Senior forward Carl Hagelin, who committed the fourth-fewest penalties of any Wolverine who played in every contest last season, is known as a classy hockey player.

So it was certainly a surprise Saturday night against Mercyhurst during the Michigan hockey team’s regular season home-opener when the Sodertalje, Sweden native was whistled for a five-minute major for checking from behind and given a game misconduct.

Just ask senior center Matt Rust, Hagelin's linemate.

"For Carl to take that sort of penalty is like, ‘You've got to be kidding me’, because it's Carl,” he said.

Hagelin’s exit early in the second period looked as if it wouldn’t be that much of an issue, considering the Wolverines held a 4-0 lead at the midway point. But in the latter stages of the middle period and during the entire third — in which the Lakers tallied four goals to tie the score — Hagelin’s absence was felt.

According to Rust, the mixing and matching of the lines without last season’s leading scorer compromised the flow of the game.

"You've got guys that may be a little confused out there... The chemistry gets all jumbled.”

FORGOTTEN ASSIGNMENTS: With the score 4-1 in Michigan's favor it looked as if the Wolverines had set the switch to cruise control.

But the poison that cost the Wolverines — besides their 31 minutes of penalties — was their defensive assignments. Whether it resulted from a lack of communication, unfamiliarity with new linemates or just mental lapse; the Lakers capitalized on out-of-position Wolverines all night.

“We made a lot of mistakes tonight,” Berenson said. “You're going to make some mistakes in a game when it's early on in the game. But you just don't want them to come back and bite you like tonight.”

In the opening minutes of the third period, Laker forward Paul Chiasson received a thread pass that sent him streaking down the ice. And with junior defenseman Brandon Burlon taking the angle on Chiasson, it seemed like Burlon would steal a golden scoring opportunity. But Chiasson toe-dragged Burlon at the bottom of the right face-off dot and whistled a wrist shot over goaltender Shawn Hunwick’s glove.

To Burlon’s credit, there was a defensive lapse all the way back in the offensive zone, where a Michigan defenseman pinched on the end boards without any support, leaving Burlon out to dry.

It’s plays like these — and there were quite a few of them against Mercyhurst — that led to the Laker come-from-behind effort and a less-than-pleased Rust in the post-game press conference.

“I think we did well for the most part — until we choked.”

NOTES: Senior forward Scooter Vaughan tallied his first goal of his career in Yost Ice Arena against Mercyhurst. He has three career goals … In the two games this weekend, every Wolverine saw playing time except senior forward Ben Winnett and freshmen Kevin Clare, Jacob Fallon and Adam Janecyk.