April 5, 2011 - 2:13pm
LIVE BLOG: Michigan at Ohio State Hockey--Game 1
BY NICK SPAR
Welcome to the LIVE BLOG for tonight's Michigan/Ohio State hockey game. Michigan comes in at 7-7, looking to garner two conference wins here in Columbus tonight and tomorrow.
Here is the Wolverines' lineup tonight:
Forwards
12 Hagelin - 19 Rust - 10 Brown
25 Wohlberg - 29 Caporusso - 21 Treais
16 Winnett - 23 Glendening - 11 Lynch
14 Lebler - 22 Rohrkemper - 3 Vaughan
Defense
7 Langlais - 4 Summers
6 Burlon - 34 Llewellyn
13 Moffie - 5 Kampfer
Goaltender
35 Hogan
31 Hunwick
Start of the first period Brutus leads his Buckeyes onto the ice just minutes before the first puck drop. And it seems that this version of Brutus hasn't taken enough skating lessons.
19:35 Summers takes an early penalty not even 30 seconds into the game.
17:30 Michigan kills off the Summers penalty. No good chances on the PP for the Buckeyes. But they did tally two shots.
16:00 Scooter Vaughan penalty. That's two Wolverine penalties within the first four minutes of action.
14:08 Michigan had a shorthanded 3-on-1, not something you see every day. Wohlberg had an open shot but opted to pass it. His pass got blocked by the Buckeye defense. Then OSU went the other way on a 3-on-1 of their own. They didn't convert on the 3-on-1, but scored just as Vaughan exited the box. Peter Boyd from Somma and Dalpe. 1-0, Buckeyes.
Wohlberg has to shoot that puck on the 3-on-1 chance. Michigan is still without a shot, he had a clear lane to shoot because the Buckeye defenseman guarded against the pass. So after the turnover, three Michigan players are caught on the other end of the ice. Not to mention all of them are winded from going end-to-end on the PK.
11:00 Buckeye PK; Michigan's first PP of the contest. Great puck movement on the man-advantage for the Caporusso line. The Wolverines have compiled quite a bit of shots in the last few minutes of play--shots are 6-5, Michigan.
8:56OSU penalty is over. For the most part, the Wolverines have been able to control the play and sustain pressure in the Buckeye defensive zone since the Boyd goal. The shots on goal are 7-1 since that goal.
7:38 Chance for OSU with a man wide open in the low slot after Hogan misplayed a rebound off of a tough-angle shot. Coincidental minors on Wohlberg and Somma for slashing. And the ref sends Wohlberg to the wrong box.
6:35 Hagelin almost sneaks a puck past Buckeyes goalie Cal Heeter on the far side on a low shot from the left wing.
The Value City Arena here in Columbus is a nice complex for both OSU basketball and hockey. But this place is silent and pretty empty. The press box is way up in the nosebleeds, and we can still here all the players talking on the ice. Well, maybe the low turnout shouldn't come as such a surprise. I look up at all the banners for the basketball and hockey accomplishments--Frozen Four appearances: 1998.
1:44 Somma scores another to put the Buckeyes up by two, from Dalpe and Boyd. 2-0, Buckeyes. Great pass by Dalpe to connect with Somma on the rush. Somma slipped it under the glove of sprawling Hogan to give OSU some insurance.
I'm not sure where the defense was there for the Wolverines. Caporusso made a nice backchecking effort on Somma, but was beaten to the puck.
End of the first period Score: 2-0, Buckeyes. Shots: 10-7, Wolverines
Ohio State created some nice opportunities for themselves in the Michigan zone, and made the most of them. Michigan had some chances, as well, but didn't capitalize and finds itself in an early hole.
And despite the fact that these schools are a part of perhaps the greatest rivalry in college sports, Michigan didn't seem to show nearly as much emotion as they did during their three straight wins over Bowling Green, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
That'll have to change in the next two periods if they have any plans of returning to over .500. Simply put, right now, the Buckeyes look like the better team--especially when the Somma-Dalpe-Boyd line is on the ice.
Start of the second period
19:16 Right at the beginning of the period, Brutus was in the first row of the stands near the Michigan bench tossing t-shirts into the crowd. The fans here all seemed more interested in the t-shirt toss than the actual game. I guess it's 'come for the t-shirt toss, stay for the game.'
17:34 Michigan seems to be pounding the net with pucks whenever they have even the slightest chance. It could be a good strategy, especially because OSU has had some goalie controversy this season between Heter and Dustin Carlson.
16:15 Lynch just struck the left post with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Shots for the game: 12-7.
13:55 Icing by the Buckeyes brings the puck back into their zone. They still haven't registered a shot this period, as Michigan has held the edge in time on the attack through the first 6 minutes of the stanza.
10:59 Caporusso hooking penalty. First time either team will be shorthanded since over eight minutes to go in the first period. Neither team has gotten any great chances this period besides the Lynch shot that caught the post. If OSU can convert here, that would change the course of this game. Two-goal leads are blown quite often in hockey. Three-goal leads? Not so much.
8:44 Caporusso penalty is over. One shot for the Buckeyes on that PP.
