Michigan
20-9-5, 17-5-4CCHA
Ohio State
16-14-4,11-11-4CCHA
Wolverines Down Buckeyes in Senior Night Victory
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
| | Nystrom |
The game was a wide-open affair with all nine goals scored in the first two periods. The final stanza turned defensive as the team's combined for just 12 shots on goal.
After the contest, Michigan's four seniors -- goaltender Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.), forward Craig Murray (Penticton, B.C.), goaltender Kevin O'Malley (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and defenseman Jay Vancik (Medina, Ohio) -- were honored.
After being blanked in the series opener, the Buckeyes were the first to score, taking a 1-0 lead 5:22 into the game when sophomore forward R.J. Umberger one-timed a pass from sophomore forward Dave Steckel past the glove of Blackburn.
The Wolverines responded with three goals in a span of 1:59 to take a 3-1 lead just under 10 minutes into the game.
Junior forward Mark Mink (Livonia, Mich.) tied the game at 7:12 when he banked a shot off the pads of OSU netminder Mike Betz, then freshman Eric Nystrom (Syosset, N.Y.) gave U-M a 2-1 lead 37 seconds later when he tipped a shot from sophomore blueliner Mike Komisarek (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) under Betz.
Freshman defenseman Brandon Rogers (Rochester, N.H.) completed the trifecta at 9:11 after he ripped a slapshot from the blueline.
OSU head coach John Markell used his timeout for the second night in the row in the first period to settle his team down, and the tactic worked as the Buckeyes came back to score twice on the power play, ending Michigan's 14-game penalty-killing streak.
With junior forward J.J. Swistak (West Bloomfield, Mich.) in the penalty box for tripping, Umberger netted his second goal of the night on a one-time shot from the blueline, halting Michigan's penalty-killing streak at 65. OSU tied the game at 3-3 midway through the second period when sophomore forward Paul Caponigri tipped a slapshot from senior forward Mike McCormick past Blackburn's stick side.
The Wolverines answered the OSU offensive spurt with another trio of goals, scoring three times in the final 11 minutes of the second period to secure the victory.
Nystrom added his second of the night at 9:24, scoring the eventual game-winning goal when he pushed a rebound past a sprawling Betz to take a 4-3 lead. Junior forward Jed Ortmeyer (Omaha, Neb.) took the initial shot, which kicked out to Nystrom in front of the crease.
Murray put the Wolverines back up by a two-goal margin when he one-timed a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle through Betz's five-hole, then Swistak added the game's final tally, scoring his first goal in 60 games while the Buckeyes had a man advantage. With the faceoff in the OSU zone on the Buckeye's power play, Mink won the draw and fed it to Swistak, who stickhandled past a sprawling defender then backhanded a shot past Betz for his first career shorthanded goal.
In the third period, O'Malley replaced Blackburn in goal for the final 7:55 and made one save. Blackburn finished the game with 18 saves, while Betz stopped 17 of U-M's 23 shots in the loss.
The teams combined for 22 penalties in the contest, each committing 11 infractions, including 12 in the second period. Ohio State converted on two of its six power-play chances, while the Wolverines scored once in five opportunities.
Michigan will close out the regular season next weekend, facing Western Michigan in a home-and-home series. The two teams will meet in Ann Arbor in the final regular-season home game for the Wolverines on Friday (March 1, 7:35 p.m.) before traveling to Kalamazoo for the series finale on Saturday, (March 2, 7:05 p.m.).
GAME SUMMARY
| Goals By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
| Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Michigan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
1st period
1, OSU, R.J. Umberger/16 (Dave Steckel/14, Daymen Bencharski/10) 5:22.
2, MICH, Mark Mink/3 (Eric Werner/17) 7:12.
3, MICH, Eric Nystrom/13 (Mike Komisarek/14, John Shouneyia/29) 7:49.
4, MICH, Brandon Rogers/2 (Dwight Helminen/6) 9:11.
5, OSU, R.J. Umberger/17 (Mike McCormick/14, Dave Steckel/15) 11:23 (pp).
PENALTIES - Milan Gajic, MICH (unsportsmanlike conduct) 8:15; Chris Olsgard, OSU (slashing) 8:15; Jed Ortmeyer, MICH (slashing) 9:37; J.J. Swistak, MICH (tripping) 11:11; Thomas Welsh, OSU (holding) 13:08; Paul Caponigri, OSU (roughing) 18:50; John Shouneyia, MICH (roughing) 18:50.
