Michigan
13-6-4, 10-3-3CCHA
Alaska Fairbanks
12-8-1, 8-8-1CCHA
Blackburn, Wolverines Shut Out Alaska Fairbanks
1/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Blackburn |
Blackburn kept the Nanooks off the scoreboard while stopping 22 shots, including seven shots during UAF's seven power plays. The win marked his second straight blanking of Fairbanks, as he halted 36 shots in a 4-0 win at UAF on Nov. 3. During his career, three of Blackburn's 11 shutouts have come against UAF.
While Blackburn was stopping UAF, the Wolverines were peppering the Nanooks' defense, posting 40 shots on goal and registering a season-high seven goals, including two on U-M's three power-play opportunities. Six different Michigan players scored, including junior forward Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.), who scored a career-high two goals with the game's final two tallies.
Michigan opened the scoring at the 4:07 mark into the first period on its first shot of the game when junior forward Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hill, Ontario) netted a power-play marker which turned out to be the decisive goal. Junior forward John Shouneyia (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) fed a pass to Cammalleri, standing at the center blueline, and Cammalleri took a low slap shot that beat UAF goaltender Preston McKay on his glove side. With the goal, Cammalleri extended his goal-scoring streak to six games, despite missing the last five while leading Canada to a silver medal at the World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.
The Wolverines added another power-play marker at 15:05 to take a 2-0 lead. After Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) took the initial shot from the right point, the puck rebounded to freshman Jason Ryznar (Anchorage, Alaska), who sent a backhand over McKay's right shoulder from the top of the crease.
The Wolverines continued to dominate through the second period, scoring twice more to pad their lead. With five minutes underway in the period, freshman David Moss (Dearborn, Mich.) stole the puck along the boards to the right of the Fairbanks net. His shot from the blueline was blocked in front of McKay, but freshman Charlie Henderson (East Lansing, Mich.) collected the puck and sent a pass to a breaking Moss, who backhanded a shot past McKay on the stick side. Ten minutes later, Henderson put away his first career shorthanded goal when he received a pass from Shouneyia in the slot and banged it past McKay.
Alaska Fairbanks came on strong to start the third period, but the Wolverines responded with three goals in final 10 minutes en route to the victory. Freshman forward Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.) began the onslaught at 10:45 to give U-M a 5-0 lead, taking a pass from Henderson and wristing a shot from the right faceoff dot that beat McKay through his five-hole. Less than one minute later, Michigan made it 6-0 following a scrum in Fairbanks' zone. After a failed clear attempt by the Nanooks, Ortmeyer rounded up the puck in the slot and tried to send a pass low. The puck hit the skate of a Nanook defender, bouncing back to Ortmeyer. The captain collected the puck again and sent a low shot past McKay, beating him on the glove side.
Ortmeyer added his second tally of the game with just over two minutes remaining when he sent a wrist shot past Lance Mayes, who replaced McKay following the Wolverines' sixth goal. McKay stopped 29 shots in over 51 minutes of play, while Mayes made four saves in the final 8:20 as Michigan snapped UAF's five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1).
The two teams will conclude the series on Saturday at Yost Ice Arena, with opening faceoff slated for 7:35 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Alaska Fairbanks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
1st period
1, MICH, Mike Cammalleri/15 (John Shouneyia) 4:07 (pp).
2, MICH, Jason Ryznar/8 (Mike Komisarek, Craig Murray) 15:05 (pp).
PENALTIES - Cramer Hickey, UAF (elbowing) 3:34; Mike Roemensky, MICH (interference) 4:43; Jay Vancik, MICH (cross-checking) 9:47; Cam Keith, UAF (tripping) 14:55; Jason Ryznar, MICH (charging) 20:00; Jason Ryznar, MICH (hit after whistle) 20:00; Bobby Andrews, UAF (hit after whistle) 20:00; Mike Komisarek, MICH (hit after whistle) 20:00; Aaron Voros, UAF (hit after whistle) 20:00; Eric Werner, MICH (hit after whistle) 20:00; Aaron Grosul, UAF (hit after whistle) 20:00; John Shouneyia, MICH (hit after whistle) 20:00; Scott Farrell, UAF (hit after whistle) 20:00; Charlie Henderson, MICH (hit after whistle) 20:00; Cam Keith, UAF (hit after whistle) 20:00.
