ST. PAUL, Minn. — One inch.
Andrew Copp’s shot spun like a coin on the goal line, teasing to fall across and give the Michigan hockey team a crucial overtime winner against Penn State (3-16-1-0 Big Ten, 8-25-2 overall) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
One more inch and the Wolverines would have almost certainly earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But the puck was kicked out, and No. 3 seed Michigan was eliminated by No. 6 seed Penn State, 2-1, Thursday afternoon, putting an NCAA Tournament berth in serious jeopardy.
Forward Zach Saar scored on a wrist shot at 12:47 of the second overtime to end nearly 100 minutes of hockey and advance the Nittany Lions to the second round of the conference tournament.
Michigan (10-8-2-1, 18-13-4) entered the Big Ten Tournament No. 11 in the PairWise Rankings. The Wolverines dropped to 16th in the PairWise with the loss and could miss out entirely on the 16-team tournament if lower teams earn automatic berths by winning their respective conference tournaments.
Michigan coach Red Berenson said he doesn’t think his team will be called on Selection Sunday.
“We’ll wait and see on Sunday where everything ends up,” he said. “When you lose a game like this, you can’t expect to move up.”
Thursday’s game remained scoreless until late in the second period, when a last-minute offensive possession quickly turned into a disaster for the Wolverines. Freshman defenseman Michael Downing pinched, leaving Penn State’s Taylor Holstrom alone at center ice. Following a turnover, the Nittany Lion forward received an outlet pass and slotted a wrist shot over freshman goaltender Zach Nagelvoort’s stick side with just 22.8 seconds remaining until intermission.
At 11:06 of the third period, the Wolverines finally responded. Sophomore forward Boo Nieves won the puck behind Penn State’s net and slid a pass to junior forward Phil Di Giuseppe, who one-timed it past goaltender Matthew Skoff.
“When they got the first goal, it took us quite a while to answer,” Berenson said. “To get that goal back was huge. I thought we got the momentum off that goal.”
The game then remained knotted at one until Saar’s winner in the second overtime.
“It was good faceoff play on their part,” Nagelvoort said. “I went down to cover, and the next thing I knew, it was in the net.”
Penn State’s offensive formula is relatively simple: Forecheck relentlessly, throw pucks at the net and force opponents into bad turnovers. They succeeded in all of those, resulting in a wide-open game that featured 118 shots between the two teams.
Nagelvoort was up to the challenge for most of the afternoon, finishing with 63 saves, but the magic ran out on Holstrom’s rush and Saar’s wrister.
“He kept the game close when we were at our worst and gave us a chance,” Berenson said.
Michigan has played to the level of its competition all year. It opened the regular season with a commanding 3-1 win over No. 3 Boston College and ended it with a rout of No. 1 Minnesota. But sandwiched between those results came a 5-4 record against Michigan State and Penn State, the Big Ten’s worst teams.
That ineptitude reared its head again Thursday. The first period ended without much offensive firepower from Michigan, which failed to take control despite a pair of power plays and a crowd partial in its favor. The Wolverines ramped up the intensity in the second frame, but they couldn’t find twine and conceded late.
When the exhaustion of two overtimes had sunk in, the Nittany Lions finally delivered the dagger, sending Michigan home early from the conference tournament and potentially ending the Wolverines’ season.