Michigan
14-8-5, 11-5-4CCHA
Lake Superior State
7-18-1, 4-15-1CCHA
Strong Third Period Sends Michigan to Rout of Lakers
1/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Shouneyia |
U-M, now 8-0-2 in its last 10 Central Collegiate Hockey Association road games, used special teams to capture the victory, scoring two times on the power play and adding a shorthanded marker which proved to be the game-winner.
Michigan took the play to the Lakers from the start of the first period, scoring 3:26 into the game while LSSU was attempting its first power play. As the Lakers tried to move the puck up the ice, junior forward John Shouneyia (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) intercepted a pass at the red line and skated down the right side, blasting a shot over the left shoulder of Lake State netminder Matt Violin for his second shorthanded goal of the season.
In the second period, one in which the Lakers outshot U-M by a 6-5 margin, the Wolverines took a 2-0 advantage at 15:02 when freshman Milan Gajic (Burnaby, B.C.) broke a season-high six-game pointless streak, netting a power-play marker. Gajic, who scored his sixth of the season, received the puck off a deflected pass from freshman defenseman Eric Werner (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.), who was attempting to bank a pass off the boards and onto the stick of Gajic. Instead of passing the puck off the boards, Werner's pass deflected off a Laker defenseman's skate right to Gajic, who took the puck at the blueline, skated down the right side and deked a defender before slamming it between the pads of Violin and the right post.
The Wolverines took control of the game in the third period, scoring three goals en route to the victory. The Lakers had a chance to pull within one early in the final stanza when the puck was left alone in the crease after a save by Blackburn. As LSSU's Chris McNamara was racing down the ice to poke it in, Werner tied him up, saving what would have been an uncontested score.
Less than two minutes later with the Wolverines on the power play, U-M went up by a three-goal margin at 6:46 when junior forward Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.) slapped a rebound into the Lakers net. Sophomore defenseman Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) put the initial shot on net, and it caromed off Violin and onto the stick of freshman forward Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.), who quickly fed it left to Ortmeyer for the tally from the left side of the crease.
Michigan added another marker at 9:41 to take a 4-0 lead when Nystrom took a cross-ice pass from Werner and scored from the bottom of the left faceoff circle before Violin could recover. Komisarek increased the lead to 5-0 at 18:01 when he blasted a shot from just inside the blueline that went underneath the left leg pad of Violin.
Violin stopped 20 of Michigan's shots in the losing effort while allowing power-play goals on two of Michigan's five opportunities, the most goals scored by U-M with the man advantage since netting two in a 7-0 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 11. The Wolverines kept the LSSU power play in check all night, killing all six chances to extend their penalty-kill streak to 42 straight.
The Wolverines and Lakers will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 2), closing out the series with a 7:35 p.m. rematch at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit.
GAME SUMMARY
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Lake Superior State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1st period
1, MICH, John Shouneyia/8 (unassisted) 3:26 (sh).
PENALTIES - Charlie Henderson, MICH (holding the stick) 2:10; Kevin Wilson, LSSU (charging) 4:53; Jeff Mushaluk, LSSU (cross-checking) 6:18; Jay Vancik, MICH (holding) 10:10.
2nd period
2, MICH, Milan Gajic/6 (Eric Werner/12) 15:02 (pp).
PENALTIES - Will Magnuson, LSSU (interference) 2:37; Charlie Henderson, MICH (obstruction-hooking) 10:45; Jay Vancik, MICH (checking from behind) 12:12; TEAM, LSSU (too many on ice) 14:28.
3rd period
3, MICH, Jed Ortmeyer/8 (Eric Nystrom/7, Mike Komisarek/11) 6:46 (pp).
4, MICH, Eric Nystrom/10 (Eric Werner/13, John Shouneyia/22) 9:41.
5, MICH, Mike Komisarek/9 (Jed Ortmeyer/15, Eric Werner/14) 18:01.
PENALTIES - Bo Cheesman, LSSU (roughing) 3:45; Nick Martens, MICH (roughing) 3:45; Chris Thompson, LSSU (high sticking) 5:52; Nick Martens, MICH (high sticking) 12:01; Eric Werner, MICH (hooking) 15:42.
