Four little words brought tears to Michigan senior forward Tim Miller’s eyes.

“Last game at Yost.”

Two consecutive questions at Saturday’s post-game press conference included that phrase, and Miller let his emotions show as he reflected on his final moments playing at Yost Ice Arena as a member of the Michigan hockey team.

“It was nice getting that big lead, and I was glad (Michigan) coach (Red Berenson) put me out there at the end,” Miller said after Saturday’s 6-1 win over Western Michigan. “I got a little emotional when I looked up and saw my parents up there. My mom was in tears. I started getting in tears too. I’m going to start getting in tears now — it’s stupid.”

And while seniors often get sentimental toward the end of the year, they sometimes play the best hockey of their collegiate careers.

In Miller’s case, that’s certainly true.

The Davisburg native has scored a goal in four of the past six games, which is an impressive statistic for a defensive-minded forward who doesn’t think his style of play translates to goal-scoring.

“I never expect to score," Miller said. "That’s just a bonus."

Miller is known better for his penalty killing and his defense, something other CCHA coaches have noticed. H is one of the finalists for the CCHA Best Defensive Forward award.

With 10 goals on the season, including four-game winners, Miller’s offensive success has been a pleasant surprise for the Wolverines.

“It’s senior time,” Berenson said. “This is when seniors should be playing with a little more urgency and we’ve seen it in Miller. … He’s not a big goal scorer, but he can score big goals.”

Three’s the charm: Both Friday and Saturday’s contests against Western Michigan followed the same format for the Wolverines — score early and often, then hold off the Bronco surge.

In both games, the Wolverines scored three goals in the first period, including tallies with just seconds left before intermission. It marked the 17th and 18th times the team has scored three goals or more in one period.

“We were lucky this weekend,” Berenson said. “We were good, but we were lucky. We got the bounces. We scored those last minute, last second goals. … Those are backbreakers.”

After the bye weekend, it was crucial for Michigan to come out strong.

“We wanted to match their intensity coming out,” Miller said. “That’s their last game if they don’t win, so we wanted to come out flying."

With Western Michigan behind for most of the weekend, it was easy for the Wolverines to control the pace and set up their offense. And Michigan’s shutdown defense, which didn’t give up a shot on goal in Saturday’s first frame, seemed inspired by the offensive attack on the other end of the ice.

“We were anticipating,” Berenson said. "We were flowing to the puck. We were playing off of each other well. I think we knew that the first five minutes, first ten minutes of the game could be crucial to this game.

“I never know if they’re ready ready or not, because they’re a pretty loose group, but when the puck dropped, they were ready.”

So long, Sauer: With 10:39 left on the scoreboard in Saturday’s contest, Berenson pulled starting goalie Bryan Hogan.

Michigan had a very comfortable 6-1 lead at the time, and Berenson has said he doesn’t like to embarrass other teams by putting in backup goalies with a large lead.

But Saturday was special. And his backup wasn’t just any backup.

Senior netminder Billy Sauer entered the game, greeted by deafening “Bil-ly Sa-uer” chants from the Yost crowd. It was his final appearance at home as a Michigan hockey player, and he made six solid saves. After a rollercoaster career — in which he went from the Wolverines' go-to goalie in last year's Frozen Four run to the one on the short end of this season's goalie competition — it seemed fitting that he play at Yost one last time.

“Billy didn’t ask to go in, but I think it was the right thing to do,” Berenson said. “Billy Sauer has been a terrific goalie here for four years, and he’s having to accept a backup role right now. I just wanted to see him in there. Good for him, he played well.”