Michigan
9-5-1, 5-3-1CCHA
Miami (Ohio)
11-2-1,10-1-1CCHA
Michigan Surrenders Two Leads, Swept by RedHawks
12/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
OXFORD, Ohio -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team was swept on the weekend by No. 8 Miami (Ohio) as the RedHawks beat the Wolverines 4-3 on Saturday (Dec. 3). As a result, the Maize and Blue dropped its fourth straight game for the first time since the 1988-89 season. T.J. Hensick (Howell, Mich.) had a goal and an assist, and goalie Noah Ruden (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) made 27 saves.
The Wolverines received the first break of the game when Miami was called for hooking 26 seconds in. U-M fired two shots at goalie Jeff Zatkoff but was unable to register the first goal.
Right after killing the penalty the RedHawks attacked the Michigan zone with two quality chances. The first, a one-timer in front, was stopped by Miami's own player. Seconds later at 3:20 Nino Musitelli's shot was barely deflected by Ruden's glove and skipped just high off the crossbar.
The Miami offense received a boost at 4:11 when the Wolverines were whistled for a penalty. Both teams had chances over the next two minutes. Kevin Porter (Northville, Mich.) fired a slap shot through traffic in the RedHawk zone that bounced just wide. Miami came back the other way to test Ruden.
Michigan killed another Miami power play two minutes later but then permitted the RedHawks to open the scoring at 10:39 when Matt Davis beat Ruden with a backhand shot inside the lower left post on a breakaway.
The Maize and Blue earned two minutes with the man advantage shortly after and tied the game at 12:59 thanks to Hensick. Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich.) sent the puck on net from the right point, and upon deflecting in front of the net it came to Hensick at the left of the goal for the tap-in tally.
The special teams play continued as Miami went back on the power play for the third time of the opening stanza. At 15:28, Andrew Ebbett (Vernon, B.C.) picked off a lazy Miami pass in the neutral zone and skated in alone on the Miami goal. Ebbett deked and snuck a wrist shot past Zatkoff for U-M's first lead of the game, 2-1.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Miami scored on the same power play at 16:19. Ryan Jones tipped a centering pass from the right corner into the Michigan goal to knot the game at 2-2.
The referee's impact in the second period was nonexistent through the first half of the frame. As a result the pace of the game picked up and Miami and Michigan exchanged scoring chances up and down the ice.
For Michigan, Andrew Cogliano (Woodbridge, Ontario) had a pair of two-on-two rushes on which he was stymied by Zatkoff each time. Ruden was busy as well, needing to stop multiple RedHawk opportunities to keep the game deadlocked.
At the 11:58 mark, the Wolverines got a lucky bounce off the Miami defense to take a 3-2 lead. Brandon Kaleniecki (Livonia, Mich.) snapped a shot toward the MU goal, and the puck bounced up high off the back of Mitch Ganzak and into net as Zatkoff had no idea where the puck went.
The first penalty of the period was called with 7:21 left on the clock to give Michigan a power play. Despite a couple goal-mouth chances the Wolverines could not up their advantage.
Ruden made an amazing save with 30 seconds left in the power play when Matt Christie stole the puck in the U-M zone and swooped in free from the right side along the goal line. Christie tried to wrap the puck around to the far side of the goal, but Ruden laid out and smothered the puck.
The remainder of the power play was negated when Michigan was penalized. Ruden made a tough rebound save with his blocker on Guerin in the waning seconds of the penalty.
At 17:10 the momentum shifted decidedly in the favor of Miami. Nathan Davis snuck behind his defender in transition, received a pass and skated in alone on Ruden. Davis made a quick move and slid the puck through the five hole. After the goal, Johnson was assessed three penalties. He was given a five-minute major for boarding, a two-minute minor for contact-to-the-head high sticking and a game misconduct.
Michigan killed off the first 2:50 of the five-minute major penalty as the second period came to an end with the score tied at 3-3. Just over a minute into the third period Michigan was fortunate as the RedHawks were whistled for an infraction, taking two minutes off the seven total minutes of Miami power-play time.
Michigan finished off the final minute of the penalty kill and immediately went on the offensive. On the rush, Ebbett had a quality opportunity in close to the left but Zatkoff turned the puck aside. With less than 14 minutes to play the Wolverines were put on the power play and held without a goal for the fourth time of the night.
At 9:04 the RedHawks went back on top, 4-3, as Andy Greene beat Ruden to the top right corner. Greene intercepted a breakout pass by Michigan at the blue line and skated into the slot before shooting through traffic.
With 3:46 remaining in regulation Michigan's comeback was hindered by a penalty call. Halfway through the Miami power play the RedHawks appeared to score a goal. However, Nathan Davis' tally was negated as the referee ruled that Miami had made a hand pass in the U-M end.
The Wolverines removed Ruden from his net for an extra attacker with 1:10 left since there was an upcoming faceoff in the Miami zone. Hensick and Kaleniecki had the only shots on goal for Michigan in the final minute and both were stopped by Zatkoff.
The Wolverines return home to the friendly confines of Yost Ice Arena next weekend (Dec. 9-10) to host Nebraska-Omaha. Both games against the Mavericks will start at 7:35 p.m. and be aired live by Comcast Local. The series will conclude the first half of the season for Michigan.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
