On Friday and Saturday nights, Yost Ice Arena hosted a match up between two iconic helmets—one a golden chrome, the other winged maize and blue—most familiar from colliding on a gridiron but this time meeting on the arena’s two-hundred-foot sheet of ice for some hockey. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Michigan Wolverines on consecutive nights in overtime by scores of 3-2 and 5-4, handing the Wolverines their first sweep of the season.
For Michigan, it was a bitter pill to swallow, having retaken the nation’s number-one ranking earlier this week. As with the last time the Wolverines topped the nation’s polls, their ensuing result was a defeat, albeit this time in overtime. The succeeding loss on Saturday night leaves a different sting.
On Saturday night, Michigan entered the third with heavy lifting to do. As on Friday, they had started fast and gotten out to a lead, only to fritter it away. On Friday, the Irish never led until their overtime winner, but Saturday night saw them carry a 4-3 advantage into the third along with 2:16 remaining on what had been a dubious major penalty to Steve Holtz.
The Irish had taken that lead in the final minute of the second, moments after a Johnny Beecher hooking minor expired to end their two-man-advantage but with Dylan Duke still in the box atoning for Holtz’s alleged crime.
As the third began, Michigan faced an unfamiliar prospect. Of course, they had lost twice going into the weekend, but they hadn’t been swept. Compounding matters, it wasn’t difficult to ascribe those defeats to temporary conditions—a gameplan executed to a degree of perfection that couldn’t be replicated against Western Michigan or an uncharacteristic slothful start against Wisconsin.
On Saturday night, Michigan stared down the possibility of consecutive defeats to an opponent that seemed to have flummoxed them. Notre Dame inhibited the Wolverines’ ability to attack in transition and exploited the laxity of their net-front coverage. Even with some confusing officiating throughout the series that became most pronounced at the end of the second on Saturday, Michigan entered the game’s final regulation frame at risk of displaying unprecedented vulnerability.
Responding to that exigence, Michigan delivered one of their most dominant periods of the season to date. Holtz’s major expired without so much as a sniff at Erik Portillo’s net for the Irish, and, from there, a Wolverine swarm ensued.
On the strength of its incisive horizontal passing through the neutral zone, Michigan launched an onslaught against Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel (who was for the most part impressive in place of regular starter Matt Galajda in both games).
The game-tying breakthrough came on an innocuous attempt from Thomas Bordeleau, who ladled the puck toward Bischel in what seemed more an attempt to either induce a rebound or force an offensive zone faceoff. Instead, the puck snuck through Bischel’s blocker side. 4-4 at last with six and a half minutes remaining in regulation.
Following Bordeleau’s goal (his second of the night), Michigan’s push only intensified. As if emboldened by Bischel’s blunder, the Wolverines seemed to forgo some of their familiar lateral passing in the offensive zone in favor of skating straight toward Bischel’s imperiled cage.
With about a minute and a half to play, a Mackie Samoskevich shot struck the crossbar only to be gloved to safety by an Irish defenseman. The period would expire before Michigan could land a decisive blow, and overtime came for the second consecutive night.
After just over three minutes of patient, possession play that mostly favored the Wolverines, Max Ellis exposed Michigan’s over-eagerness in puck pursuit in their own end for a wide open OT winner, completing the first hat trick by a Michigan opponent since Miami’s Nathan Davis in 2006.
I said a few paragraphs ago that the deficit Michigan faced entering the third carried with it an unprecedented challenge for the Wolverines: find a way through and past Notre Dame or face serious doubts as to their supremacy for the first time this season.
By the time Ellis sealed the game, Michigan had at once met and stumbled short of that challenge. The Wolverines’ play in the third no doubt adhered to Mel Pearson’s second intermission vision. They took utter command of the game and left the Irish devoid of even an ounce of attacking spirit, outshooting their opposition by a staggering 17-3 figure.
Perhaps more pertinently, Michigan flexed its ability to attack not just with the future NHL stars in its top six but also with its depth players. The Wolverines, for the most part, rolled four lines throughout the period, with each unit building on the momentum generated from the preceding shift.
It was as dominant as the Johnson-Beniers-Brisson trio looked at any point in the weekend set (more on them in Odds & Ends), but players like Duke, Garrett Van Whye, and Luke Morgan also asked testing questions of Bischel and the Irish defense.
