In their first two meetings on Nov. 21 and 22, the Michigan Hockey team handled Ohio State 8-1 and 5-2. If Friday night was any indicator, this series will not be a repeat — at least from a competition
standpoint.
The No. 1 Wolverines (21-4, 12-3 Big Ten, 34 points) wasted little time as they broke the ice in the opening minute, setting the tone for a pond hockey-like affair which they survived, 6-4.
Sophomore forward Michael Hage took a breakout pass from senior defenseman Tyler Duke — the former Buckeye — entered the zone down the left wing, fired a wrist shot off goaltender Sam Hillebrandt’s left pad, and sophomore forward Will Horcoff buried an uncontested rebound.
Seven minutes later, Michigan set up on the power play and while it generated a couple quality looks, it was the Buckeyes (8-14-1, 4-9 Big Ten, 12 points) who had the best chance. The puck hopped over junior forward Nick Moldenhauer’s stick on the blue line, setting up a breakaway.
But freshman goaltender Stephen Peck came up with a sprawling, left pad save and preserved the 1-0 lead.
That lead did not make it to the intermission. With just over a minute left in the frame, Ohio State gained entry, hit a cross-ice pass to James Hong against a collapsing Wolverines’ defense, and an open, backdoor redirection by Davis Burnside beat Peck.
Whatever head coach Brandon Naurato said in the locker room paid dividends. Not even 30 seconds into the second period, Michigan capitalized on a Buckeyes icing as it won the offensive zone draw and freshman forward Adam Valentini redirected a point shot by freshman defenseman Drew Schock, giving the Wolverines a 2-1 advantage.
Yet, much like the first, Ohio State did not stay down for long. Freshman forward Cole McKinney was charged with tripping and while Hughes had a shorthanded, one-timer look from Moldenhauer, it was the Buckeyes’ Max Montes sneaking a nearside shot through Peck for the leveler.
Midway through the frame, Ohio State struck again. Senior forward Kienan Draper broke his stick on a shot, setting up a 3-on-2 the other way, which ended with Hong tapping a loose goal line puck past Peck to take a 3-2 lead.
In this ultimate back-and-forth contest, freshman defenseman Asher Barnett responded with a rip from the high circle for the tie. And less than a minute later, a Hong penalty turned into a Hughes power play tally, but it was called off for goaltender interference.
That call infused the Buckeyes with energy as they limited the Wolverines from establishing an offensive flow and with five minutes to play in the second, Peck — who struggled with rebound control all evening — saw a juicy one land on Jake Karabela’s stick in the low slot and he snapped home another goal, retaking a 4-3 lead.
Momentum stayed a seesaw, as Peck and the defense prevented anymore immediate damage. In the final minute of the second, Hughes entered the zone, dropped a pass to junior forward Jayden Perron and he ripped a shot past Hillebrandt, giving Michigan much-needed juice entering the second intermission.
That juice carried into an early third-period power play (due to Moldenhauer drawing a board near the Ohio State blue line). Hage, dangerous as ever from that left circle, shot low and Hughes was in the right place at the right time for the rebound tuck, redeeming his earlier no-goal.
Hughes added another goal on the power play with less than three minutes on a beautiful cross-crease feed from Horcoff, providing the Wolverines with a sigh of relief insurance goal.
For as ridiculous as this game was, Michigan played a much smarter defensive brand in the third and wore down the Buckeyes with incessant dump-ins and calculated neutral zone play.
Peck was far from perfect, stopping 30-of-34 shots, but he improved to 4-0 as the starting netminder, still had several big-time saves and has eased some of the Jack Ivankovic injury worries.
Part two of series have troubled Michigan, and it will need a far cleaner 60 minutes Saturday night to sweep Ohio State.
