Michigan Hockey 16-17, Game #15: Wisconsin 7, Michigan 4

Submitted by David on

(Marc-Gregor Campredon) Dexter's face says it all

OFFENSE

  • The offense generated 2 goals, tonight, without the help of the PP.  Piazza tapped in a rebound in front of the net for Michigan's third goal -at the end of an OMR.  Cutler Martin led a 2v1 and the defender took the pass, so Martin fired a shot past Berry to bring Michigan within 2, halfway through the 3rd. 
  • Michigan actually created some offensive chances, tonight.  They got inside the circles and slot quite a few times.  They did not always convert, but there were actually more opportunities than I thought, watching live.  I had Michigan with 39 attempts, but 32 of those came in the last 2 periods.  The flip side of this is that Wisconsin gives up 3.5 goals a game.  So, its not exactly a lock-down defense.  They are good on the PK, but not so much 5v5.  Michigan took advantage to a degree, but against a defense struggling like that, I would have hoped for a bit more.
  • Michigan really has 2-3 guys that would be considered Top 6 forwards, and a couple of them are freshmen.  Its just tough going when you're trying to generate chances with guys that have mostly played on 3rd or 4th lines.  

 

DEFENSE

  • Its just not good at all.  They struggle getting the puck out of the zone.  They turn it over in the neutral zone.  They don't keep guys out of the crease.  They blow assignments, leaving guys wide open.  
  • As I look through the shot charts, Michigan's defensive zone is litered with chances.  Just in the 2nd period alone, Wisconsin had 5 shots from the lower slot/crease area and 4 of them went in.  Like...I don't know what to say with that.  The circles are filled with attempts.  Wisconsin had the puck all over the attacking zone.
  • Yost is not a fun place to be these days.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • I'm starting with the Penalty Kill.  They still take too many penalties.  Wisconsin had 2 PP goals -and they're very good on the Power Play.  They came in scoring at 23%.  When you struggle on offense like Michigan does, you just cannot give away man advantages.  Alex Kile got a 5 min major/game misconduct for checking from behind.  Michigan's captain.  Wisconsin actually did not score on that...but that's just unacceptable if you even want to give yourself a chance.  In the end, Wisconsin finished 2 of 7.
  • Michigan actually scored on their first 2 Power Play chances.  They have a respectable scoring rate at 20% and added to it, tonight.  Neither were lucky bounces or fluke goals.  They got the 1-3-1 set up and great passing between Lockwood, Allen and Piazza netted the first.  Luke Martin also tallied his first career goal from the left wing...a result of nice passing, as well.  Michigan finished 2 of 5.

 

GOALTENDING

  • Its very difficult for me to say anything negative about Hayden Lavigne in this game.  He played very well, despite Wisconsin scoring 6 goals against him.  He may have been able to make a world-class save one goal but...woof.  He was put in some perilous positions.  
  • Wisconsin's...5th? 6th? goal was a wrap around that Lavigne was beaten soundly on.  Ok, that was on him.
  • Nagelvoort came in for the 3rd and faced a lot of time on the PK.  He looked great as Michigan goalies tend to do, these days.  The Badgers also hit the post 3 times on him, FWIW.
  • The defense is and has been a nightmare.  Playing behind them is not a receipe for success.  Not even close.  

 

ODD MAN RUSHES

  • So, I had 0 in the first period.  There was a couple of rushes that were close but...eh, not really.
  • Wisconsin scored on b2b OMRs in the 2nd.  One of these was on 2 very favorable bounces, including Lavigne saving the puck into Piazza who deflected it past Lavigne.  Ugh.
  • Trying to keep up with a lot of what was going on, I may have missed a few more OMRs after those initial few.  Also, as Wisconsin dumped 5 goals in the 2nd, I may not have been trying to keep as close an eye on them.  The bottom line is that this team turns over the puck -in all areas of the ice- at an alarming rate...when they are lucky enough to catch hold of it.

 

FINAL CORSI SCORE

I had Wisconsin 52, Michigan 39

www.collegehockeynews.com had: Wisconsin 45, Michigan 39

Comments

Wolverine Devotee

December 10th, 2016 at 5:35 PM ^

He was too busy yelling and crying like a bitch at people like me who saw this developing. 

Well, it's here. The chickens have come home to roost. It is what it is now. Very unfortunate it had to be this way, but there's no use discussing this on here anymore on my part. 

Just gotta play for seeding and hope for a magical B1G Tournament run.