COLUMBUS — It’s not every day you see a hockey team score 10 goals and pull its goalie in the same game. Then again, the Michigan hockey team is proving that this season is far from ordinary.
The Wolverines scored early and often, as senior forward Zach Hyman and sophomore forward Tyler Motte each tallied two goals and Michigan cruised to its fifth consecutive win. The Wolverines (5-1 Big Ten, 13-7 overall) outlasted a late-game comeback by the Buckeyes (2-4, 7-11-2) to secure a 10-6 win.
It was the seventh time Michigan has scored at least six goals in a game, but the first time the team has reached double digits since 2011.
“We have really good depth,” Hyman said. “Every line that’s on our team is a potential first line and can score at anytime. You can’t score 10 goals with one line. We had all of our lines scoring today, and that’s what can happen when you have four lines clicking.”
Things got going less than two minutes in when Hyman — now fourth nationally in points scored — scored off a nice feed from freshman forward Dylan Larkin. Four minutes later, the duo was at it again, giving Michigan a lead it wouldn’t surrender.
“Zach got us out to a good start,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “With tonight’s game, you could say we won the game and we scored a lot of goals, but we gave up six goals. Had they scored the first two or three goals and we had to play catch-up in this building, it could’ve been a way different outcome.”
Moments later, forward David Gust received a game misconduct, giving the Wolverines a five-minute power play and leaving the Buckeyes — already playing with just 10 forwards — even more shorthanded. After letting up a shorthanded goal early in the contest, Larkin and Motte each tacked on power-play goals to make it 4-1.
The second period picked up right where the first left off. Senior forward Andrew Copp led things off 14 seconds in by batting the puck out of mid-air to send it past goaltender Matt Tomkins.
Each team notched two more in the second, with Motte’s second goal of the night sending Tomkins to the bench. The rebound goal also gave the forward his first-career two-goal game.
Freshman forward Dexter Dancs tacked on a rebound goal early in the third to give the Wolverines an 8-3 lead.
Despite the deficit, Ohio State started something of a rally midway through the third to oust Michigan junior goalie Steve Racine. The Buckeyes scored consecutive goals in a span of six seconds and one more six minutes later to make it 8-6 with five and a half minutes to go.
“It became a shoot-out, and I felt that the team with the last shot might score or win the game,” Berenson said. “It wasn’t the type of game either coach would like.
“We pulled our goalie for a reason. We didn’t like the momentum and the way things were going, the puck was going in too easy”
But on the next possession, sophomore forward Alex Kile tacked on a goal to cause Michigan fans to let out a sigh of relief. Larkin tacked on an empty-net goal with two minutes remaining to give Michigan yet another high-scoring win.
“We had a lot of good things going for us in the offensive zone,” Motte said. “We got the bounce tonight, but I could easily see this game going the other way it we don’t get that extra bounce early on.”
The win was especially important given what’s to come for the Wolverines. With an eight-game road trip just getting started, creating energy and momentum is crucial for Michigan to retain its first-place standing in the Big Ten.
“This is going to be a tough stretch,” Motte said. “You hear the term ‘road hockey’ a lot, but we just have to make sure we play our system and our game every night no matter where we’re playing or what the energy is, we’ve just got to find a way to create our own.
“Obviously you’ve got to find a way to win on the road if you want to compete in the Big Ten.”