NCAA Hockey
By Vihaan Easwar- Michigan Daily
For much of the young season, one of the No. 2 Michigan hockey team’s most potent assets has been its forecheck. The Wolverines’ persistent prodding in the offensive zone helps them generate a flowing stream of chances, which they’ve turned into more goals than anyone else in the country.
But Saturday night’s game against No. 10 Wisconsin showed anything but that persistence. Michigan was unable to consistently generate offensive pressure against the Badgers, dooming the Wolverines to a 6-1 defeat.
“We had a hard time breaking into the zone,” senior defenseman Luca Fantilli said. “They gave our forwards a hard time. It was tough for them to create plays on line rushes and establish our o-zone. It’s always tough to do that when they’re playing hard.”
Michigan has found a couple of different ways to win games this season, but arguably its most effective has been through constant pressure. The Wolverines like to crowd the offensive zone with five players, pummeling the opposing net with shots, and then wait for a loose puck to bounce to whoever’s waiting in the slot.
But against Wisconsin, Michigan’s press ran right into a red brick wall. Like their hole-digging namesakes, the Badgers managed to get under the Wolverines’ sticks and wrestle pucks free, then send them the other way, completely disrupting Michigan’s offensive rhythm.
“They just punt pucks the whole night,” Wolverines coach Brandon Naurato said. “They just chip it out, chip it out, chip it out, chip it out. And that works sometimes, but that’s what they do.”
Losing puck after puck, Michigan’s offensive press wasn’t the shot-generating machine it’s been so far this season. The Wolverines spent much of the game buried deep in their own zone, with ventures into Wisconsin territory proving short-lived and unsuccessful. Michigan found the back of the net only once, its lowest tally of the season so far.
And bearing the burden of an ineffective offense weighed down on the Wolverines’ defense. Michigan was forced to play with its back to the wall, needing to keep the puck out of the Badgers’ hands with errors accumulating in the process. A litany of sloppy turnovers, giveaways and penalties played right into Wisconsin’s hands, and the result was six goals and the Wolverines’ first home defeat of the season.
Last night, Michigan had also found itself down to the Badgers at two different points. But last night, the Wolverines had shown more of a backbite on the forecheck, forcing turnovers and digging the puck out for a comeback victory. On Saturday night, though, Michigan couldn’t muster up that same pressure, and stumbled to defeat.
“Yesterday, we got some time where we were just hunting and forechecking and making their D turn it over,” senior forward T.J. Hughes said. “Tonight, they just chipped pucks out and took that away from us.”
Up until now, the Wolverines have been able to take goals as almost a given. Even last night, a turbulent game, ended with Michigan breaching the net seven times. But on Saturday night, the Wolverines’ potent offense struggled to muster the same pressure that it’s wielded as a battering ram all season — and for the first time all season, Yost Ice Arena started to empty out well before the final buzzer.