2nd period
3, MICH, David Moss/3 (Charlie Henderson) 5:10.
4, MICH, Charlie Henderson/3 (John Shouneyia) 15:00 (sh).
PENALTIES - Milan Gajic, MICH (tripping) 2:41; Ryan Campbell, UAF (high sticking) 12:18; Mike Komisarek, MICH (tripping) 14:22.
3rd period
5, MICH, Dwight Helminen/7 (Charlie Henderson) 10:45.
6, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer/6 (unassisted) 11:40.
7, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer/7 (Mike Cammalleri) 17:45.
PENALTIES - TEAM, MICH (too many on ice) 1:21; Eric Nystrom, MICH (10-minute misconduct) 15:24; Daniel Carriere, UAF (slashing) 17:23; John Shouneyia, MICH (slashing) 17:23; Daniel Carriere, UAF (elbowing) 17:23; John Shouneyia, MICH (cross-checking) 17:23; Jason Ryznar, MICH (obstruction-holding) 18:18.
Shots on goal: UAF 7-7-8 22; MICH 15-16-9 40. Power plays: UAF 0 of 7; MICH 2 of 3. Penalties: UAF 10 (20 min); MICH 15 (38 min). Goalies: UAF, Lance Mayes (08:20 minutes, 5 shots-4 saves) , Preston McKay 7-4-0 (51:40, 35-29); MICH, Josh Blackburn 12-6-4 (60:00, 22-22). Referee: Duke Shegos. Assistant Referees: Ken Landis, Jon Philo. Attendance: 6684. Time: 2:15.
| Individual Player Statistics | |
## Alaska Fairbanks G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 4 David Keough....... 0 0 0 3 -2 9*Bobby Andrews...... 0 0 2 4 -1 10 Jared Sylvestre.... 0 0 0 0 -2 11 Daniel Carriere.... 0 0 4 1 -1 12 Cramer Hickey...... 0 0 2 1 -1 13 Blaine Bablitz..... 0 0 0 2 -1 14 Scott Vockeroth.... 0 0 0 0 -1 15 Jason Grinevitch... 0 0 0 4 -2 16*Cam Keith.......... 0 0 4 2 -1 17 Ryan Campbell...... 0 0 2 1 -3 18 Felipe Larranaga... 0 0 0 1 -2 20 Ryan Lang.......... 0 0 0 2 -1 22*Scott Farrell...... 0 0 2 0 -2 23 Drew Bailey........ 0 0 0 0 -1 24*Aaron Grosul....... 0 0 2 0 -1 34*Aaron Voros........ 0 0 2 1 0 37 Tom Herman......... 0 0 0 0 -2 39 Cory Rask.......... 0 0 0 0 -1 Totals............. 0 0 20 22 -25 | ## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 3 Eric Werner........ 0 0 2 1 +1 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 0 1 +2 5 Brandon Rogers..... 0 0 0 2 +1 8*Mike Komisarek..... 0 1 4 4 +1 9 Milan Gajic........ 0 0 2 2 0 10 Dwight Helminen.... 1 0 0 1 +1 13*Mike Cammalleri.... 1 1 0 2 +2 14 Craig Murray....... 0 1 0 3 +2 15*Jay Vancik......... 0 0 2 2 +2 17 Michael Woodford... 0 0 0 2 0 18 David Moss......... 1 0 0 2 +2 20 Charlie Henderson.. 1 2 2 2 +3 21*Eric Nystrom....... 0 0 10 4 +1 22 Jason Ryznar....... 1 0 6 3 0 23 Mike Roemensky..... 0 0 2 0 +1 25 Mark Mink.......... 0 0 0 1 0 26*Jed Ortmeyer....... 2 0 0 6 +2 28 John Shouneyia..... 0 2 6 2 +3 TM TEAM............... 0 0 2 0 0 Totals............. 7 7 38 40 +24 |
N O T E S
Michigan extended its CCHA unbeaten streak to 11 games and is 9-0-2 since being swept by Northern Michigan on Oct. 26-27.
The Wolverines are 3-0 vs. Alaska Fairbanks this season and have posted back-to-back shutouts of the Nanooks. In three games, UAF has managed just one goal.
