by Vihaan Easwar– The Michigan Daily
Four minutes into the third period of its game against Notre Dame Saturday night, the No. 2 Michigan hockey team desperately needed one of something. A goal, a skater who could step up, a penalty — anything that could help the Wolverines dig out of the 1-0 rut they found themselves in for two straight periods.
Enter junior forward Nick Moldenhauer. Moldenhauer unloaded a puck to junior forward Jayden Perron, and when Perron and senior forward Kienan Draper both missed the mark, Moldenhauer punched in the loose puck and gave Michigan its much-needed equalizing goal.
“(Perron) kicked it out to me,” Moldenhauer said. “Drove the middle hard. He was trying to (Draper) through the seam. Their guy made a great play. I kind of just batted it out of the air and ended up in the back of the net.”
Moldenhauer’s goal was a breakthrough the Wolverines badly needed. Michigan had seen its usually sharp offense blunted for much of the game. But Moldenhauer’s goal generated a momentum shift, which the Wolverines eventually rode to a 2-1 overtime win.
To say that Michigan hasn’t had trouble scoring would be a bit of an understatement. The Wolverines boast the best offense in college hockey statistically, averaging 5.75 goals per game. Sixteen different Michigan skaters have already found the back of the net this season.
But for two periods, it seemed that the Wolverines had met their match. The Fighting Irish, true to their nickname, played a bruising brand of hockey that scuppered Michigan’s attempts to build on offense. Compounding those difficulties was a knee injury to freshman defenseman Henry Mews. Playing as the point on the power play, Mews serves as the conductor of many of the Wolverines’ opportunities on the unit. His injury meant that one of Michigan’s most consistent strong points was vastly weakened.
Without Mews, the Wolverines went 0-for-3 on the power play, and looked toothless on offense for much of the game. And as the third period began, Michigan’s wait for a triumphant moment grew more and more harrowing.
But fortunately for the Wolverines, Moldenhauer was there to end the wait.
“He deserves that,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “That was the balance of all the chances he’s had. You would have thought that was the one that didn’t go in. But he deserves it, for all of his other play.”
Following Moldenhauer’s goal, the tide turned in the Wolverines’ favor. Michigan bore down on the offensive zone, swarming the net and generating scoring chances.
“I thought we just kept breaking them down shift by shift,” Moldenhauer said. “And then they eventually could handle it towards the end of the game there. And that’s when we started to build up the momentum.”
Moldenhauer wasn’t physically on ice when sophomore forward Will Horcoff called game for the Wolverines in overtime. But the goal still happened in part thanks to his contributions. His game-tying effort in the third period awoke an offense that had been slumbering for much of the game, and gave it the energy it needed to dig out a victory.
