Carl Hagelin wasn’t one of the nine different Wolverines to tally a point in the Michigan hockey team’s 6-1 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.

Instead, the stat that said the most about the sophomore’s night was blocked shots. He notched four, two more than any other skater on the ice. And he did it while shifting from left wing to center to fill in for sophomore Matt Rust, who was an injured scratch Saturday because he had “his bell rung” in the series’ opener on Friday, Michigan coach Red Berenson said.

Hagelin, whom Berenson regularly describes as one of the team’s hardest workers, transitioned into the position seamlessly, playing a large part in what Berenson called Michigan’s “best team effort of the season thus far.”

From the game’s start, Hagelin’s effort set the tone on both ends of the ice.

In the Wolverines' offensive system, the center comes back on the defensive end and plays more of a two-way game than do the wingers do.

“I thought Carl was terrific,” Berenson said. “You watched him go back and lug the puck out of our zone. He was good on faceoffs, (and) he was good on the forecheck.”

Last season, Hagelin subbed in at center when Rust broke his fibula before the CCHA playoffs and lit the lamp twice against Nebraska-Omaha in the first round of the tournament. He was named one of the three stars of the game both nights of that series against the Mavericks.

And while Hagelin didn’t score from the center position Saturday, his impact on the offensive end of the ice was clear. His linemates both scored their first goal of the season during Michigan’s season-high six-goal outburst.

“He really makes everything easy,” senior Travis Turnbull, Hagelin’s right wing said.

A killer kill: Last week, Boston University shelled the Wolverines with five power-play goals in one game.

In its entire series against the Buckeyes, Michigan’s penalty-kill unit let in just two.

“Our penalty kill was a major factor and the reason why we played so well,” sophomore top-line center Louie Caporusso said.

But the unit didn’t just prevent goals — it also notched one of its own a man down.

Freshman David Wohlberg, who has seen time on the second, third and fourth lines this season, sparked the Wolverines with his first goal of the year by wrapping a puck right between the Buckeye goalie’s right skate and post. The score ignited a four-minute, three-goal run in the middle of the second period.

“I have a lot of confidence in Wohlly,” Berenson said. “I see him growing every week and I trust him out there to do the right thing on the PK and on faceoffs and in our zone.”

The shorthanded lamp lighter was the Wolverines’ first of the year.

“Ref, you suck!”: The cheer, which reverberates throughout Yost Ice Arena after any questionable call, was heard quite frequently Saturday night.

After an opening period with just three combined penalties, it looked like new referees showed up for the second and third frames. In the final 40 minutes, 29 penalties were called for a total of 56 minutes, not including sophomore defenseman Tristin Llewellyn’s 10-minute misconduct for getting in a scuffle after the whistle.

As a result, the game had very little flow after the opening period, as the Wolverines capitalized on isolated chances to blow open the game.

“It wasn’t like the game was taking any shape," Berenson said. "The score was, but the game wasn’t. I’m at a loss, like a lot of coaches, at some of the penalties.”