Shots on goal: MICH 10-5-10 25; LSSU 4-6-5 15. Power plays: MICH 2 of 5; LSSU 0 of 6. Penalties: MICH 7 (14 min); LSSU 6 (12 min). Goalies: MICH, Josh Blackburn 14-8-5 (60:00 minutes, 15 shots-15 saves); LSSU, Matt Violin 3-5-1 (60:00, 25-20). Referee: Brian Aaron. Assistant Referees: Paul Tunison, Bruce Vida. Attendance: 2705. Time: 2:10.
| Individual Player Statistics | |
## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 2 Nick Martens....... 0 0 4 0 0 3 Eric Werner........ 0 3 2 2 +3 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 0 0 +1 8*Mike Komisarek..... 1 1 0 4 +1 9 Milan Gajic........ 1 0 0 4 0 10 Dwight Helminen.... 0 0 0 0 0 12 J.J. Swistak....... 0 0 0 0 0 14 Craig Murray....... 0 0 0 1 0 15*Jay Vancik......... 0 0 4 1 +1 17 Michael Woodford... 0 0 0 2 0 18 David Moss......... 0 0 0 0 0 20 Charlie Henderson.. 0 0 4 0 0 21*Eric Nystrom....... 1 1 0 4 +2 22 Jason Ryznar....... 0 0 0 0 0 23 Mike Roemensky..... 0 0 0 1 +1 25 Mark Mink.......... 0 0 0 1 +1 26*Jed Ortmeyer....... 1 1 0 3 +2 28*John Shouneyia..... 1 1 0 2 +2 Totals............. 5 7 14 25 +14 | ## Lake Superior State G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 2 Tyson Turgeon...... 0 0 0 0 -2 3 Chris Thompson..... 0 0 2 0 0 4*Ryan Reid.......... 0 0 0 1 0 5 Bo Cheesman........ 0 0 2 1 -2 7 Will Magnuson...... 0 0 2 1 0 8*Chris Peterson..... 0 0 0 0 -1 9 Derek Seal......... 0 0 0 1 -2 10 Kyle Anderson...... 0 0 0 1 0 11*Chris McNamara..... 0 0 0 0 -1 12 Justin Micek....... 0 0 0 0 0 14 Barry Pochmara..... 0 0 0 2 -1 15 Jeremy Bachusz..... 0 0 0 2 -2 22 Ryan Branham....... 0 0 0 0 -1 23 Jason Nightingale.. 0 0 0 1 -1 24 Kevin Wilson....... 0 0 2 0 0 26*Aaron Davis........ 0 0 0 3 0 27*Jeff Mushaluk...... 0 0 2 1 -2 28 Chad Dahlen........ 0 0 0 1 0 TM TEAM............... 0 0 2 0 0 Totals............. 0 0 12 15 -15 |
N O T E S
Michigan snapped a two-game losing streak at LSSU's Taffy Abel Arena tonight, posting its first win in Sault Ste. Marie since Dec. 5, 1997.
Josh Blackburn is now three shutouts away from tying the school's career record of Marty Turco, who blanked opponents 15 times from 1994-98.
John Shouneyia has scored his last six goals on special teams, including two shorthanded markers.
Eric Werner tallied a season-high three assists and has a point in three of his last four games, totaling 1-4-5.
Five Wolverines recorded multi-point efforts ... Michigan is 7-0-0 when holding a lead of three goals or more in a game ... Michigan has scored eight shorthanded goals this season, including one in two of the last three games.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game ... "Overall, I like the way we started the game. We played with a lot more intensity and I thought defensively we had a better game than we've had in the early parts of the last two or three games, and then it became a special teams battle. This was not a 5-0 game; this was a close game right into the third period, and (Josh) Blackburn made two big saves in the second period to keep the game close and then we capitalized on our chances. Special teams played a big part in this game, but I liked our team effort tonight."
On the special teams ... "I think we practiced better this week in terms of our power play. We moved the puck better, had a little more confidence, and you have to get a couple of breaks, and we got breaks. (Milan) Gajic's effort -- that's not something you practice. He beat his man one-on-one then beat the goalie. (Mike) Komisarek, who I thought was a giant on defense tonight, got a point shot through for a rebound goal, and (John) Shouneyia scores a shorthanded goal. The first goal of this game was important, because you want to get that team down if you can, because they're at home. If they get excited, it could be a different story."
On LSSU head coach Frank Anzalone ... "Frank Anzalone will build this program back up, because he knows the way it should be and what it takes to get it there."
On winning on the road ... "This is a big victory for us to come up here and win in this building, and some of our players have never won in this building. It's important to play well on the road and renew that feeling again that we're a good team defensively. The thing I like most about the victory tonight is that we didn't give up any goals."
On Saturday's rematch at Joe Louis Arena ... "We'll build on what we learned tonight, but we've got to make sure we do some things better. We've got some time to talk about that and even work on it to some extent for the game on Saturday night. We're still in the hunt for first place, we haven't given that up. We took a step backward last week and we've got to take a big step forward this week."
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
