Week 6: Too Much for Penn State
Michigan earns its second consecutive series sweep with a pair of gaudy victories in State College
The second-ranked (for now) University of Michigan men’s ice hockey team swept the Penn State in State College, blowing out the Nittany Lions 5-1 on Thursday and 6-2 on Friday in front of tepid Pegula Ice Arena crowds.
Before diving into the meat of Michigan’s second consecutive sweep, please allow me the indulgence of an editorial note. When we here at Gulo Gulo launched this newsletter, we vowed that we would provide a more nuanced lens than just your run-of-the-mill game recaps. Now, in our sixth week of regular season coverage, our weekend reviews have become little more than just that. While we like to think we can still provide a service to fans who may not have seen the game (and that a seven-minute highlight clip cannot), we also intend to challenge ourselves to raise our standard.
With than in mind, this weekend’s review will dwell less on the moment-to-moment action of the Wolverines’ (blowout) victories, instead focusing on takeaways from those wins.
We came into the weekend expecting offense, since the brief history of this rivalry told us to expect as much.
Michigan lived up to their end of the bargain on that front, potting eleven goals between the two nights, but a paltry three goals from PSU meant the series did not deliver the kind of reverting end-to-end action we may have expected.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort on behalf of the Nittany Lions, who actually outshot Michigan in both contests (though at least some of that margin can be accounted for by score effects), but, on both nights, it became clear PSU couldn’t neither match the Wolverines’ firepower goal-for-goal nor hamper it.
On Michigan’s end, Erik Portillo was the weekend’s standout performer. He has been a steady presence in net all season for the Wolverines,and I say this without intending even the gentlest of slights, but, prior to this weekend, I can’t think of a game in which I would identify him as the team’s best player.
Without a doubt, during Friday night’s game, Portillo steadied the ship for Wolverines, bailing out his teammates on a few occasions early and allowing them time to establish their offensive influence over the game. The highlight of the weekend came on a late-first-period two-on-one in Thursday’s game. On that odd man rush, Portillo made a pair of saves, the second a sprawling extension of his right toe to keep the score deadlocked at zero. Luke Morgan gave Michigan a 1-0 lead a few minutes later, and the Wolverines wouldn’t look back all weekend.
In many ways, both victories followed a prototypical road script for any hockey team, albeit with a bit of Michigan’s signature offensive flair mixed in. The Wolverines’ success didn’t come from their volume of offensive opportunities the way it did against say Lake Superior State or last Friday against Michigan State. Instead, the Wolverines relied on establishing early leads, control over the neutral zone, and offensive efficiency to carry the day(s).
It was not an entirely new formula for the Wolverines, instead resembling their blow-out victory over Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the Ice Breaker. The scoreline eventually reflected a margin that belied the competitiveness of the actual contests. Michigan’s ability to triumph in this setting bodes well for the Spring, when the stakes will grow higher.
Beyond Portillo’s impressive display, Michigan’s group of skaters provided as complete a display of offensive dominance as we have seen from them all year. What stood out most was the way production emerged from every corner of the lineup. The stars set the pace, but Michigan’s depth players did more than a little damage in the two games in “Hockey Valley.”
Between the two games, Kent Johnson registered six assists (enough to make him the nation’s leading scorer with 20 points on the year), Owen Power contributed a goal and five assists, and Matty Beniers scored three goals alongside three assists. The power play, which continued to balance its surplus of talent across two units, accounted for three goals.
Meanwhile, at five-on-five, Michigan earned contributions from player’s beyond just its top-five draft choices. It seems a bit unfair to assign the label of “depth player” to Johnny Beecher, himself a first-round selection of the Bruins, yet within the context of this stacked lineup, it is accurate. Beecher, centering Mackie Samoskevich and Garrett Van Whye, was a force throughout both games with or without the puck. On Friday night, that was the best Wolverine line at five-on-five to my eye.
Meanwhile, Dylan Duke, playing on the fourth line with Jimmy Lambert and Luke Morgan, offered his best game as a Wolverine Friday night. It was in large part his effort on the forecheck that helped set up Morgan’s opening goal.
Taking on this Michigan team seems an impossible enough task if only its star players are scoring. If secondary scoring continues the way it did against Penn State, the Wolverines are downright unfair.
Before closing, I’d like to return to a question I posed two weeks ago, after consecutive series splits with Wisconsin and Western Michigan, I wondered whether these slight bouts of inconsistency were cause for concern.
In answering that question, I turned to Mel Pearson’s comments on the subject on his radio show, where he emphasized the importance of fast starts and controlling rather than chasing games.
Since that point, Michigan is 4-0 and has scored fewer than six goals in just one of those games. They have not trailed. Suffice it to say, consistency is not an issue at present for the Wolverines.
Weekend Highlights
Clinical on the PP:
This was another clinical passing sequence from the Michigan power play, requiring little editorializing to jump off your screen. One aspect I will highlight again though is the Wolverines’ positional fluidity on the man advantage. Here you see Beniers scoring from the left flank. In a clip linked above, you’ll notice him scoring off a one-timer on the opposite side.
When the assist is better than the goal:
As I noted above, Johnny Beecher was a force with and without the puck, and here you can see that individual dominance on full display. Garrett Van Whye, who finishes the play beautifully, acknowledges who the true architect of the goal is with a bow for Beecher.
Bordeleau blast:
Last but not least, here is a lovely bit of combination play from Owen Power and Luke Hughes high in the offensive zone. They eventually leave the puck for Thomas Bordeleau, who rips a slap shot from prime high slot real estate for a goal.
Odds and Ends
I hesitate to even say this, because I don’t wish to rebuke a young program trying to establish its own traditions in a sport that defines itself in many ways through just those traditions. However, it was hard not to notice the number of chants from Penn State’s “Roar Zone” that might look familiar to anyone who has paid attention to the Children of Yost. Again, I don’t want to shame anyone, but “own traditions” should perhaps be a bit more original.
In what has become something of a fixture in this section of our recaps, I feel compelled to mention once again just how dangerous Luke Hughes looks. He scored twice this weekend, bringing his goal total to six on the year, but watching his skating remains more impressive than examining his goal totals. Hughes is one more special player on the Wolverine blue line; it’s not breaking news, but it keeps cropping up.