It took one three minute stretch in the second period for the Michigan hockey team to end Ohio State goalie Cal Heeter’s night and seal the Wolverines’ second sweep of the season.
Michigan cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Buckeyes, dominating right from the opening whistle, but the offensive fireworks midway through the second frame broke the game open Saturday night.
With Michigan holding a 2-0 lead, freshman forward David Wohlberg intercepted a pass behind the back of the Ohio State net and snuck the puck past Heeter’s right skate for the short-handed goal as three Buckeye defenders frantically collapsed on Wohlberg in vain. The short-handed tally at the 11:37 mark was Wohlberg’s first career goal.
Just over two minutes later, sophomore defenseman Chad Langlais stole the puck in the Wolverines’ zone and streaked down the left boards as Michigan developed an odd-man rush. Langlais found senior forward Travis Turnbull all alone in the slot, who then beat Heeter stick-side with a wrist shot to make it a 4-0 game.
With 8:00 left in the period and Michigan on the man-advantage, senior forward Brandon Naurato fired a beautiful crossing pass through traffic to sopohmore forward Aaron Palushaj, who promptly sent the puck over Heeter’s shoulder. Palushaj’s seventh goal of the season was enough to send Heeter to the bench, much to the delight of the Yost Ice Arena crowd.
Michigan’s power play, a popular topic of concern this season, had its second strong outing in the last three games, converting three of eight chances. Two of those goals came courtesy of sophomore forward Louie Caporusso. On the first tally, four minutes into the contest, Caporusso controlled the puck between the bottom of the right circle and the goal line, then sent a shot that deflected off the inside of Heeter’s block pad and through the five-hole.
Caporusso’s second goal, 6:27 into the third period, stretched Michigan’s lead to 6-0. He is now tied with Palushaj for team-lead in goals with seven this season.
The Wolverines set the tone early in the first period, routinely winning battles for the puck along the boards and displaying aggressive forechecking to keep the puck in Ohio State’s zone. When the Buckeyes were able to set up their offense, the timing on several of their crossing passes in front of the net was just off. Ohio State had trouble all night creating scoring chances in front of the Michigan net.
In addition to the Wolverines’ extra-man attack, another huge bright spot Saturday night was the Wolverines’ penalty kill, which successfully killed off eight of the Buckeyes’ nine power play opportunites. The lone goal came midway through the third period and with the game well out of reach, as Ohio State forward Zac Dolpe beat Michigan sophomore goalie Bryan Hogan five-hole to cut the Wolverines’ lead to 6-1.
Dolpe’s goal was the lone blemish during Hogan’s start, as the Michigan netminder stopped 25 of 26 shots and looked at ease through the night, rarely having to make a difficult save.
Those six tallies marked Michigan’s highest scoring output of the season. That five different Wolverines found the back of the net may have been the most encouraging sign Saturday night as the Wolverines continue to find some consistent scoring.