Weekend 1: Two Up, Two Down
The Wolverines Sweep Lake Superior State in a two game set at Yost Ice Arena
On the first weekend of the NCAA men’s hockey regular season, the Michigan Wolverines swept the Lake Superior State Lakers, winning 6-1 and 7-4 on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Friday night’s contest, the 3,000th in the illustrious history of Michigan hockey, saw the Lakers threaten for about five minutes before a tripping minor to Jacob Nordqvist sent the Wolverines to the man advantage. The top unit of Owen Power, Kent Johnson, Matty Beniers, Thomas Bordeleau, and Brendan Brisson had no trouble maintaining possession in the Lakers’ zone, but it took patience to set up the right passing sequence. After roughly a minute of uninterrupted zone time, that sequence came when Power and Bordeleau worked it over for a Brisson one timer from the top of the circle to set the Wolverine steamroller in motion.
By the time the first concluded, the Wolverines would add two more, including a Kent Johnson deflection on the power play that came when Brisson turned down a one-time opportunity to slide a pass to Johnson in the high slot.
The Wolverines wouldn’t look back, scoring two more in the second and one in the third to seal a 6-1 win. One promising sign from that sizzling scoreline is the presence of names beyond the obvious ones. It was a four-point night for Power, and the team’s top end talent certainly made that talent apparent, but depth pieces Dylan Duke and Garret Van Wyhe each found the back of the net.
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On Saturday night, the Wolverines found themselves tested in a way last weekend’s exhibition match-up and Friday night’s game could not muster.
At first, the game appeared well in line with a familiar script. The Wolverines, clad in maize, leapt out in front on (stop me if you’ve heard this before) a Brisson PPG, before Michael Pastujov provided a second. However, the Lakers did not succumb to momentum, star power, and a raucous crowd as they had on Friday, rallying back to score three before the horn sounded on the first.
The Lakers would add a fourth early in the second, by which point a problematic trend (hints of which were on display last weekend and Friday night) had emerged: the Wolverines fast paced, high risk offensive attack was leaving them vulnerable. Lake Superior State knew that odd-man rush opportunities would be available, and they took advantage.
It was the fourth goal in particular that seems made this deficiency in the Wolverines’ game apparent. A gorgeous passing sequence through the neutral zone culminated in a tap-in for Louis Boudon.
Compounding the frustration for the Wolverines was a parade of trips to the penalty box, most of which seemed to come on infractions that were by-the-book fouls, but none of them severe. Making matters worse, it was the Wolverines’ stars who kept finding themselves in the box with Bordeleau, Brisson, Beniers, Johnson, and Power all serving minor penalties at different points.
However, facing adversity for the first time in the young season, Michigan came together for a dominant finish to the game. By the end of the second period, a second from Pastujov and a first from Jimmy Lambert had the Wolverines level. In the third, another Brisson PPG plus even strength goals from defenseman Jacob Truscott and Bordeleau gave the team a comfortable margin on what had been something of an anxious night.
As the third progressed, Laker frustration set in, and the game grew chippier, culminating in ejections for Bordeleau and LSSU’s Cole Craft for a penalty I had never heard of called “facemasking.”
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In reflecting on the Wolverines’ sweep of a strong Laker team that made the NCAA tournament a year ago, it becomes increasingly clear that Michigan’s blessing is also its curse.
Michigan’s downright goofy assembly of NHL talent is rife with players who feel no compunction about holding onto the puck. Sometimes this yields devastating results for their opponents, but it also has led to careless turnovers and opportunities going the other way.
I still have a nagging feeling that the Wolverines are at times insufficiently cohesive in attack. They are always trying to hit home runs, sending long stretch passes from their own end to darting forwards bearing down on their opponents’. When it works, it is equal parts devastating and beautiful, but a team that commits to building up a rigid neutral zone structure—as LSSU did for long stretches in the first and second last night—has the potential to flummox and frustrate them.
Michigan’s individual talents have no issues making their talents known. Johnson was up to his usual trickery with and on the puck; Power reminded everyone that when he wants to he can carry the puck two hundred feet down the ice; Beniers showed the ability to take complete control of the game as a forechecker or puck carrier.
However, for this team to accomplish its objectives come Spring, it will need a degree of attacking cohesion it has not yet shown at even strength.
Odds and Ends:
In a two-game series featuring twenty-one power plays, specialty teams were of course a major story. For Michigan, the power play dominated, scoring five times in nine chances. Brisson’s one-timer appears the primary threat, but the creativity and willingness to trade places of Johnson, Beniers, and Bordeleau, along with Power’s poise at the blue line, makes this unit anything but one dimensional. The Wolverines’ penalty kill looked comparatively vulnerable, conceding twice on twelve LSSU power plays. With that said, this unit, featuring many of the Wolverines’ stars (more on this in a moment) is the kind of progressive power kill employed to devastating effect by the Carolina Hurricanes. Rather than sitting back content to defend, the Wolverines actively seek out chances going the other direction, looking to catch their opposition’s offensive players in uncomfortable spots. On Saturday night, the Wolverines surrendered just six shots across six Laker power plays, and they managed four shots of their own despite being a man down. I have a sneaking suspicion the Wolverines will notch more than a few shorties by season’s end.
Once again, this newsletter is invested in highlighting Wolverines beyond just their touted NHL prospects and draft choices. One player who stood out both nights this weekend was freshman defenseman Ethan Edwards. Edwards played third line minutes but impressed with his strong skating and puck moving throughout both games.
Freshman forward Mackie Samoskevich made his Wolverines’ debut on Friday night, plugging into a profoundly enviable spot riding shotgun with Matty Beniers and Kent Johnson on the Wolverines’ top line. With Samoskevich, the Beniers line showed a bit more interest in creating off the cycle than they had against Bowling Green, though they were still quite content to attack off the rush. Samoskevich wasted no time registering his first collegiate goal, burying a tidy wrist shot in the first period of Friday night’s contest.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not again highlight the singular talent of Kent Johnson. Watching Johnson’s game (and warm up) and recognizing the fallacy inherent in this sort of comparison, I can’t help but see strong shades of Mitch Marner. Like Marner, Johnson is a wizard with the puck on his stick, but that skill set does not confine itself to the offensive end of the rink. Johnson uses his quick stick to cause chaos defensively and on the forecheck, which also carves out a spot for him shorthanded (again much like Marner). One thing you cannot help but notice about Johnson is his willingness to fly the defensive zone early in search of offensive opportunities. He mustered a partial breakaway for himself but also impresses in his ability to hold up play down the ice while waiting for a teammate or two to join him. I assume Coach Mel Pearson has sanctioned this strategy, and given Kent’s skills, it’s not hard to imagine why.