Dakota Raabe had quite a nice night on the PK and was rewarded with an empty-netter [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

OFFENSE

Analysis: Not Michigan’s best offensive game. Each period, the Wolverines seemed to create a few nice looks at the net, but that was about it. They didn’t have a high volume of chances, nor did they overwhelm Wisconsin’s defense. Michigan’s offense was mostly buoyed by their power play. During even-strength play, Michigan could not generate a whole lot. This game seemed a lot like the second PSU game from a couple of weeks ago, and the inverse of the OSU game last Friday. There was not a lot of organic offense, but the team leaned on other realms to pull out the victory. Jack Becker did have a nice circle route on which he powered though a couple of Badgers and was rewarded with a wrister that beat Jack Berry. He has really come on in the last month.

[After THE JUMP: establishing Lavigne's baseline and looking at how special teams won the game]

Cooper Marody caught the puck at the top of the crease and chucked it to center ice to avoid dropping it in front of Lavigne. Perfect. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

DEFENSE

Analysis: Michigan did not have a great defensive effort by the numbers tonight. That could mostly be reflected by the offense's lack of puck control…and the score. They gave up a lot of attempts on net, but most of those were from outside of the house area (the home-plate shaped area that extends from the net to the top of the faceoff circles). I will say that the team blocks a ton of shots and does a great job of getting in the passing lanes. Michigan generally protected Lavigne well and did not have a large number of bad DZTOs. That is something that has generally plagued them throughout the year; that was not the case tonight. The first goal was on the defense, however. Wisconsin had a few shots from wide angles and was able to get the puck to an all-alone Trent Frederic at the top of the house, and he whistled one past Lavigne. Two defenders were in the crease and neither was checking the would-be goal scorer.

Too many penalties…but not many goals against. Take it? [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

SPECIAL TEAMS

Analysis: Michigan converted two of their first three power plays tonight. Cecconi walked in and sniped a corner on the first goal. Slaker and Becker had a nice tic-tac-toe leading to Slaker jamming one through Jack Berry for the second Wolverine power play goal. Michigan's second goal on the night came just seconds after another power play expired, so that goal can mostly be attributed to the man advantage as well. Michigan’s strong forecheck got Marody open in the house, and he buried his chance. Overall, Michigan went 2/5 and that is something to get excited about.

So, I have competing thoughts on the penalty kill. They successfully killed six of the seven advantages that they gave away. However, seven power plays is just way too many. Dakota Raabe had a great night on the PK. He ended two Badger power plays by himself by drawing penalties. He also had a handful of clears and blocked shots. While Raabe hasn’t been a standout on the scoresheet, he may have found his niche on Michigan’s much-maligned penalty kill. The Wolverine kill did surrender a goal after Wisconsin pulled their goalie to create a 6v4 late in the third. A cross-ice pass was buried before Lavigne could get across his crease. That was the lone blemish, though. Better penalty kills, but they’re going to need fewer of them going forward.

Once again, Hayden Lavigne was good enough [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

GOALTENDING

Analysis: Hayden Lavigne had another solid night in net. The first and third goals were not on him, as one came from a wide-open shooter in the house and the other, a power-play goal, was discussed above. The second goal was a bit soft, though. Wisconsin had a 2v2 and the shot came from outside of the dot, yet somehow got through him. Goals aside, Lavigne made a handful of fantastic saves and faced quite a volume of pucks in total. He did leave a few cringe-inducig rebounds and had a…fumble(?) from behind the net out into the crease that ended up being pushed wide. This is pretty much what he is game-in and game-out. A couple of big rebounds, a soft goal, a bunch of well-positioned saves, a handful of game-savers, and probably one head-scratching move. If Michigan’s defense holds strong enough and can eek out a few goals, that’s usually enough to win, like tonight.

ODD-MAN RUSHES

Analysis: So, I don’t remember any OMRs for Wisconsin tonight. There is the chance I missed one/some, but even if I did, there was nothing super egregious. Which is awesome! More of that, please.

Michigan did manage to create a couple of 2v1s but came close on neither. And they still managed four non-EN goals. Hooray.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS

I had: Wisconsin 56(17), Michigan 38(14)

www.collegehockeynews.com had: Wisconsin 53, Michigan 35