2006-07 IHM at Ferris State -- Notes & Quotes
11/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
N O T E S
Michigan's last road win prior to this evening was at Western Michigan (4-1) on Feb. 7, 2006. U-M was 0-3-2 in between road wins.
Tonight was U-M's first win at Ferris State since Nov. 30, 2001, ending a four-game (0-3-1) winless streak.
Michigan ended its 0-for-14 power-play slump on Chad Kolarik's marker in the third period. Michigan had been held without a goal on the power play since the second period vs. Michigan State on Nov. 4, three games ago.
Billy Sauer's win tonight gives the goalie the first four-game winning streak of his career. During his current streak he has beaten Michigan State (Nov. 4), Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 10-11) and Ferris State. Sauer had previously won three in a row thrice.
Sauer tied his career high for saves in a period with 19 stops in the third stanza. His 33 overall saves tonight were one shy of his season-best effort vs. Michigan State on Nov. 4.
David Rohlfs pushed his career-best point streak to five games with a first-period goal. Rohlfs has three goals and four assists over the five-game span.
Rohlfs' marker tonight was his seventh of the season, tying his career high set as a freshman in 2003-04. Also, the goal was his 50th career point.
Chad Kolarik netted his ninth and 10th goals of the season but just his first markers since Oct. 27 vs. Northeastern, snapping a five-game goal drought. Kolarik's second marker was his second game-winner of the season, tying for the team lead.
Andrew Cogliano pushed his point streak to four games with an assist tonight. He has a 2-2-4 line during that span.
Kevin Porter's two assists pushed his point streak to seven games, tying his career-best mark. He has 9-7-16 totals in that span.
Porter's two assists tied his single-game high for the 11th time.
Jack Johnson extended his career-best point streak to seven games with an assist. He has 4-3-7 totals.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game's outcome ... "I thought we played a good first period. When you have the lead on the road it's important to keep it. I think we did a good job in the second period. Then we took the two-goal lead (in the third period). At that point I thought we were on our heels. After that they out-chanced us in the third period eight to two. It was not a good finish to the game. We're hanging on at the end of the game. Good for them, they got back in the game. On the other hand, we need to play better in the third period."
On the Porter-Hensick-Rohlfs line ... "There was maybe a 60-second period where we scored two goals -- bang, bang. (David) Rohlfs scored a good goal. Then (Chad) Kolarik scored on a miscue and took advantage of it. For the most part it was a pretty even game."
On the power play ... "We're not happy with the power play. We were fortunate we scored a goal on a five-on-three, which was good. On the other hand, we just changed the personnel a little bit on our power play and it shows that we still need some practice. Penalty killing again is costly. The special teams continue to be an issue."
On the play of goalie Billy Sauer ... "Billy kept us in the game at the end. He made some key saves in the third period to salvage the win and the lead."
U-M Senior Defenseman Matt Hunwick
On the improved play on the road ... "Any time you win it's a good victory on the road. We didn't come out and play the way that we wanted to. I think the first 10 minutes we played pretty well. We took a lot of penalties and so did the other team. It kind of threw our game off track a little bit. We never really got into the flow of the game. We were lucky to hang on and win that game 3-2."
On if he felt the team did a better job breaking out of its own zone ... "We did a pretty good job as far as getting the puck out. I think you could see when we failed to break the puck out cleanly we were in our zone for minutes at a time and we couldn't clear. That's one of the biggest things is that breakout. We have to get the puck out and play in their zone."
On how difficult it is to win at Ferris State and his first win there ... "It is a tough place to play with the 'Dawg Pound' and the crowd is pretty close to you. But it's a good atmosphere and a good place to play. It is nice to get a win here. I think this is the first time we've played back-to-back games up here, so it should be good for our confidence and momentum coming back tomorrow night."
On if the power-play units generated chances despite converting only one of nine ... "We had quite a few chances back-door where the goalie (Mitch O'Keefe) made some good saves. We couldn't get the puck up high enough on those plays when he got a leg on it. Overall, I think we got more shots on goal. We were a little casual at times. Fortunately for us we got that one goal that really mattered and gave us the win."
U-M Junior Forward Chad Kolarik
On being down 1-0 and then ahead 2-1 less than a minute later ... "I think it was great. I think T.J. (Hensick) showed senior leadership, so did (David) Rohlfs and (Kevin) Porter -- junior leadership. They had a great shift. I think it was 20 seconds right after. They didn't even get done announcing the other goal and Rohlfs had an open net. It was a great play from Porter to T.J. to Rohlfs -- tic-tac-toe. It was definitely a momentum change and good to get that goal back on the road. We silenced the crowd a little bit. We took the air right out of their sails. It was a good momentum swing there less than a minute later than when they scored."
On scoring his first goals in six games ... "It felt really good. I usually celebrate after I score. Today I didn't. I was a little surprised that the first one went in. It was nice to get back on track."
