NCAA Hockey
On paper, the No. 2 Michigan hockey team’s top line scored the game-tying and game-winning goals. Undoubtedly, its performance was essential to the Wolverines’ 7-4 win over No. 10 Wisconsin.
But the top line wasn’t the reason Michigan won Friday night. The heavy forecheck of the Wolverines’ other three lines kept them in the game until the top line took over late in the third period to secure the victory.
It was the line centered by freshman forward Aidan Park that opened the scoring for Michigan. Park has only recently taken over as the fourth-line center, and the line has been reshaped as small but fast, eschewing the traditional model of a heavy, slow fourth line.
With freshman forward Adam Valentini on his left and junior forward Garrett Schifsky on the right, the three were critical in a slow start from the Wolverines, badgering the Badgers on the forecheck. Eight minutes into the game, Valentini forced a turnover at the blue line to keep the puck in, passed it to Park for the shot and Schifsky was the one to jam it home under the pads of Wisconsin goaltender Daniel Hauser.
That heavy forecheck was evident on Michigan’s second goal as well when Hauser emerged from the net to play the puck, but fumbled it. The play would have gone nowhere had junior forward Jayden Perron not been so deep in the zone applying forecheck pressure as the lines changed. With Perron right there as Hauser made the error, he was able to snag the puck and feed it to freshman forward Malcolm Spence, who generally plays the third line and had just changed on. Spence was in front of a wide-open goal and swiftly buried it to tie the game, halting the momentum of the Badgers, who had scored two in a row before that.
“Good bounce for us and I’m happy he could bury that one,” sophomore forward Michael Hage said. “It’s just a timely goal. They’re all over us, and then we get a bounce and just gets the bench going again. Big goal.”
Senior forward Josh Eernisse of the third line scored the third goal shortly after to put Michigan back on top before the end of the second period. When Wisconsin made its second comeback of the night in the third period and took the lead, the top line finally emerged after generating little all game. Hage scored the tying goal and Horcoff had a sensational leap to grab a clearing attempt out of midair before sniping Hauser for the eventual game-winner. But those goals were only possible due to the efforts of the other lines throughout the game.
“At times like our line didn’t have our best,” Hage said. “We’re getting hemmed in our D-zone, and they got the momentum back going for us, getting pucks behind them and hunting. It’s just a ripple effect. They get guys tired on the ice, and we get to come on and and then it makes us look good, but a lot of the credit goes to them. They did a good job getting us the momentum back in that game when it felt like (the Badgers) were all over us.”
Michigan’s depth has been crucial to previous wins, but perhaps none moreso than Friday night. The Wolverines handed a strong Wisconsin team its first loss of the season and secured another Big Ten victory thanks to their depths’ energy and effort.
