the crease and into the faceoff circle unchecked.

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[After THE JUMP: “Fluky,” the all-encompassing adjective of the day]

Friday, December 4, 2015

#12 Michigan 6, Wisconsin 4

1st period

UM 0 UW 1 PPG 06:28 Kunin from Hughes & Davison

Wisconsin’s lucky this play even unfolds. Not only is the pass to the point almost picked, it bounces and almost rolls out of the zone. Hughes pulls it across the blue line just before it trickles over.

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Nothing unconventional here; Michigan sends a defender up to cover the point, so Wisconsin passes to the wing. Meanwhile, Shuart starts to retreat, trailing a Wisconsin player toward the front of the net.

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With Warren defending high and Shuart tracking a guy in the equivalent of man-to-man coverage, there’s a big seam across the ice that’s inviting a quick pass from wing to wing.

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As Kunin receives the pass he sees two options; it looks like he wants to pass, but he wisely decides not to force the puck to the front of the net and instead shoots.

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The pass fake delays Nagelvoort for a portion of a second, but he’s still able to lock down the nearside post. Kunin rips a perfect shot over his shoulder; Nagelvoort doesn’t have a chance at that, and the shot probably doesn’t happen if Shuart peels off the guy he’s decided to play press-man on.

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[After THE JUMP: Someone needs to add a team-specific modifier to the COY’s “we want moooore goals” chant]