Of course, as dominant as that twenty minutes was, it did not yield enough the end product necessary to avoid overtime, and does little to assuage the sting of Ellis’ OT winner.
So where does this leave us?
On the one hand, Michigan can and should not dismiss consecutive losses on the basis of one outstanding period. On the other, despairing over a pair of losses that both came in three-on-three overtime would feel melodramatic.
Michigan has evident holes in their game, jeopardizing the national title hopes of the most talented college hockey team ever assembled. To put a finer point on those weaknesses, Michigan is too often out of position in its own end. At times, they are prone to excessive puck pursuit in their own zone, leading to wide open attackers in prime scoring areas. At a stylistic level, their desire to attack off the rush leaves ice to exploit for an enterprising, counter-attacking team. Were it not for a number of outstanding saves from Erik Portillo, Michigan could easily have fallen in regulation on both nights. To best position themselves for a team postseason run, Michigan must clean up these vulnerabilities.
On the other hand, losses be damned, Michigan boasts the most impressive resume in college hockey to this point in the season. The pair of losses make it unlikely they will retain their number-one ranking, but scoffing at their 10-2-2 record would be as foolhardy as hand waving away this weekend’s defeats.
Michigan needs to sharpen certain aspects of its game, but their relentless attacking formula coupled with the talent up and down this roster leave them without any need for panic. Steady improvement over the course of a season has been a hallmark of Pearson’s Michigan teams. The best news of all for the Wolverines, as they head into a home, “get right” series with Niagara, is that this team could enter the NCAA Tournament tomorrow and already be the scariest draw for any and all potential opponents.
Highlights of the Weekend
Pasta finishes after Samoskevich strikes the bar
Blankenburg doing the dirty work
Dazzling Beniers move sets up Brisson tap-in
Odds and Ends
Standouts and Line Combinations:
As alluded to above, Mel Pearson offered some new wrinkles to his lineup this weekend, most notably separating Bordeleau and Brendan Brisson for the first time all year to form a line of death composed of Kent Johnson, Matty Beniers, and Brisson. The trio managed a five-on-five goal Friday, coming off an outstanding Beniers rush to set up a Brisson lay up (shown above) and Beniers added a power play goal for good measure. On Saturday, the trio didn’t score but offered a major threat throughout the game, impressing most of all in the way each member of the line contributed to generating offense in transition. All three players showed an aptitude for carrying the puck or passing it out of their own end and through the neutral zone. However, I can only imagine that Pearson expected more than one even-strength goal from this powerful trio. Having previously broken up Michigan’s top talent on the power play, it came as something as a surprise to see this loaded top line. We’ll see if it continues next weekend.
Meanwhile, the standout Wolverine on the weekend, aside from Portillo, was Mackie Samoskevich. The Connecticut-born freshman winger began the weekend playing on the third line alongside Van Whye and Beecher. He looked dangerous Friday night though he never broke through, and this effort caught Mel Pearson’s attention enough to earn a promotion to Bordeleau’s wing on the second line. From that position, Samoskevich created three assists and was perhaps unlucky not to have scored, striking iron more than once. On a team full of exceptional transition players, Samoskevich’s skillset, in particular his gifts as a puck carrier and shooter, set him apart. If he plays the way he did this weekend, goals are sure to come soon and often.
Officiating and specialty teams:
We here at Gulo Gulo do not wish to linger on officiating, much less suggest it played a decisive role over the course of a sixty-minute game. However, it would be irresponsible journalism (or whatever this is) to not at least mention that the Wolverines seemed to draw the short straw from the referees this weekend. The Holtz major, which looked more unfortunate than malicious to my eye, was the most obvious example, but the Irish also benefited from the officials’ general willingness to overlook some clutching, grabbing, and aggressive stick work on behalf of the Irish.
Ryder Rolston:
When I began writing this newsletter, I had clearly in mind that I did not wish to, at any point, find myself in the business of criticizing the unpaid, green labor force that makes college hockey tick. And yet, here we are. On Friday night, Notre Dame’s OT winner came from the tape of Ryder Rolston, son of longtime NHLer Brian. Rolston embarked on an extended and exuberant celebration, one well earned and that I would never criticize. What I will say about Rolston is that he is irritating, and I don’t mean that in a Brad Marchand/pest way. I mean he resembles the fourteen-year-old shortstop of a travel baseball team, clad in an outrageous assembly of shooting sleeves, sweat bands, and Phiten necklaces. I’ll leave it there.