July 28, 2011 - 6:51pm
LIVE BLOG: Michigan vs. Michigan State
BY NICK SPAR
UPDATE: Michigan State defeats Michigan, 3-2
Welcome to the live blog for the first game of a home-and-home series between No. 6 Michigan and No. 13 Michigan State. Tonight's game, starting at 7:35pm, is at Yost Ice Arena and tomorrow's is at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
The obvious storyline heading into this rivalry series is that this is the first game since the Conboy-Tropp-Kampfer incident. Conboy is no longer with the Spartans, but Tropp is currently the leading point-getter in the CCHA and Kampfer is one of the Wolverines' top defensemen.
But the storyline that Michigan has insisted on focusing on all week is the fact that it needs wins--badly. The Wolverines haven't beaten a ranked team all season and currently stand at a mediocre 4-4.
It's a maize-out tonight here at Yost. And eleven minutes before the puck drops, it looks pretty lame. There's too much white and blue, but as more people file in we'll see if the maize out looks at least a little cool.
Here are the starting lineups for tonight. Some pretty big changes--Sparks and Rohrkemper are on the fourth line, Glendening was moved up to the third line, both Vaughan and Lebler are scratched tonight, and Moffe is with Kampfer instead of Pateryn.
Forwards
12 Hagelin - 29 Caporusso - 10 Brown
25 Wohlberg - 19 Rust - 27 Czarnik
23 Glendening - 11 Lynch - 21 Treais
39 Sparks - 16 Winnett - 22 Rohrkemper
Defense
34 Llewellyn - 4 Summers
7 Langlais - 6 Burlon
13 Moffie - 5 Kampfer
Goalie
35 Hogan
31 Hunwick
Start of the first period--The most interesting thing to look for within the first few minutes is what type of reception Tropp receives. It shouldn't take too long. Spartan coach Rick Comley won't keep the leading scorer in the CCHA on the bench for too long.
19:46 Llewellyn takes an interference penalty 14 seconds into the game. That's a pretty unwarranted penalty (and no, the hit wasn't on Tropp)
19:00 Tropp touches the puck on the ensuing PP and is showered with boo's. This crowd is as loud as it's been all year, as is to be expected against an archival even with No. 1 Miami in town last weekend.
17:00 Wolverines kill off the penalty; Tropp, of all Spartans, had the best chance to score of the PP.
16:00 Penalty on Tropp for tripping Czarnik. The 'C-ya' chant is as loud and rowdy as ever.
12:30 Tropp penalty expired, and early on both PP's failed on their first attempt.
12:12 Michigan State goal for Andrew Rowe, unassisted. 1-0, Spartans. That one's on Hogan. He misplayed it behind the net and Rowe had a wide-open net. Reminiscent of the deciding goal against Boston University almost three weeks ago.
10:41 Almost halfway through the opening frame, the Wolverines have only one shot on goal to the Spartans' four. You could make the case that the difference in the game so far was a fluke, but then two or three goals surrendered this year by Hogan this season alone were also flukes.
6:32 Penalty on Kampfer. As Anthony Hayes was cutting across the Michigan zone, Kampfer stuck out his knee to take him down. Now both Kampfer and Tropp have served time for minors.
5:40 Another Llewellyn penalty, and this one (like the last one) was inexcusable. After a Hogan stop, he took a Spartan down in the crease. The call was hooking. I'm not so sure how that's a hook but either way Michigan has a 5-on-3 to kill off.
4:30 Kampfer penalty over. 55 seconds left on the Llewellyn minor.
3:14 Michigan back at full-strength. Great PK, especially during the 5-on-3. There weren't that many good chances for the Spartans. Shots are 7-2, Michigan State, though.
1:20 Penalty on Sparks. That one was inexcusable, too. Sparks got a guy in an arm tackle and took him to the ice in the neutral zone as if he was at the 50-yard line on a football field. And then he was surprised that the ref threw his arm up. That's as easy of a call that a ref can make.
While it's only a one-goal game, the Spartans have held a huge edge, mainly because these dumb penalties. It's an emotional game, but it'll turn into a repeat performance of last weekend against the RedHawks if these unnecessary penalties continue.
End of the first period Still 1-0. Shots are 7-3, Spartans.
Hamster Ball Race We have another hamster ball race during the first intermission tonight. One competitor was a speedster, but feel every ten seconds, especially during the first half of the race. The other competitor went slow and steady, and eventually won the race despite a late comeback.
First period thoughts It looked as if the Wolverines allowed the principle storyline of this weekend to have a negative impact on their performance with all these penalties. The two Llewellyn penalties, the Sparks penalty, and even the Kampfer penalty could have been easily avoided.
The difference on the scoreboard has nothing to do with the penalties, but it hasn't allowed them to gain any momentum. Just three shots on goal for Michigan, and a lot of that has to be attributed to the penalties and lack of chances in the Spartans end.
Start of the second period
19:00 The Sparks penalty that began last period just expired. But then exactly a minute into the period, Caporusso took a tripping penalty on Spartans goalie Palmisano. Palmisano's helmet flew off, and the Wolverines are in the box yet again.
