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

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-After watching Jared Moe last night, there was no way he wasn’t playing again on Friday. Wrong. Cameron Rowe came in and played even better for the Badgers. He was great all night, only getting beaten on insane highlight reel goals. Looking at Wisconsin’s goalie numbers coming into the series, there was no way each goalie would have one of the better games of their careers. Ha…that’s why they play the games!

-The Thomas Bordeleau turnover needs to be discussed. He was down on the ice in front of Portillo and received a bouncing puck. He chose to play the puck from his knees, took too long, and hurried a clear…right into a forechecker, who skated to his left and knocked the puck into an open goal. We can talk about Keranen, Edwards, and Portillo not doing much, but there is not one person in the state that thought Bordeleau was going to do…that. So, yes, we all expect a bit more from the other three, but that lazy of a play just cannot happen. The biggest thing that seems to get in Michigan’s way this season…seems to be Michigan, and that play exemplified it.

-The officiating style also seemed to benefit Wisconsin at times. Obviously, Michigan would be perfectly fine in a special teams filled game, but each team only had two relevant power plays. Entries were also tough for the Wolverines, as the Badgers were very physical at the blue line. There were also a number of post-whistle hits/scrums that saw a couple of Wolverines get a few shots. Garrett Van Whye probably has an opinion on that as well. Michigan is going to have to toughen up in these kinds of games and win in the gritty areas. This will probably be a common these this year for opponents trying to slow down the skilled Maize and Blue.

-Wisconsin really tightened up their defense, tonight, in front of Rowe, blocking shots and not giving the Wolverines as many quality looks as Thursday night. Of course, getting out to a lead and then extending it certainly helped the Badgers in that regard. In the end, Michigan needed great individual efforts to score goals, and they got that from Mackie Samoskevich’s rocket to keep the game close. Lambert had a pretty feed across the House to him.

Defense Notes.

-To start the game, Michigan was pretty sloppy in their own zone, giving the puck away multiple times. Most of those DZTOs did not come back to haunt them, but they seemed to give the Badgers some life early in the game. As the game progressed, the defense tightened, mostly. There was a scramble play, late, after Power and Pehrson could not corral the puck in the slot. The puck was fired off the back boards and bounced between Portillo and the post coming the rest in the slot. Multiple Wolverines had chances, but no one could get a stick on it. Max Johnson got to the puck first and he finished into and open net. Bad bounce for Michgan, but they also had chances to eliminate that opportunity.

-For a second consecutive Game Two in a series, Luke Hughes had a bit of a howler. Early in the first period, He was ghosted by Caden Brown who got to the crease and was able to beat Portillo (despite getting a friendly bounce of his move). Hughes also struggled to connect passes, hold the zone at times, and make the fundamental play. Again, his upside is super high, but there is still a learning curve.

-Nick Blankenburg left the game late in the first period and did not return. That definitely impacted things, including the offensive push forward, once the Wolverines were down plural goals. Keaton Pehrson was back in the lineup and ended up skating with Owen Power. From what I saw, he looked solid in a prominent position. Ethan Edwards was back on the third pairing. Jay Keranen was the 13th skater and ended up playing with Edwards. They also seemed fine, overall.

LOL KJ (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. We keep talking about Michigan needing to do something different on their power play. Maybe that something is getting the puck to Kent Johnson near the net. He went Barzal/Jagr/Brisson and slid the puck between his legs and finished up high. I don’t have much to say about that except go find a replay. The skill on this team, especially on the power play, just oozes out of everywhere. It is imperative that the coaching staff continues to stay creative and get these guys open looks.

Penalty Kill. Wisconsin got two power play opportunities. In their second one, the Badgers worked a tic-tac-toe that resulted in their only shot on Portillo. He made the save. Other than that, Wisconsin was not able to attempt another puck at the net.

Maybe don’t play the puck on your knees from your own slot (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Once again, Erik Portillo was really, really good in net. His defense hung him out, again, in the first period, and he was able to keep them in the game. He consistently had great positioning, resulting in many dependable saves. Portillo was finally rewarded with an assist after a perfect breakout pass to Jimmy Lambert on Mackie Samoskevich’s laser snipe. Despite three pucks getting behind him, tonight, Erik had a combined zero percent(probably not) chance of saving any of them.

Not an OMR goal, but a quick change transition blast (Marc-Gregor Campredon)

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. On a positive note, Michigan surrendered only one OMR…a breakway, ha. Erik Portillo was there to shut it down, though. While many other things did not go well for the Wolverines, tonight, they did temporarily at least stem this tide.

Michigan created two very well worked OMRs. Finally, it’s Brendan Brisson who gets the breakaway…and Cameron Rowe made a great save. Ugh. That’s frustrating. It’s one thing when fourth liners get those chances but don’t convert. It’s a different frustration when your leading goal-scorer doesn’t put one away, in a game that needed a great individual effort. In another summation of the evening, Owen Power was wide open backdoor at the end of a 4v3, but he could not slide the puck into the open net. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The bottom line is this was a series that needed to be swept. Not because there isn’t time or it is definitively going to cost the team something, but the standards for this team are higher than any I can remember. Last season, Michigan let the second game get away far too often. The frustrating part of this game was all three (four, really) were the result of just a silly gaffe or whiff. The Wolverines probably got goalie’d in a way, but they also fed their opponents a few easy chances. I still think that maturity is a bit of an issue, and it will be up to the coaching staff and players, themselves, to start playing at a higher level more consistently. They did it in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago, and they bounced back nicely last weekend. Hopefully, tonight is just one step back, before two steps forward.