Thursday, January 21, 2016

#6 Michigan 5, US NTDP U18 2 (Exhibition)

1st period

No scoring

2nd period

Suthers goal, NTDP

M 0 U18 1 EV 03:54 Assists: Pastujov & Walker

Walker gains possession at the top of the NTDP’s defensive zone and threads a perfect pass through traffic to Pastujov in the neutral zone. With the puck now ahead of the rest of Michigan’s defense, the US is suddenly on a 2-on-2 rush.

Pastujov does a nice job of feigning toward the center of the ice before pulling the puck across his body and skating around Cecconi. Cecconi knows there’s an open skater to his right and tries to communicate that to Piazza, as he’s decided he’ll carry Pastujov.

Piazza has his stick down in an attempt to take away the passing lane; the only problem is that his stick isn’t in the passing lane. He doesn’t switch defenders, and Pastujov’s pass hits an open Suthers.

All’s not lost, however, as Nagelvoort’s read this well and is prepared for the shot. Then he misses it. It looks like he’s square to the shooter and isn’t sunk back too far in the crease, so this one’s a little ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[After THE JUMP: Motte does Motte things, and a scouting report of sorts]

MOTTE GOAL, MICHIGAN

M 1 U18 1 EV 18:00 Assists: Downing & Compher

Compher wins a faceoff and passes to Downing, who skates it back to the blue line before moving along it laterally. Once he sees defenders jump at him he passes back to Compher, and Compher passes back to Downing once the defenders lurch toward him.

Downing one-times the pass from Compher.

Motte’s screening in front and he tips the shot. There’s an NTDP skater in front of the crease who’s really screening Oettinger; I don’t think he has any idea that the shot’s been redirected before it’s in the net.

3rd period

CALDERONE GOAL, MICHIGAN

M 2 U18 1 EV 03:42 Assists: Warren & Boka

Sorry, I couldn’t find video of this anywhere; that’s the downside of this being an exhibition that was streamed by the official site.

MOTTE GOAL, MICHIGAN

M 3 U18 1 EV 04:25 Assists: Compher & Connor

Compher steals the puck and it eventually gets to Connor, who then has it stripped. The steal results in the puck being weakly pushed to the boards, where Compher regains possession. Without looking, he backhands a perfect pass to Motte.

Motte one-times it with a defender right in his face. The blurriness of the screencap speaks to how quickly this unfolds.

Oettinger butterflys because that’s what muscle-memory tells him to do when he sees there’s a shot coming, but the puck’s rising and hits the top corner.

SHUART GOAL, MICHIGAN

M 4 U18 1 PPG 10:02 Assists: Connor & Compher

Compher drives wide and sees a pretty big passing lane that leads to the opposite side, so he fires a quick one across. With two defenders playing his side the low man has to slide to the middle of the slot, leaving the NTDP vulnerable to such a pass if he’s able to get it through.

He does, and Connor snaps a shot on net instantaneously. Oettinger deflects it to his left.

Shuart’s there to get the rebound, but the defender who’s in the faceoff circle in the first screencap has done a nice job of getting back in front of the net and tying up Shuart. The puck bounces around, but Shuart’s able to keep track of it as it goes from the crease to the side of the net. His defender’s less able, as he’s looking down and twisting. Shuart eventually fires it in from a sharp angle.

CALDERONE GOAL, MICHIGAN

M 5 U18 1 EV 11:37 Assists: unassisted

Michigan flips a puck in and chases, but the NTDP recovers deep in their own zone. Fox sees Calderone coming down the left wing and decides to carry behind the net.

Calderon meets him at the edge of the net, swinging his stick around with the hope of knocking the puck loose. This happens at the exact moment Fox decides he can squeeze a pass through to the slot; he cannot. The puck hits Calderon’s skate and goes in.

Keller goal, NTDP

M 5 U18 2 PPG 14:57 Assists: Anderson & Hellickson

Sorry again, couldn’t find video for this one either.

Notes:

This was a surprisingly intense game; the U18s took seven penalties, while Michigan took a whopping ten. Alex Kile and Michael Downing were both given 10-minute game misconducts, Kile for charging and Downing for something he said to the refs after taking an elbowing penalty. This was an exhibition, but it definitely wasn’t the all-star two-hand-touch-is-as-good-as-a-hit kind of exhibition; the U18s are talented and showed impressive forechecking and backchecking acumen. I’m pretty sure they’d be the third best team in the Big Ten if they joined.

Though nice to see Nagelvoot and Catt get some game-like action in the middle of the season, Kyle Connor and Justin Selman getting injured put a damper on the evening; both are expected to paly against Penn State. On the other side, the U18s are a huge pipeline for Michigan’s program, and the exhibition serves as an opportunity to take a look at who might be able to step into the lineup next season.

The highest-ranked draft-eligible prospect in Michigan’s recruiting class is Griffin Luce, who’s expected to be second or third round pick this June. Luce is a 6’3 defenseman who appeared to be the kind of steadying presence you’d love to pair with a defenseman who likes to pinch and get involved offensively. This scouting report from SB Nation gives reason for pause (emphasis mine); thankfully, I didn’t see that in the portion of the game he played before being tossed for checking from behind.

Griffin Luce, LD, 6-3/214, Williamsville, NY (Michigan) - He's a player who hasn't quite developed into the player some projected. That being said, there is still time and he has plenty of physical tools. He needs to tone it down and realize he's a shutdown defender and not get carried away trying to be too fancy, despite his goal Friday. He'll make a good play defensively, using his size and physical ability, but then will just be caught and cleanly beaten the next shift.

I do realize there’s a nice bit of irony in trying to assuage fears about a defenseman who got thrown from an exhibition against his future team.

I was also impressed with James Sanchez and Nick Pastujov. Granted, most of what impressed me about Pastujov is derived from the assist he had on the NTDP’s first goal. Still, he can skate, he has good offensive instincts, and I didn’t notice him defensively, which is so much better than one of the two alternatives.

Sanchez impressed me with his ability to play the body and stay in position; he also contributed on the penalty kill. He’s the kind of player you can put on the fourth line and expect to play responsibly while wearing down opposing forwards and staying on the puck.

(If you’re interested in Brian’s take on the future M skaters on the NTDP squad, check out the podcast. He covered a couple of guys I didn’t, too.)

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Michigan’s up to sixth in PairWise and RPI. They play a Thursday/Saturday series with Penn State (currently ranked 15th in PairWise and 16th in RPI); the first game is at PSU, which gives Michigan a chance to pick up a quality win bonus with the road multiplier.

Penn State’s a very good possession team. Their Corsi* is better than Michigan’s in total (59.2% to 53.9%), at even strength (58.1% to 54.4%), and in close games (61.2% to 54.5%). [Ed.- Close games are those in which said team is within a goal, whether it be up or down.] Michigan’s defensemen are going to have to make intelligent plays in their own end and start clean breakouts. Defensive-zone turnovers will be deadly; if Michigan’s sloppy and Penn State starts to cycle, watch out.

*Here’s a pretty nice explanation of Corsi.