**GOING TO BE A LITTLE SHORTER TONIGHT DUE TO THE WATCHALONG**

CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan played two hockey games on Friday night. One: before the refs lost control and fights broke out; Two: after the game went off the rails and players were ejected, DQ’d, and penalties abounded. Michigan dominated Michigan State in the first period and were in control up the “The Incidents.” Afterwards, it was basically just a matter of hanging on and getting to the end. They dragged themselves across the line and beat Michigan State, gaining the three points.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan played really well in the first period. They controlled play and created chances scrolling through multiple lines. Michigan scored early and often. TJ Hughes had a deft pass from below the goalline to Mackie Samoskevich who one-timed a shot behind Dylan St. Cyr. Gavin Brindley also one-timed a beautiful cross-ice pass from Mark Estapa (!) to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead. After that, the offensive chances didn’t fully maintain, but they did their damage when they needed it.

-Frank Nazar made his Michigan debut on Friday night. He didn’t make many overly notable plays, but he made it back on the ice. That’s a big deal. Rutger McGroarty missed the game for an undisclosed reason. After Adam Fantilli was ejected, lines were a bit jumbled. Gavin Brindley had a 3 point night when Michigan really needed it.

Defense Notes.

-Luke Hughes was a monster. He had a few mishaps at times, but with no Seamus Casey or Jacob Truscott to start, Michigan was already down two of their top four defensemen. Once Ethan Edwards was given an early shower, Hughes seemed to be on the ice every other shift. I’ve been down on his first half of the season, but he’s really turned a corner across the board. His defense has improved so much. And his offensive pressure hasn’t seemed to suffer, either. He’s entering that Must Watch territory, now.

-We talked about this on the HockeyCast a bunch, but Ethan Edwards needs to adjust his play. He got thrown out for another hit to the head (five and a game). Now, I’m not sure I agree with the call, but in this case, there is no reason to go for that hit…clean as it may be. He’s such a valuable defenseman for Michigan (especially sans Casey and Truscott) that he just needs to be in the game and on the ice.

Yeah. (Bill Rapai)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. Trying to add up the corsi attempts/shots for a game like this is a Fool’s Errand. Michigan scored an early power play goal on a beautiful shot from Adam Fantilli. Gavin Brindley teed him up very nicely, and Fantilli walked into the slot and sniped a goal inside the post. That was the most notable play and advantage of the game. The rest of the power plays were…there.

Penalty Kill. Michigan did a great job on the Kill on Friday night, finishing off a major to top it off. They also had a couple kills early and late to preserve their lead. However, this game went off the rails in the second period due to lack of control from referees who let the players go…and go they did. It ended with too many post-whistle fights/skirmishes. Finally, Adam Fantilli had enough and went after a couple Spartans. He ended up getting a game misconduct and DQ that will mean he will not skate tomorrow night. Adam cannot let that happen. He’s way too important to this team…a team that has a chance to go a long way and win multiple banners. He needs to be on the ice…not fighting a bunch of punks. That being said, maybe if the referees controlled the game the players would not have overreacted. I already talked about the Ethan Edwards major…college hockey is broken.

This is a creative shot (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. If you thought Erik Portillo’s trip to Munn last time was crazy, I don’t know what to tell you about Friday night. I’m not sure what is going on, but he’s having the worst time hanging on to his goal stick. It hasn’t specifically cost him yet, but there were 4-5 times that he just could not hang on to his stick. He also got lost/stuck on one side of the crease to often. That happened on the second goal, when he couldn’t get back across his crease (maybe he didn’t see the pass?) and Nicolas Muller hit the open net. Open nets were a bit too constant on Friday night. Portillo and the Wolverines that Michigan State couldn’t find them. Despite all of that, Erik Portillo was there when he needed to be, though. He made a number of saves down the stretch, including an awesome one on a 3v2 that he got all the way across to envelop the save. Portillo is going to need a big night on Saturday in Detroit.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. Michigan gave up a few OMRs on Friday. Luke Hughes made a great play on a 2v1 to break up the cross pass. Erik Portillo made the save of the evening on the 3v2 to keep the puck out of the net.
The Wolverines had a great opportunity early on a 2v1. Adam Fantilli made a sweet pass to an open Brindley in front of the net, but the puck jumped his stick.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The story is getting old. Team gets plowed by Michigan; team decides to fight Michigan instead of play hockey. Refs allow enough that Michigan gets annoyed and fights back. Penalties, injuries ensue. The game is ruined and it’s just a knife and rock fight until the end. Michigan needs to stay out of these brawls and just skate away…but that’s probably not going to happen.

The bottom line is that Michigan survived Munn and now has a tough game sans Fantilli at LCA Saturday night at 8pm on ESPNU.