2nd period
6, OSU, Paul Caponigri/11 (Mike McCormick/14) 7:17 (pp).
7, MICH, Eric Nystrom/14 (Mike Komisarek/15, Jed Ortmeyer/17) 9:24.
8, MICH, Craig Murray/5 (John Shouneyia/30, Mike Komisarek/16) 14:08 (pp).
9, MICH, J.J. Swistak/1 (Mark Mink/7) 17:04 (sh).
PENALTIES - Mike Komisarek, MICH (roughing) 6:47; Jason Ryznar, MICH (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:39; Chris Olsgard, OSU (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:39; Reed Whiting, OSU (obstruction-hooking) 9:19; Mark Mink, MICH (roughing after the whistle) 9:19; Charlie Henderson, MICH (high sticking) 10:46; Daymen Bencharski, OSU (elbowing) 12:02; Ryan Smith, OSU (hooking) 12:34; Scott May, OSU (roughing) 15:15; Jason Ryznar, MICH (roughing) 15:15; Jay Vancik, MICH (holding) 15:49; Chris Olsgard, OSU (10-minute misconduct) 20:00.
3rd period
PENALTIES - Craig Murray, MICH (tripping) 8:34; JB Bittner, OSU (interference) 12:05; Scott May, OSU (holding the stick) 12:56.
Shots on goal: OSU 8-7-7 22; MICH 7-11-5 23. Power plays: OSU 2 of 6; MICH 1 of 5. Penalties: OSU 11 (30 min); MICH 11 (22 min). Goalies: OSU, Mike Betz 16-13-4 (60:00 minutes, 23 shots-17 saves); MICH, Josh Blackburn 19-9-5 (52:05, 21-18) , Kevin O'Malley (07:55, 1-1). Referee: Kevin Hall. Assistant Referees: Kevin Langseth, Tony Molina. Attendance: 6634. Time: 2:19.
| Individual Player Statistics | |
## Ohio State G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 3 Reed Whiting....... 0 0 2 0 0 4*Jason Crain........ 0 0 0 1 -4 5 Scott Titus........ 0 0 0 1 0 8 JB Bittner......... 0 0 2 1 -1 9*Scott May.......... 0 1 4 1 -1 10 Mike McCormick..... 0 2 0 3 0 11 Daymen Bencharski.. 0 1 2 0 -1 14 Ryan Smith......... 0 0 2 1 -1 16 Chris Olsgard...... 0 0 14 0 0 17 Thomas Welsh....... 0 0 2 0 -1 19 John Toffey........ 0 0 0 1 0 20*Miguel Lafleche.... 0 0 0 0 -1 22 R.J. Umberger...... 2 0 0 6 -2 27*Paul Caponigri..... 1 0 2 2 0 39 Dave Steckel....... 0 2 0 2 -2 41 Yan Des Gagne...... 0 0 0 1 0 44*Eric Skaug......... 0 0 0 1 -3 77 Doug Andress....... 0 0 0 1 0 Totals............. 3 6 30 22 -17 | ## Michigan G A PIM Sh +/- --------------------------------------- 3 Eric Werner........ 0 1 0 1 +1 4 Andy Burnes........ 0 0 0 0 0 5 Brandon Rogers..... 1 0 0 1 +1 8*Mike Komisarek..... 0 3 2 4 +3 9 Milan Gajic........ 0 0 2 3 -1 10*Dwight Helminen.... 0 1 0 0 +1 12 J.J. Swistak....... 1 0 2 2 +1 14 Craig Murray....... 1 0 2 3 0 15*Jay Vancik......... 0 0 2 0 +2 17 Michael Woodford... 0 0 0 1 0 18 David Moss......... 0 0 0 0 0 20*Charlie Henderson.. 0 0 2 1 +1 21 Eric Nystrom....... 2 0 0 2 +1 22*Jason Ryznar....... 0 0 4 2 0 23 Mike Roemensky..... 0 0 0 0 0 25 Mark Mink.......... 1 1 2 1 +2 26 Jed Ortmeyer....... 0 1 2 0 +2 28 John Shouneyia..... 0 2 2 2 +2 Totals............. 6 9 22 23 +16 |
N O T E S
Michigan has posted a victory in its last seven CCHA games, a season high. The Wolverines have posted 17 victories in league play this season, surpassing their CCHA win total from a year ago (16).
