Michigan
4-1-0, 0-1-0CCHA
Alaska Fairbanks
1-3-1, 0-2-1CCHA
Strong Third Period Boosts Wolverines Over Nanooks
10/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team opened CCHA play against Alaska Fairbanks on Friday (Oct. 25) and came away with a 5-2 victory thanks to a three-goal outburst in the third period at Yost Ice Arena. Freshman forward Brandon Kaleniecki (Livonia, Mich.) led Michigan scorers with his second straight two-goal performance and sophomore forward Dwight Helminen (Brighton, Mich.) provided the game-winner.
| | Helminen's game-winner was the third of his U-M career. |
The Nanooks rallied following the change by tying the contest 1-1 at the 12:36 mark. Ryan Campbell took a pass from Cam Keith then beat the Michigan defense down the middle before faking goalie Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill.) hard to the left and wrapping the puck behind him at the right post. The Wolverines had multiple chances to retake the lead during the final seven minutes of the first period, but McKay made six saves to keep the game tied heading into the first intermission.
Less than five minutes into the second period Alaska Fairbanks struck again to take the lead as Tom Herman was left all alone at the top of the slot. Herman received a pass from behind the left side of the goal from Cory Rask and beat Montoya high to the glove side. The Nanooks continued to pepper the Wolverines' net with shots from the slot over the next few minutes, but Montoya made 12 saves in the period to keep UAF from extending its lead.
U-M followed up with its own slate of chances later in the period and eventually solved McKay when sophomore defenseman Nick Martens (Ann Arbor, Mich.) found a seam in the Nanooks' defense from the point with a shot that went past the goalie's left arm. The marker came with 4:28 remaining in the period with senior forward Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.) feeding Martens from behind the net. Michigan continued its offensive pressure to end the period but the score remained tied heading into the final break.
Michigan carried its momentum from the second period into the third as it scored three goals in just over five minutes. Helminen gave Michigan back the lead at 5:12 of the third period when Montoya caught Alaska Fairbanks on a line change and slid a pass up ice to Helminen at the U-M blue line. He then carried the puck down the right side of the rink before cutting hard toward the high slot, sliding the puck around a defender, kicking the puck from behind his right skate to his stick and snapping a shot high over McKay's right shoulder.
Michigan extended its lead to 4-2 with a power-play tally at 8:59. In a well-orchestrated setup, sophomore forward Michael Woodford (Westford, Mass.) took a pass from Moss at the left faceoff circle and slid the puck back to Moss at the left of the crease. Moss then found Kaleniecki waiting at the doorstep for a finishing tap into the net.
Less than two minutes later at 10:55, the Maize and Blue scored once again when Helminen, streaking down the right side of the offensive zone, spotted a cutting freshman forward Jeff Tambellini (Port Moody, B.C.). Helminen backhanded a pass through the crease from the bottom of the right circle to Tambellini, who chipped the puck into the vacant goal. Alaska Fairbanks took its timeout to regroup but it was to no avail as Michigan held the Nanooks scoreless the rest of the game.
U-M will match up with Alaska Fairbanks again on Saturday (Oct. 26) to conclude the season series. Faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On the comeback win ... "I thought we had a strong period in the third. You knew it would go one way or the other and I thought our team played with a little more conviction and a little more intensity, a little more desperation in the third. Then we got lucky, we got the next goal and the next goal was huge. I thought (Dwight) Helminen's goal was a huge goal. Helminen scored the goal and it was a nice individual effort and that was the break that we needed."
On the offense tonight ... "I think pressure in the offensive zone, whether it was forechecking or puck control or getting the shot through, there were parts of the game where we kept them on their heels. They are a dangerous team. They came at us in waves in the second period; they could have had four goals in the second. (Al) Montoya was the difference in the game and in the third he gave us a chance to get back in the game. They (Alaska-Fairbanks) are what I call a transition team -- every time there was a turnover, they were gone, four men up the ice. We were on our heels the second period. You can talk about 40-some shots and when you look at the game, the period might have been ours and it was tied in the second period and it was theirs. The third period was the game."
On the play of goalie Al Montoya ... "I can't tell you they were bad goals but he is a competitor and he hung in there. He knew he had to. I think he gives our team a lot of confidence back there. We know that he's able to make the first save most of the time, but in a lot of cases he had to make the second save, which is a breakdown on our part. There's a lot of things we can improve on tomorrow night but this was a good start, particularly the way we finished the game."
Sophomore Forward Dwight Helminen
On what was said in the locker room during the second intermission ... "We thought that we had to go out and play Michigan hockey. We got away from that in the second period and Coach (Berenson) reminded us about all the little things that we had to start doing in the third period and we went back to that and it paid off."
On the team's play in the second period ... "I think we kind of sat back, maybe. We started out with a lead and then we got comfortable, and we weren't getting the puck in deep."
On his goal ... "Well, I started going for a change and (Al) Montoya made a heads up play and came out of the net. He moved the puck up. I had a full head of steam and caught them on a change and just moved to the center of the ice and got a shot off."
Freshman Forward Brandon Kaleniecki
On his linemates, David Moss and Michael Woodford ... "He's (Moss) helped me a lot. They're both really good players and they're just telling me to keep it simple out there and not try too much. I think earlier in the game I was kind of nervous, it was the same thing last week. They were just telling me to relax."
On his play ... "I played pretty well defensively. There are a couple of things I need to work on, obviously our whole team does."
N O T E S
For the second straight game freshman Brandon Kaleniecki scored two goals. The four markers account for all of his career scores.
David Moss notched two assists for the second straight game and the fourth time of his career. All of his last four assists have come on Kaleniecki goals.
Nick Martens' game-tying goal in the second period was the first goal of his career. Martens has a 1-1-2 line in 2002-03 after he had no points in 17 games as a freshman last year.
Jed Ortmeyer has recorded assists in four of the first five games of the season, and his two against UAF is a season high.
With his first career assist Andrew Ebbett has scored a point in back-to-back games for the first time if his career.
Al Montoya picked up his second assist of the season on Helminen's game-winning goal.
Dwight Helminen's point-scoring streak is at four games after he notched a goal and an assist for his highest game point total of the season.
Jeff Tambellini extended his point streak to five games as he scored his fifth goal of the season. During the spree he has a 5-1-6 line.
Michael Woodford has assisted on a goal in four of the first five games of year.
For the first time of the young season, Michigan outscored its opponent in the third period (3-0).
In defeating UAF 5-2, the Wolverines have at least a three-goal margin of victory in their four wins this season.
Dating back to the 2001-02 season, U-M is on a 10-game CCHA winning streak in regular-season play.
Wolverine freshmen scored three of the five goals against the Nanooks and they have 11 of the 21 goals Michigan has scored on the season.
Michigan improved to 4-0 when scoring first.
Michigan killed all three Alaska Fairbanks power-play opportunities and extended its penalty killing streak to 17 straight. U-M has killed 26 of 27 power plays this season.
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
