With just six games remaining on the CCHA slate, the No. 13 Michigan hockey team looked nothing like the team that was swept by Miami (Ohio) last weekend. Earlier this week, Michigan coach Red Berenson gave the forward lines a complete makeover, creating four entirely new lines — trios that have never played together outside of practice — for this weekend’s two-game tilt against Ohio State.
Once the new-look Wolverines took the ice on Friday, the differences didn’t end.
Unlike last weekend, Michigan also found some offense, defeating the Buckeyes, 3-2, at Yost Ice Arena to end a three-game conference skid.
Right off the bat, Berenson’s new lines looked dynamic. Senior forward Matt Rust, who has been in a deep scoring rut all season, took off on a breakaway midway through the first period and nearly capitalized, slamming the puck off the underside of the crossbar. But the remainder of the opening period belonged to Ohio State, as they carried a 11-5 shot advantage into the first intermission.
With the game deadlocked in a scoreless tie after the opening 20 minutes of play, it was Rust’s linemate, senior forward Scooter Vaughan, who made the most of his first appearance on Michigan’s starting line. Just 40 seconds into the second frame, Vaughan took a back-hand feed from junior forward Luke Glendening and zipped the puck of Buckeye goaltender Cal Heeter’s shoulder to give Michigan its first lead of the game.
It was Vaughan’s 10th goal of the season, making him the third-leading scorer on the Wolverine squad.
The 1-0 lead was relinquished later in the second period, when Ohio State forward Sergio Somma took a feed between the slot and beat Hunwick between the pads with a wrist shot.
But Michigan came out firing in the third period and didn’t slow down. This time it belonged to Berenson’s line that looks to have the most promise — a trio consisting of senior Louie Caporusso and Carl Hagelin and sophomore Chris Brown.
Just over a minute into the final frame, Caporusso picked up the puck in the defensive zone and lobbed it up to Hagelin cruising along the boards in the neutral zone. Hagelin found Brown cutting into the Buckeye zone, and the sophomore shot a laser along the ice past Heeter.
It was exactly the kind of play Berenson was looking for from the promising offensive line — tic-tac-toe stickwork going from the playmaker to the speedster to the rocket shooter on the line.
Six minutes later, Caporusso added a goal of his own to widen the Wolverines’ lead to 3-1 — it was Caporusso’s ninth goal of the season. But the Buckeyes answered with an even-strength goal with seven minutes remaining to pull within a goal.
But that was as close as they came, as the Wolverines killed a penalty followed by a pulled-goalie situation to finish the Buckeyes.
Although Michigan was outshot 35-26 — the second consecutive game in which the Wolverines have been outshot — the offense capitalized on its quality scoring chances in the third period to break it’s losing skid.
The two teams will face off tomorrow night at Yost Ice Arena in the second half of the series.