It was far from a dream start to Big Ten play for Michigan Hockey.
The nation’s top team entering its weekend series at Ohio State fell on Saturday in regulation and won in overtime on Sunday.
The Wolverines (8-1, 1-1) never really found their game in the first meeting with the Buckeyes (3-5, 1-1), losing 5-2. They did climb back into it late; a sophomore forward Cole McKinney goal cut the deficit from 3-1 to 3-2 deep in the third period.
However, Ohio State tacked on two empty netters, handing Michigan
its first loss of the campaign after a torrid start which featured a road sweep of No. 3 Denver and a last-second winner over No. 6 Western Michigan.
On the rare Sunday evening affair from Columbus, it was a hectic outing for the Wolverines, who survived 5-4 in overtime.
About halfway through the first period, freshman forward Jack Nesbitt took an after-the-whistle penalty, ceding to the Buckeyes’ demands to muck up the game. Ohio State made Michigan pay with a tic-tac-toe passing play to take the 1-0 lead.
In a game filled with power play goals (four, to be exact), the Wolverines tallied the next two on the man-advantage. First, early in the second frame, sophomore forward Malcolm Spence received a gorgeous pass from junior forward Michael Hage for the backdoor one-timer.
Fourteen minutes later, they struck again as freshman forward J.P. Hurlbert waited patiently and fired a shot — which took a deflection — into the back of the net.
Ohio State would even the contest just over minutes into the third, though Hage, who dished out four assists on Sunday, walked into a dangerous shooting spot and a funky bounce gave Michigan the lead again at 3-2.
The Buckeyes answered with a short-handed goal and, shortly thereafter, grabbed a 4-3 advantage. That fourth goal started with freshman defenseman Landon DuPont’s turnover at the blue line. He may be among the top draft-eligible prospects in the world, but like any first-year college hockey player, he still has plenty of room to grow.
Desperate to avoid a conference-opening sweep, Michigan rallied with the extra attacker as Spence situated himself in the high slot, handled a Hage pass and fired it home with 1:12 left in regulation.
In overtime, Hage stayed busy. During a scramble, he delivered a backhanded pass to sophomore forward Adam Valentini for the game-winner.
While it was a bit of a disappointing series considering the Wolverines’ early dominance, there are plenty of positives to extract.
Sophomore goaltender Jack Ivankovic was not on his A-game, but still made 23 saves and a couple of critical ones helped propel his team to victory. Offensively, Hage should make the Montréal Canadiens very happy once he joins the organization (likely as soon as Michigan’s season concludes) and he is surrounded by high-end talent.
Hage is far from just a skill player, too, as he and McKinney combined for 27-of-36 faceoff wins on Sunday.
Defensively, DuPont and fellow highly-regarded freshman Cam Reid have shown signs of brilliance with their skating and puck handling, and, like the rest of this team, should only improve as the season progresses.
Was this series simply part of the tenuous NCAA D1 hockey schedule, or did it reveal legitimate concerns about this group? Let us know down below.
