Michigan coach Red Berenson had no qualms discussing his feelings on Saturday’s 8-5 loss to North Dakota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Monday afternoon.
“It’s crushing,” Berenson said. “I can’t tell you how the players feel; I’m sure some of them are more crushed than others. Especially the seniors – this was their best chance. And we played well.”
The Michigan hockey team met Monday afternoon at Yost Ice Arena to dissect its second consecutive first-round loss.
Even with an early start to next season’s preparations, Berenson knows his team has a lot to learn from its meeting with the Fighting Sioux.
“I don’t think we can talk about everything in one day,” Berenson said. “But the main thing is looking at this game and what happened and learning something from it.”
One of the immediate issues Berenson and his team are putting under the microscope is the Wolverines’ play on the penalty kill.
Five of North Dakota’s eight goals came on the power play. That total is the most Michigan had given up since a Phil Kessel-led Minnesota team knocked in five at Yost in 2005, which was 70 games ago.
But when asked about the Fighting Sioux power play, Berenson more readily criticized his own team than laud the opponents. Berenson noted many of the power-play goals could’ve been prevented by better goaltending or improved defensive awareness.
“We have a list of things that are important on the penalty kill,” Berenson said. “It starts with the faceoff. The next thing is trying to block shots – either blocking them or fronting them so they don’t want to shoot. Then you need to get your stick in the passing lanes. Then, when there is a shot, the defensemen are picking up sticks so that there is no rebounds – no one gets a rebound.”
It was clear that the Wolverines struggled with many of these ideals on Saturday. After reviewing the tape, Berenson pointed out specific mistakes that cost the team a place in the Regional final.
“We did three of those things poorly,” Berenson said. “Faceoffs. Didn’t block the shots. Didn’t pick up sticks in front of the net on the first goal. There were two guys whacking at it. (Senior Jason) Dest got beat back to the front of the net, and (sophomore Mark Mitera) was whacking at the puck instead of knocking a guy on his ass to take his stick out. And your goalie has to make that save – those are shots he can see.”
Skating on the penalty kill has proven to be an issue for Michigan all season long. It kept the puck out of the net just 82 percent of the time – eighth best in the 12-team CCHA.
Just how important is the penalty kill?
The last Michigan team to reach the Frozen Four killed off nearly 90 percent of its opponents’ power plays.
While the players’ offseason has officially begun, many will continue to skate to improve on the penalty kill in voluntary workouts over the next few weeks before team off-ice training begins.