U-M is 4-0-1 in its last five games when wearing its maize uniforms, and the Wolverines have won seven of their last eight games overall.
Michigan has its penalty-killing streak of 65 straight stopped 1:08 into the Buckeyes' second power play of the night. The streak, which spanned parts of 16 games, included 14 perfect penalty-killing games and 112:41 of power-play time.
The Wolverines have won five straight at Yost Ice Arena, a season high.
Michigan is guaranteed to finish no lower than second place in the final CCHA standings. The Wolverines have finished second or higher in the league in each of the last 11 seasons.
Mike Komisarek equalled a career high with three assists.
John Shouneyia posted his second straight multi-assist game with two helpers. Shouneyia has five assists in his last two games.
Eric Nystrom posted his third multi-goal game of the year with two markers, including the game-winner, and is one goal shy of tying junior Mike Cammalleri (Richmond Hill, Ontario) for the team's goal-scoring lead.
J.J. Swistak ended the team's longest goal-scoring drought at 60 games, netting his first marker since March 10, 2000. Swistak also tied a career high for points in a campaign with 1-34, equalling the 3-14 he posted in 1999-2000.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's game ... "This was more like a Michigan-Ohio State game and we've had a lot of them in the past. I think that people forget what can happen in these games. You know we had to find a way to play in that game, we scored three goals in the first period and we still gave up two and they were in the game. I don't think we felt comfortable until (J.J.) Swistak scored his shorthanded goal. In all, we had to play a lot of special-team hockey tonight and (Josh) Blackburn was obviously a factor when the game was on the line. He and (Andy) Burnes saved goals back-to-back within a few seconds and then we went on to score the goals we needed to score. It was an exciting game for the fans and it was exciting for the players, and it was good to win a game on senior night."
On having different goal scorers ... "I think that's really important. I'm not hammering on players that they have to score goals, but when they get chances, they may get the one chance that makes a difference in the game and you know, night after night you can't have the same guys scoring because they can't score every night."
On this year's senior class ... "It's been a class that had a lot of high expectations when they came in and of course losing (Mike) Comrie and then (Jeff) Jillson (to the professional ranks) takes something away from the finality of the class. The last chapter is not written yet."
On Craig Murray ... "Murray has had a spotty career, but he came out strong when he was healthy in the last half of last year and hopefully we'll see his best hockey and I think we are right now. That's all you can ask from your seniors, that hopefully they play their best hockey in their senior year."
On Jay Vancik and Josh Blackburn ... "Vancik has been a solid, quiet leader on the team and Blackburn has done everything we expected from him. He's not perfect every night but neither were any of our other goalies, and he's been a strong player on the team and he plays his best hockey this time of year."
On Kevin O'Malley ... "O'Malley has had the toughest job of all of these kids. Kevin has had to take a back-seat role to Blackburn and he has just been terriffic. You talk about a team player and a guy that supports his roommate and teammate and goalie mate the way he has, he has been just terrific. He has developed into a world-class person."
Sophomore Defenseman Mike Komisarek
On tonight's game ... "From here on out, each night we're battling for first place, so it's huge for us. We've lost too many points and we've shot ourselves too many times in the foot. It was a good game."
On his three assists tonight ... "It's the guys in front paying the price. I've been struggling the past couple of weeks getting the shots through. Tonight, fortunately, they were getting through for me. The guys were parked in front and getting the rebounds."
On Michigan State's victory tonight ... "It's going to come down to next weekend. We have to put this weekend behind us and start over again and set the tone Friday night right off the bat."
Freshman Forward Eric Nystrom
On scoring two goals ... "Both were because of Mike Komisarek. The first one I just went to the front of the net and it redirected off my hand and went through the goalie's legs. I was at the right spot at the right time. The second goal, we won the faceoff, Komo shot the puck, the rebound came right to me and I got a little luck."
On the go-ahead goals ... "We kept getting penalties and they were scoring on the power plays, which hasn't happened much to us this year, but we tried to bounce back. We knew we had the game if we really wanted it. We turned it up and got a couple of timely goals."
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
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