Several members of the Dallas Stars were in attendance tonight, including Michigan alum Marty Turco (1994-98). The Stars, who practiced at Yost Friday morning, are in town to face the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Prior to the game, a moment of silence was observed for former Wolverine Jimmy Ballantine (1987-91), who passed away last Friday of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Michigan's penalty-kill unit has stopped 21 of its opponents' last 23 opportunities, including 20 straight, dating back to the North Dakota game on Dec. 28.
U-M is 3-1-2 against opponents ranked in the Top 15 this season.
Michigan's six shorthanded goals after 23 games eclipse the five scored all last season.
The Wolverines have netted two power-play goals in two of their last three games.
The seven-goal victory is the largest margin of victory for U-M this season.
Three of the four World Junior Championship participants notched a point in the game. Mike Cammalleri and Dwight Helminen each had a goal, while Mike Komisarek was credited with an assist.
Charlie Henderson has a point in five of his last six games, recording 3-3-6, and has notched a point in all but two of his seven career appearances. Henderson walked on to the team prior to the season opener at Michigan State on Oct. 6.
John Shouneyia, who has tallied a point in 14 of his last 16 games (5-17-22), extended his current point streak to four games with his sixth multi-assist game of the year. Shouneyia, who has 1-6-7 during the string, leads the team with 10 multi-point efforts.
Mike Cammalleri extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-high six games, and he has 8-4-11 during that string. Cammalleri, who has a team-high 15 goals, posted his ninth multi-point game of the season and remains one point behind John Shouneyia for the team's point lead.
Three of Josh Blackburn's 11 career shutouts have come against Alaska Fairbanks, including his only two shutouts of the 2001-02 campaign.
David Moss has a point in four of his last five games, tallying 2-2-4, while senior Craig Murray (Penticton, B.C.) has notched a point in four of his last five with 2-3-5.
Jason Ryznar's eighth goal of the year tied him with Eric Nystrom for the goal-scoring lead among freshmen.
Jed Ortmeyer has a point in five of his last seven games (3-5-8) after notching a career-high two goals against UAF, tying a mark established twice before.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's win ... "I liked our team. As the game wore on, we took control of the game, but the first period they had four glorious chances that on another night, we could have been down 3-0 rather than be up 3-0. (Josh) Blackburn earned this shutout and he earned it in early parts of the game and then at different points throughout the game. I liked the way our team played the majority of the time but they're a dangerous team. When there's a turnover, they transition the puck as well as anyone in this league and they had some great scoring chances."
On the return of the World Juniors participants ... "It's a morale boost for our team. I think our team realized that we're a good team without them, we're a better team with them if we're all playing the way we've shown we can play in their absence and that's what you saw tonight. You saw players like (John) Shouneyia, (Jason) Ryznar, Charlie Henderson, (Michael) Woodford, (Milan) Gajic, all these guys that have been carrying the team, continue to play well and now you add some depth players. It's great to have a player like (Dwight) Helminen back, who gives you some speed, he kills penalties, he blocks shots, takes faceoffs. He's a big addition. Eric Nystrom gives you a solid left winger and of course (Mike) Cammalleri gives you a dimension that nobody else is."
On Charlie Henderson ... "He's working hard, he's a hard-working player and he is helping our team and that's the bottom line. He's creating competition and depth and we haven't had that."
On tomorrow night's game ... "Tomorrow night's game becomes very important because a year ago, when Fairbanks came in here and we beat them pretty bad on Friday 8-0 and they bounced back and beat us the next night so we have to take tonight with a grain of salt and they have to build on that for tomorrow night. We definitely want to get off to a good start at home and we did that tonight."
Senior Goaltender Josh Blackburn
On his dominance over Alaska Fairbanks ... "I don't know, I've had good success against them."
On Michigan's defensive play tonight ... "Obviously it's great to have all of the guys back and as a team we played pretty well without the puck. That was a big help."
Freshman Forward Charlie Henderson
On his contribution to the team ... "I haven't had to do much, I just try to work hard and I've been getting a lot of help. All three of the goals that I've scored the other guys made great plays. Everybody on this team can play and it's just a matter of who comes through every night."
On the team's confidence with the returning players ... "It's huge for guys like me to get a chance like that and play regular shifts when they were gone to get our confidence up, to know that you can play at this level. Those guys are great players coming back and it's helped out team even more."
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
