Michigan coach Red Berenson emphasized “starting on time” to his team all weekend, but the 15th-ranked Wolverines never embraced that message.
Michigan (2-5) didn’t show signs of life in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to No. 17 Michigan Tech until the 9:29 mark of the first period when junior forward Andrew Copp scored his first goal of the season. However, the captain’s goal wasn’t enough to help the Wolverines climb back from an early two-goal deficit as they suffered their third loss in as many games.
“We were beaten on faceoffs, and that’s really where the will of the game starts,” Berenson said. “Who wants the puck the most, and they wanted the puck more than we did.”
The Huskies (4-0 WCHA, 6-0 overall) struck twine at the 4:15 mark of the first period after forcing a blue-line turnover in their own zone. Forward Tanner Kero corralled an ill-advised pass by Michigan’s freshman forward Dexter Dancs, found himself on a breakaway and scored over Steve Racine’s blocker side.
The junior goaltender made just 11 saves on 16 shots before getting pulled for sophomore Zach Nagelvoort in the second period. The defensive unit was porous all evening, though, and it wouldn’t have mattered if ex-Michigan goaltenders Shawn Hunwick or Marty Turco snuck onto the ice for the Wolverines.
Forwards Tyler Heinonen and David Johnstone added two goals by the end of the first frame to build a comfortable cushion that Michigan Tech would never relinquish. The tallies amplified the Wolverines’ concerns about their special teams units, as Heinonen’s goal — the eventual game-winner — as well as Johnstone’s both came on the power play.
Meanwhile, Michigan failed to convert on the man-advantage all weekend despite having 13 chances to do so.
“We have a lot of guys who haven’t scored yet,” Berenson said. “We had just about empty-net opportunities that we fanned on. We have to be better with the puck and better without the puck.”
Friday, the Wolverines’ penalty kill was quite the spectacle, killing off six penalties with relative ease. But on Saturday, playing shorthanded didn’t go so smoothly as Michigan conceded a total of four power-play goals after going 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in the past four-plus games.
“They schooled us on the penalty kill,” Berenson said. “Their power play was better than our penalty kill. Simple as that. They won the faceoffs, they got puck control, they moved it well, their shots got through, we didn’t block shots, we didn’t cover the passing lanes. I mean it was a clinic.”
Two of the final three tallies for the Huskies came in middle of the second period — both on the man-advantage — and were credited to forwards Blake Pietila and Alex Petan at 7:50 and 14:54, respectively. Adding insult to injury, forward Brent Baltus scored Michigan Tech’s sixth goal of the game off a turnover at the midway point of the third period.
Michigan seemed to finally embody a sense of urgency coming out of the second intermission, at least for a moment, as sophomore forward Max Shuart netted his first-career goal just 41 seconds into the final frame.
“I know our team needed a little spark going into the third,” Shuart said. “We were down a lot of goals and I wish we could have done more in the third period there as a team.”
Instead, in a critical weekend series in which the Wolverines could have built confidence heading into a more manageable nonconference schedule — they’ve played five of their seven games against ranked opponents — they couldn’t muster more than three goals.
“I think we just all have to regroup and kind of realize what kind of team we want to be, what we want to do this season,” Shuart said. “Kind of work hard and get back after it going into the next weekend.”
All year, Berenson has said his team needs to cut down its goals against and that it desperately needs to get consistent production out of its special-teams units. Berenson repeats that it’s only a matter of time before his top players start scoring.
But right now, Michigan can’t find answers to any of those concerns. The Huskies played with inspiration and grit, proving why they’re unbeaten in six games. The Wolverines adopted just the opposite role, unveiling the characteristics of a team that’s three games under .500 and just suffered its first sweep in a nonconference series since 1986.