17:00Caporusso penalty is over. That's one positive for Michigan--their PK units have been up to the task all five times tonight.
16:01 Michigan State penalty. First Wolverines PP since the Tropp penalty very early in the first. Hayes--who also has the only goal of the game so far--is in the box for two minutes for tripping.
15:06 Rust had a chance to bury on on the right wing off a pass from Summers. Michigan has four of its seven shots in the first five minutes of this period.
13:00 The Hayes penalty is over. Shots are 8-7, Michigan State. The Wolverines have the edge in the first six minutes of this period. The boo's when Tropp touches the puck are still evident, but not as loud as they were during the first half of the opening period.
Kampfer has made his presence felt on both ends of the ice. He has thrown a couple of major hits in the defensive zone (one of which resulted in a kneeing penalty). He also just took a slap shot from the blue line that got deflected over the glass and out of play.
12:45 After another Llewellyn hit on Tropp, Tropp had a rebound chance in front of Hogan on his backhand, but was denied.
10:24 The Rust-Wohlberg-Czarnik line were just denied a three-on-two opportunity in the neutral zone. The Michigan offense hasn't gotten going, but the defense has allowed only one shot in the first half of this period.
7:22 The third line has been working well together. Treais almost connected with Lynch for Michigan's first goal.
7:06 Moffie scores to tie it up--the first goal of his career. Tied, 1-1. He crashed the net and got a pass from Rust from behind the net and beat Palmisano through the five-hole. Wohlberg also assisted on the goal. Daily Sports Editor Nicole Auerbach predicted Moffie would have a good game, and I would say Moffie's first-ever Michigan goal makes right.
3:57 Just as the Wolverines were gaining momentum, Tropp beat Hogan over his right shoulder on a one-on-one, top-corner. 2-1, Spartans. Believe it or not, Kampfer was the defenseman on the play against Tropp.
Less than a minute later, Michigan took another stupid penalty, a Summers slashing call.
1:20 Summers penalty is over. Shots are 16-11, Spartans.
End of the second period
The Moffie goal energized his team and the fans, and it looked like the Wolverines' fortunes were turning. But less than five minutes later, Tropp quieted the crowd with a laser of a wrist shot in the upper-left corner.
Well, the Wolverines have been down heading into the third period in their last three games. If this third period isn't much different from the two against Miami, Michigan will be under .500 9 games into the season.
Start of the third period
18:55 Langlais slashing penalty on Rowe. Rowe then barreled into Hogan, who got up favoring his wrist. He's still between the pipes and looks to be okay. And now the play is being reviewed to see if the puck crossed the line before the net got knocked off from Rowe rolling over Hogan.
And it's ruled a goal! The initial non-goal call from the refs is overturned and the Spartans suddenly have 2-goal lead, and now Langlais won't spend two minutes in the box. 3-1, Spartans.
Leveille is given the goal. Awfully quickly, this third period is looking a lot like the two from last weekend. it's certainly not an insurmountable lead, but it's pretty bizarre how the last three games have taken the same form--Michigan falls behind, and Miami/Michigan State builds on that lead in the third.
16:00 Hayes nearly put his team up by three. The puck took a funny bounce off the end boards. It fell right into Hayes's lap, but he couldn't put the puck away with an open net.
13:45 Spartans penalty. This subsequent Wolverines PP is crucial. If they score, a one-goal deficit is certainly manageable with more than half the third period remaining. If they don't, then it's just another wasted opportunity. And this one will hurt more than most others for the struggling Michigan power play.
12:22 Michigan State hooking call. There will be a two-man advantage for 38 seconds. This is a big spot in this game.
10:30 Both penalties are over, and the PP woes continue. It's still a two-goal Spartan lead with almost half the final period gone by. Shots are 19-12, Michigan State.
8:45 Defensive zone turnover by Czarnik led to sustained pressure for the Spartans. The clock is ticking on Michigan's winning streak over their archival. A loss tonight would be the first to Michigan State since the 07-08 season.
7:45 Michigan goal scored by Carl Hagelin, assisted by Brown and Llewellyn. 3-2, Spartans. A seemingly innocent play along the boards by Brown turned into a shot in the low slot by Hagelin that found that net. That's his fourth goal of the season, and the Wolverines have some life.
6:04 Hagelin is forcing the issue in the Spartans zone, with two more shots--one a wrap-around attempt. The student section is back into it, but with the lack of offensive production for Michigan, tying the game won't be easy.
4:00 Winnett intercepted a Spartan clearing attempt and cut to the middle of the slot. But a nice kick save by Palmisano.
The student section started chanting 'On Your Feet,' and now this place is loud and will be for the remainder of this one.
2:20 The Wolverines are clearly dominating right now, as he puck has almost always been in the Michigan State defensive zone. Michigan is clearly desperate. There's a faceoff in the Spartans end after an icing.
1:00 Hogan hasn't been pulled yet, as there's a faceoff in the Wolverines end after an icing of their own.
46.2 2-on-1 with Wohlberg and Brown, and Brown missed by about a foot. Mcihigan State penalty.
End of the game Michigan couldn't convert in the last minute despite an abundance of chances. Final score: 3-2, Spartans
