Senior forward Travis Turnbull arrived in Ann Arbor four years ago as a center, but he's rarely played at the position since then. Over the course of his career as a Wolverine, he's skated primarily at right wing.

But at practice yesterday, Michigan coach Red Berenson moved him back to center, this time on the team's fourth line. Berenson shuffled the lines to add offensive depth with the Wolverines traveling to No. 7 Miami (Ohio) this weekend.

Turnbull switched places with sophomore Ben Winnett, who's now skating on the second line. The senior is centering a line with senior Brandon Naurato and freshman Luke Glendening.

Berenson said the change was prompted by a shoulder injury to senior fourth-line regular Danny Fardig. But his usual replacement, junior Anthony Ciraulo, has played just two games this season.

“This is a big series and I’m not sure that Anthony (Ciraulo) is ready to play in this series, in this situation,” Berenson said. “But Turnbull’s played in every game and he can be, I think, a forceful center on that line.”

Before Michigan’s matchup with Alaska two weekends ago, Berenson moved sophomore Carl Hagelin, who played left wing most of last season, to center, also to increase offensive depth.

But Berenson wants to add a strong fourth line to the rotation when the Wolverines face off against the RedHawks, who sit atop the CCHA standings.

Monkey off the back: Sophomore goalie Bryan Hogan is just happy the potential jinx is gone.

The superstitious goalie, who avoids talking about his perfect 6-0 record at all costs, finally earned his first career shutout Saturday in Michigan’s 5-0 win at Western Michigan.

“I have to thank the team a lot for getting me my first shutout,” said Hogan, who tallied 20 saves against the Broncos. “It’s nice to get that first shutout out of the way so I can get the jinx out.”

It was the first shutout by Hogan or senior Billy Sauer, who is currently splitting time with Hogan to determine a clear-cut starter between the pipes. The duo had let up fewer than two goals in a game just once before this weekend.

And while Hogan played well, both he and Berenson knew it was much more than a one-man effort. Hogan had to save just 10 shots in the first two periods combined, and Berenson said Hogan wasn't overwhelmed at any point during the game.

“They made it easy for me,” said Hogan, who has a career-best shutout streak of nearly 70 minutes. “I just had to make one or two big stops to keep us in it.”

The shutout pushed Hogan’s save percentage above .900 percent and lowered his goals-against average to 2.22. Sauer has let up 2.85 goals a game with a .893 save percentage.

But Saturday Berenson was just happy to see his team bounce back from Friday’s upset loss to Western Michigan.

“I don’t remember the last time we came in here and got a shutout,” Berenson said.

Rankings update: After splitting its weekend series with CCHA bottom-dweller Western Michigan, Michigan dropped two spots to No. 9.

Undefeated Minnesota moved into the top spot with 42 first-place votes. Boston University, Colorado College, Boston College and Notre Dame, the highest-ranked CCHA team, round out the top five.