Week 14: On the Ice in Madison
Michigan sweeps the Badgers in a series featuring eleven different goal scorers
This weekend, the most important story concerning the University of Michigan men’s ice hockey team did not come from the ice. Instead, it was delivered Saturday morning when the Ann Arbor News published a story announcing an investigation by the WilmerHale law firm into a toxic culture propagated by head coach Mel Pearson. For our weekend recap column, we will stick to coverage of the team’s on-ice performance in their sweep over the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison this weekend. For a full breakdown of the allegations and their ramifications, follow the link below.
Because of the gravity of those allegations (and the volume of words they required to unpack), we will be brief in our examination of the triumph over the Badgers, sticking mostly to individual player notes from the weekend.
Michigan cruised to victory on both occasions, winning 5-1 on Friday and 6-2 on Saturday. With two Wolverines (Owen Power and Kent Johnson) already overseas for the Olympics and two more set to join them (Matty Beniers and Brendan Brisson), Michigan flashed its offensive depth in Madison.
The Wolverines eleven goals came from eleven different goal scorers, and eighteen different Wolverines notched at least one point. For Michigan, this weekend makes three sweeps in four tries in the new year, with the lone blemish last weekend’s OT loss in Minneapolis.
In stark contrast to that series against Minnesota, both games featured plenty of transition offense through the neutral zone. Chances came for both sides, but it was Michigan who converted those chances.
On Friday, the Wolverines jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back, while Saturday’s contest saw the Badgers take a 2-1 advantage early in the second with two goals in just 1:11, but Michigan scored three straight to close out the frame and enter the third with a comfortable lead.
Even during the Wolverines’ hot start to 2022, we haven’t seen this level of offensive productivity across both legs of a series since the Penn State series in State College back in November (when incidentally, Michigan also won game one 5-1 and game two 6-2).
Player Notes
Portillo
Though Michigan dominated both contests on the scoreboard, it wasn’t as though the Badgers were bereft of opportunities throughout the series. On Saturday in particular, the wide open game afforded a number of quality chances to Wisconsin, but Erik Portillo rose to the occasion. The towering sophomore Swede stopped twenty-six of twenty-seven shots on Friday and thirty-eight of forty during a busy Saturday night. Portillo’s interventions outside the crease as a puck handler also snuffed out a few Badger opportunities before they arrived.
Mackie
This weekend, Mackie Samoskevich continued his game’s upward trajectory in the new year and was rewarded with a goal and three assists. Throughout the two games, Samoskevich was perhaps the most consistent Wolverine forward.
In many ways, this series—played on the big ice of Wisconsin’s Kohl Center was suited perfectly to his game. There was plenty of room to skate, and there were plenty of lanes to shoot into. Samoskevich remains a force for Michigan in transition, and the prospect of sending the team’s top four scorers to the Olympics is far less daunting given his growth throughout the season.
Ethan Edwards
If Samoskevich was the standout forward for the Wolverines this weekend, Ethan Edwards was the team’s outstanding defenseman. Luke Hughes commands most of the attention among freshman defensemen (and New Jersey Devils’ prospects), but Edwards, like Samoskevich, has continued to grow throughout his freshman season. Now, his confidence with the puck is staggering.
This goal, which looks more like a clip from NHL 22’s Be a Pro mode than an actual competitive game, oozes confidence. First, we see a timely intervention to keep the puck alive. Then, Edwards pirouettes with ease, looking to find a passing lane to set up a teammate. Instead, Edwards identifies a vulnerable in the Badgers’ D-zone coverages, heads for the net, and buries a quick wrister.
Beniers and Brisson
As we’ve highlighted above, this was a weekend in which Michigan turned to its offensive depth rather than leaning on its stars (as it has for much of the new year). Even still, Matty Beniers registered a goal and three assists, and Brendan Brisson also scored as the pair enjoyed their final series with the Wolverines until they return from Beijing at the end of February.
The BTN broadcast Saturday night revealed that the pair flew out of Detroit to Los Angeles this morning (Sunday) at 8 AM to meet up with the rest of Team USA.
On the above goal, Brisson takes a clever pass from Thomas Bordeleau and somehow finds the time to change up the angle and rifle home the Wolverines’ third goal of the second period. Any time Brendan Brisson has that much time in the low slot, the opposing goaltender is in serious jeopardy.
Incidentally, Bordeleau’s setup is a nice reminder of just how little time and space the Houston native needs to create offense. When given a sliver of space, Bordeleau delivers a decisive inner-slot pass, another great sign as the Wolverines prepare for a temporary existence sans Johnson, Power, Brisson, and Beniers.
Philippe LaPointe
I’m sure Luke Morgan thought it was harsh when he learned he would be replaced in the lineup for Saturday’s game after a multi-point performance Friday. However, Philippe LaPointe, son of two-time Stanley Cup champion Marty LaPointe, took advantage of his opportunity.
LaPointe can at times appear an awkward skater, but, in his five appearances this year so far, he has shown himself to be able to compensate for any deficiencies as a skater with his shrewd positioning. Saturday night’s goal, which in terms of end product was a tap-in, came thanks to his intelligent movement to find himself wide open in prime real estate in front of the Badger net.
Jack Gorniak
Normally, we here at Gulo Gulo keep commentary on the opposition to a minimum, but in this case senior forward Jack Gorniak’s performance seemed to encapsulate the Badgers’ performance, especially on Saturday. Though he didn’t score, Gorniak registered four shots on goal for a reasonably prolific offensive performance. However, Gorniak’s more notable contributions to the game had little to do with the puck. Throughout Saturday’s game, Gorniak was a man desperate to feel something, and the only way he seemed able to do so was by taking reckless penalties. He finished the night with a pair of minor penalties, but, to my admittedly partisan eye, he would have been a far more worthy recipient of a misconduct than Bordeleau. It was a testy night between the two teams, and no one was more eager for extra-curricular engagement than Gorniak.