Michigan Hockey Thrashes Broncos, 6-1
Cue the soft piano music….Tim Allen (yes, former Bronco student) waxes poetic about the magic of Yost Ice Arena… speaks to the national Championships, Conference Titles and Hobey Baker winners… yes, this could have been a PURE MICHIGAN commercial. That is, until we fast forward to this season. But last night the Yost crowd of 6,921 fans was treated to a glimpse of what this year’s team can do when it can get its act together.
Led by Juniors Carl Hagelin and Matt Rust, and backed by solid goaltending by Bryan Hogan, Michigan cruised past Western Michigan, 6-1.
The Wolverines took the opening faceoff into the Bronco zone and never let it out, pinning the WMU defense deep. Chad Langlais accepted a Hagelin pass and slammed home his first goal of the season at the :26 mark of the period to set the tone. A little over three minutes later, Rust tapped in a behind the net backhand pass from Hagelin to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Broncos got back into the game on a neutral ice giveaway as the Michigan forwards were changing. The resulting 3 on 1 break saw Travis Paeth barely making contact on a cross ice pass, but gave it enough steam to beat a prone Hogan along the ice and just inside the far post at 6:03. It was only the second shot of the period for Western, who ended up with four total shots in the period.
The first period ended 2-1 in Michigan’s favor, but WMU had scored last and entered the second period with a power play chance.
Michigan was able to kill the four straight calls against them in a row, and managed to make the Broncos pay on one of their five chances about seven and a half minutes into the 2nd period. Ben Winnett winged a pass into the Bronco zone and Brian Lebler corralled it while fighting off two Broncos. He circled and fired a sharp wrister that Bronco goaltender Riley Gill turned away, but directly at AJ Treais camped out on the opposite circle. He moved in and settled the rebound, then rifled a drive into the top corner from an acute angle. The turning point in the game, though, soon followed. Lee Moffie took a bad HFB major and game misconduct about half way through the period. A minute later, Brandon Burlon leveled a Bronco forward as he was approaching the Michigan bench for a change. Unfortunately, his replacement was already on the ice, so he was whistled for a too many men penalty, and a full two minute 5x3 advantage for WMU.
Western failed to score, and with about three and a half minutes left in the major, Luke Glendening put on a show for the Yost faithful. He cleared the puck deep into the WMU zone, managed to tie up two Broncos, and then miraculously skated free from them with the puck. He charged the net with Scooter Vaughn nearby and got off a shot that Gill just managed to glove. A scrum developed, as did a review to see if the puck went in. It didn’t, but just the same, the crowd roared its approval of the Michigan forward’s work.
Michigan continued to pin down Western on the next face off forcing the Broncos to take a penalty, negating the remaining time on the major. The rest of the penalty time on Burlon elapsed, although Michigan followed with two more penalties to end the period. They escaped with a 3-1 lead and a 25-14 shot advantage after two periods.
Hogan wasn’t tested too severely the remainder of the game, but was critical during the six Bronco power play opportunities they were given. Coach Berenson commented: “Bryan Hogan came back and gave us a good game when he had chances against, which maybe were too many for my liking. He was solid after the first goal. I think a lot of good things came out of this weekend.” He also added: “To come home and assert ourselves was important. It wasn’t an easy game. The score might look like it was a one sided game, but the game was on the line through out the second period when were killing a five minute major penalty.”
The third period started out even with up and down action. Carl Hagelin put the Broncos three goals down at 9:51 with the second of Kevin Lynch’s three assists. Hagelin snapped a low hard shot from the top of the right circle beating Gill. Hagelin came right back a little over four minutes later and backhanded his second of the night past Gill. Lynch and Rust added helpers. David Wohlberg was rewarded at 15:58 as Michigan forced a turn over deep and connected. Vaughn and Winnett assisted. Western finished with a flurry of shots that Hogan turned aside. Michigan triumphed, evening their conference record at 7-7.
Berenson praised his special teams: “I thought our penalty killing was definitely a factor in the game tonight. Tonight, our power play was a definitely a factor. We only had one goal against and that is important for us because we have been giving up too many goals.”
Hogan finished with 25 saves, where his counterpart finished with 30 saves. Michigan took 7 penalties for 25 minutes and WMU was gated for 5 penalties for 10 minutes.
Michigan awaits the arrival of the vastly improved Alaska Nanooks for a huge weekend series at Yost. Michigan currently sits tied for 7th place in the CCHA and could tie the fourth place Nanooks with a sweep. Western will travel to BG next week to determine who will remain in last place in the conference.
YOST Bits
Michigan scored the most goals (6) on the Broncos this season. They also scored five PPG’s in the series.
Carl Hagelin advanced his team leading goal total (11th and 12th) and points total (25) with his 2G and 2A effort. He and Matt Rust (1G and 1A) were both +4 on the evening.
Kevin Lynch chipped in with three assists and Ben Winnett added 2 assists.
Chad Langlais finally notched his first goal of the season and did a little dance after his goal. It was his first goal since a GWG against BG last season.
Yostmeister three star selections:
1. Michigan- Carl Hagelin- not only strong offensively, but a defensive wizard all night
2. Michigan- Matt Rust- the first line continues to carry this team
3. Michigan- Luke Glendening- put on a penalty killing clinic, and proving that the A on his sweater is well deserved
Honorable mention goes to Kevin Lynch, also with the first line, Ben Winnett and Scooter Vaughn who all had strong games.
Written by Yostmeister
Go Blue -- Wear Maize!
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