11/14/2020 – Michigan 8, Arizona State 1 – 1-0
11/15/2020 – Michigan 3, Arizona State 0 – 2-0

Kent Johnson acquired the puck from a chaotic scramble behind the net and flicked a backhand pass onto Nick Blankenburg's tape. Blankenburg slid it over to Owen Power with one touch. Michigan's 6'5" freshman hulk of a defenseman feathered into the right slot and blasted the puck into the top corner of an open net.

Then, nothing.

It took a minute to determine whether my brain had shorted out or BTN+ had. It was BTN+, of course, because it is the magic Pictionary horse of streaming services. Or maybe it was both.

I approached this weekend with trepidation, as any experienced Michigan fan must approach something that seems like it might be good or enjoyable. This particular Michigan fan has been posting on the internet about the various white knights flying in to rescue Michigan hockey for literal years, thus amplifying the nervous feeling. It is rare for something to live up to the hype immediately. When it does not there will be recriminations, and I'm currently eating into the Strategic Recriminations Reserve for football. I do not have spare recriminations. 

Michigan's 2020 class immediately lived up to the massive expectations. The breakouts were crisp, the zone entries controlled, the risks astute. (Uh, except for the 3-on-0 breakaway.) The Power goal put Michigan up 8-0 in a game that felt exactly that lopsided. The Sunday game was even more lopsided, statistically, and featured an Eric Ciccolini goal that came after more than a minute of sustained offensive zone time. This replay does not do this shift justice.

Eric Ciccolini
2-0 Michigan pic.twitter.com/SBRMsOw674

— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) November 16, 2020

It was a five-on-five power play. Much of the weekend was.

It was as if the Compher/Connor/Motte line had been resurrected and then cloned. Even Michigan's checking line—listed second on the lineup sheet but also the only line that won't be pillaged by the NHL at some point in the near future—got in on the action when Nolan Moyle was possessed by the spirit of TJ Hensick, executing a full lap around the offensive zone before firing a puck across the crease that deflected in.

In the aftermath, of course, everyone is excited but also still nervous. The nervousness has a different tenor as the immediate relief now gives way to the second hurdle: the threat that this was a false dawn. For more, see the "is Arizona State any good?" bullet below.

I don't think it is, because I've seen enough hockey to know that you are usually your own worst enemy when the goal of the game is to corral a skittering puck with a stick while you zip around a sheet of ice at 20 MPH, and that the kind of people who immediately pop out as ninjas almost always continue being ninjas. Michigan just imported a busload of them. Also they still have their .939 goalie.

Arizona State head coach Greg Powers sums it up postgame: "That's (Michigan) the best team I've seen since we've been Division I."

— Greg Cameron (@gregdcam) November 16, 2020

Let's see where it goes.

[After THE JUMP: evaluating Arizona State's quality]

BULLETS

[Coller]

Let's play "is Arizona State any good?" Many worries about this being the equivalent of the Minnesota football game appeared in my mentions over the weekend. I don't think it is for a couple reasons. One: what Michigan did to Arizona State is closer to 78-0 versus Rutgers than 49-24 versus Minnesota. Two: Arizona State is probably a decent hockey team.

ASU's schedule is somewhat controversial because they've qualified for the past two NCAA tournaments* with weak SOS. It's true that they fall in the rankings if you look at KRACH—an alternative ranking system that IMO places too much emphasis on SOS—but they only fall from 13th in Pairwise to 16th.

Meanwhile the Sun Devils lost five skaters while adding Wisconsin transfer Sean Dhooghe and bringing in a couple of NHL draft picks in their recruiting class. One of those picks is the goalie whose heroics kept Sunday from being a replay of Saturday.

The main argument against ASU is that they were at 47% in Corsi last year with a weak schedule and tended to get badly outshot in games against high-end or even middling opponents. They also lost their top defensive pairing to NHL contracts. (They were going to get one guy back until COVID caused him to sign.) That could mean they're likely to eat it against their all Big Ten schedule. About that, though.

*[or would have if the 2020 tournament happened]

In re: 78-0 assertion. Michigan won Corsi (shot attempts) 65-39 on Saturday and 83-31(!!!) on Sunday. You may remember Brendan Brisson blasting one-timer after one-timer on Sunday power plays. That wasn't a major factor. Even strength Corsi there was 65-25.

These are enormous gaps. Last year's Corsi leader was Minnesota State at 59.4%. Michigan's Corsi on the weekend was 68%. That is unsustainable, but if Michigan's anywhere near the Minnesota State number against a Wisconsin team that swept ND to open their season look out.

Beecher is supposed to be fine. He left after taking a big hit on the blue line:

OH MY!
JOHNNY BEECHER IS LEVELLED HERE BY JACOB WILSON
Reviewing the play. pic.twitter.com/hPaFerbEly

— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) November 16, 2020

Pearson said he seemed fine and was removed as a precaution. Also that they'll re-evaluate him next week. If he has a concussion the turnaround here is quick enough that he might miss the Wisconsin series.

I'm torn about that hit, BTW, which garnered a two-minute charging call. That's about as clean of a hit as you can make, but since Beecher's reaching for the puck his head is down. I understand why that's a penalty now but it seems like they've legislated much of the hitting out of the game.

Obligatory BTN+ bitching. BTN+ is the worst streaming service I've ever encountered. This game featured:

• No clock
• No score
• No indication of penalty time
• No replays
• At least 15 minutes of muted audio
• Repeated 60-second+ cut-aways from live action so we could see scoreboard graphics instead
• The aforementioned failure after the Power goal, which caused viewers to entirely miss Arizona State's goal

I have to pay for it because of my job, but several different people in my twitter mentions mentioned balking at the price, especially since the product on offer is so woeful. You'd get money if you fix it! It's 2020! Fix it.