DETROIT — Following the No. 11 Michigan hockey team’s loss to No. 9 Michigan State on Friday, sophomore forward Gavin Brindley expressed the expectations for Saturday’s game:
“(The Spartans) are going to be hungry, but we’re going to be hungrier.”
Yet, even with the ‘Duel in the D’ trophy on the line and the opportunity to extend the win streak to seven wins in Detroit, the Wolverines clearly didn’t skate into Little Caesars Arena hungrier than their opponent.
In the rival teams’ 341st matchup, the Wolverines (14-11-3 overall, 7-9-2 Big Ten) lack of urgency when it mattered most led to them being swept on the weekend and their third straight loss to Michigan State (20-7-3, 14-4-2), 3-2.
“It was a great event and could’ve gone either way,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “ … They’re a rival and a really good team and this league is really deep. It’s tough to win every night and it’s tough to sweep in this league so credit to them. But we feel good about our team. … I thought we pushed all night and some bounces go their way instead of ours.”
Although the Wolverines started the first period strong, tallying near double the Spartans’ shot count at the time, they didn’t put anything on the scoreboard as a result. Instead, Michigan State forward Tanner Kelly — who potted the Spartans first goal on Friday — collected the puck, pulled a spin move and sent the puck directly into the goal. Michigan may have had more shots on goal in the frame, but it was Michigan State who went into the locker room with the lead.
The Wolverines showed off their top power play unit in the second period when Spartan forward Nash Nienhuis got called for an interference. Sophomore forward T.J. Hughes quickly sent the puck behind the goal, where Brindley chased after it. He passed the puck off the boards to junior forward Dylan Duke waiting at the net front, and Duke sent it cross crease and into the goal.
Just like Friday, Michigan’s celebration of its goal was short-lived, as Michigan State forward Tiernan Shoudy got his own net-front goal. Then, with five minutes left in the second period and graduate goaltender Jake Barczewski out of position, Spartan forward Karsen Dorwart found himself with an empty net and ideal placement to give Michigan State a two-goal lead.
And for the remainder of the second period, the Wolverines were forced into submission. A lack of urgency didn’t provide them any chance to cut the deficit heading into the third period.
In the third period, Michigan found itself in a familiar position to one day prior — down 3-1 with ample time to make up the deficit. Yet instead of treating the first ten minutes as life or death, the Wolverines took no solid shots on goal and provided Michigan State with space to create opportunities of its own.
The lack of urgency in the time it mattered most put Michigan in a worse position, and something needed to change.
And for a split second, the Wolverines appeared as if they were gaining signs of life. Senior defenseman Steven Holtz passed to sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty from the back of the offensive zone and McGroarty sent a pass from the right faceoff circle to Brindley, waiting on the left side of the goal to tap the puck in and make the score 3-2.
While this goal displayed some much-needed urgency in the final minutes for Michigan, it ultimately wasn’t enough. Despite the final 30 seconds being all Wolverines, with Duke almost tying up the game, the inability to capitalize and lack of offensive pressure from earlier in the game cost them.
And now, Brindley is feeling different about the future than he did on Friday.
“Our season is on the line now” Brindley said Saturday. “If that’s not motivation then I don’t know what is.”
With their season on the line following the loss, sitting on the outside of the NCAA Tournament looking in, the Wolverines need to go into every game hungrier and more motivated from now on. Otherwise, their season will end earlier than they hoped.
And unlike Friday, they can’t just say they’ll be the hungrier team. They’ll need to actually prove it.