The main question for the Michigan hockey team entering its home opener against Niagara last night was whether it would be already looking forward to Saturday’s early-season showdown at No. 3 Boston University.

While those thoughts were put to rest quickly, the Purple Eagles still managed to scare the Yost Ice Arena crowd late in the contest.

Just one minute and 47 seconds into the game, Michigan’s home season was off and running with a goal on the Wolverines' first shot. After a Niagara tripping penalty less than a minute into the game, the fifth-ranked Wolverines wasted no time capitalizing on the man advantage. Sophomore Robbie Czarnik fed freshman A.J. Treais with a cross-ice pass on the rush, and Treais one-timed it past a flailing Adam Avramenko for the first strike. That early goal helped the Wolverines to a 3-2 win.

That was just the beginning of the early scoring surge. Two minutes later, on the team's second shot of the game, junior Carl Hagelin scored another power play goal. This time, the Wolverines worked the puck around with sustained pressure in the Niagara zone. A pretty passing play in the slot between sophomore defenseman Greg Pateryn and junior forward Matt Rust left Hagelin wide open in front for an easy finish.

Czarnik put the Wolverines up 3-0 with 9:22 left in the first period, with a goal set up by tic-tac-toe passing between seniors Steve Kampfer and Brian Lebler.

But that was when it started to go downhill.

“We just got comfortable,” Czarnik said. “We just thought we were going to blow them out, and then they came back even harder.”

The Purple Eagles (0-3-1) got themselves back into the game with a goal late in the first period, then cut the deficit in half with another goal in the second stanza.

Michigan coach Red Berenson said at practice this week that he wanted a fast start in the first five minutes. He got what he wanted, but still wasn’t pleased with the performance in the final two periods.

“As a coach, I’m not happy,” Berenson said. “Our team needs to play better than that. Certainly we knew we might be a little rusty, but we just didn’t get better as the game wore on.”

As impressive as the Michigan power play was in the first period, it couldn't convert on its final six chances. Two pucks rang off the post, and Avramenko stopped breakaways from junior Louie Caporusso and sophomore Luke Glendening.

Junior goalie Bryan Hogan made 32 saves for the Wolverines (2-1-0). Half of those stops came in the third period, when the Purple Eagles took control of the game but couldn't score. Berenson said Hogan was the difference in the game, and the level of play in the offensive and defensive zones must improve.

“We have to play better with the puck in our zone, and we have to take care of the puck in their zone,” Berenson said. “We turned it over in their zone, and they had too many rushes up the ice. It was a sloppily played game on Michigan’s part.”

Despite the poor offensive output after the Wolverines gained the three-goal lead, Berenson liked what he saw from the third line of Lebler, Treais and Czarnik, who provided two of the three Michigan goals.

Part of the reason for Michigan's struggles is in Caporusso's play. The junior forward led Michigan in goals last year but has been held scoreless through three games this season.

“He’s a little frustrated,” Berenson said. “The puck’s not going in. Last year, the pucks went in that weren’t even good scoring chances. Now the good scoring chances aren’t going in, so he just has to keep battling because I thought that was his best effort in (any) game.”

Caporusso and the struggling offense will look to break out on Saturday against the Terriers, who have lost two straight games after being shut out by No. 9 Notre Dame on Tuesday.