8:28 Glendening gets Michigan on the board on a great individual effort and an unassisted goal. He forced a turnover at the blue line, skated down the left wing on a 2-on-2, out muscled his defender and threw a backhand past Heeter on the short side. 2-1, Buckeyes.
Glendening always seems to come up big when his team needs it. That's especially been the case since he was named alternate captain. He scored a shorthanded goal at a huge moment last weekend against Wisconsin, and he gets his team on the board and cuts his team's deficit in half with that marker.
6:30 Right after the Buckeyes took a penalty not long after the Glendening goal, Burlon took an interference penalty 19 seconds later.
5:26 Hagelin draws a hooking call, 4-on-3 for a few seconds until they play four-aside for 19 seconds. After that, Michigan will take over with a 5-on-4.
4:48 Chris Brown goal. He stuffed the puck in after a scrum in front of the net. It's a 4-on-4 goal. Hagelin and Kampfer assist on the play. Michigan will get a power play in 11 seconds, too. Tied, 2-2
4:00 2-on-1 chance for the Buckeyes on the kill, but a good skate save by Hogan. Glendening returns the favor as the penalty expires; Heeter makes the shoulder save.
Shots are 24-11, overall, in favor of Michigan. They are 14-4 for the second period.
1:41 Borderline hooking call on OSU. Michigan was getting some good pressure even strength, but the Buckeyes blocked all three of the attempted shots. Just as OSU started to break out of the zone, Burlon took the puck away and was 'hooked.'
1:00 it was just announced that there is one minute remaining in the period. The Buckeye faithful responded with "Michigan still sucks!" Not exactly sure how the chant makes sense in that situation.
End of the second period Still 2-2. The Wolverines will have 19 seconds on their power play.
During the second intermission, we have some CAHA Mite Hockey on display. The red team got an early wrap-around goal. But I'm too focused on Brutus (who is refereeing the short game)--it's quite the sight watching him attempt to skate. I know the enormous head makes him a little top-heavy, but shouldn't he know how to skate decently if he attends hockey games? The red team beat the white team, holding on for the one-goal victory.
But I think Brutus is the real winner--he made it off the ice without any major injuries as far as I can tell.
The Wolverines controlled the second period pretty handily. That Glendening goal gave them life with 8:28 left. From then on, Michigan looked a lot like the confident team that has won its last three, and much less like the team that had dropped its previous five.
They played discipline hockey in all three zones--containing the Buckeyes to the outside, breaking the puck out effectively, limiting neutral zone turnovers, and taking the right shots in the offensive zone.
Start of the third period They just announced a scoring change on the Brown goal: Rust had the assist, not Hagelin.
17:30 Good work on the forecheck by the Winnett-Glendening-Lynch line. Winnett put a sneaky shot on net that almost slipped under the pads of Heeter from the left wing boards at the hash marks.
15:45 Chance for Wolhberg off a loose puck in front, but a pad save by Heeter. Heeter has been impressive for OSU and, to some extent, is keeping his team in the game. he hasn't made an y spectacular saves. But his team is being outshot 28-12, Michigan has had the puck in Buckeyes' for much of the last two periods, but the game is still tied.
13:00 Wrist shot by Summers from the right point gloved by Heeter. Michigan is pouring it on. And by 'it,' I mean shots, not goals. Shots are 32-13. Hogan is looking pretty bored at the Wolverines' end of the ice.
10:15 Michigan is buzzing. Treais just dangled the Buckeye defense, but missed a good scoring chance. Then on the same shift, he got the puck back and gave it off to Wohlberg. Wohlberg made a quick centering pass in front to Caporusso on the doorstep. but Heeter was again up to for the challenge.
8:21 There were just a couple of good chances for the Buckeyes. Good stops by Hogan (at least we know he isn't asleep). Now approaching crunch time here in the third in a time game...
7:19 Devon Krogh scores from the point off the faceoff. Assisted by Alex Carlson, who won the faceoff. That's pretty demoralizing for the Wolverines. They're dominating the action, but still find themselves down by one with over seven minutes left after the quick strike.3-2, Buckeyes.
5:01 Just over 2 minutes later, the Buckeyes strike again. This time C.J. Severyn took a loose puck from the slot after a Michigan turnover behind the net. Hogan was screened by four players after the turnover. Severyn had time to pick a corner with the loose puck all alone. He chose the high glove side, and didn't miss. 4-2, Buckeyes.
Shots are 38-18, Michigan. But those numbers seem pretty unimportant right now, huh?
4:30 Michigan 5-on-3 for 1:24 after 2 quick penalties.
3:04 Hagelin goal on the 5-on-3 from Rust and Brown. 4-3, Buckeyes.
2:30 Heeter stuffs Treais with his right pad. Treais was a foot away from making this a tie game. Tremendous save, but A.J. has to bury that one top-shelf. Back at even strength. Time out, Wolverines.
34.7 Buckeyes EN goal. 5-3, Buckeyes. And Michigan is going to lose the first game of this series. Three-game winning streak over.
Final score: Ohio State 5, Michigan 3
