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

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan was outplayed and outshot for the entire game, but they somehow managed a 3-1 lead in the second Period. OSU was able to get a couple of goals to tie it, sending the game to overtime and eventually a shootout. Jake Wise got the only goal in the shootout to give Ohio State two points to Michigan’s one. Unfortunately, the camera was shot from space, so most specifics will not be had, tonight.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan actually got a number of decent scoring chances. And they scored on some of them. They just did not get the volume that we’ve become accustomed to seeing this season. Ohio State’s forecheck was once again a major problem for Michigan. The Wolverines struggled to get out of their end and connect very much at all in the offensive end. Be that as it may, they did finish looks that did get on net. Adam and Luca Fantilli each had savable shots get through Jakob Dobes for Michigan’s first two goals.

-Jackson Hallum popped off the screen with his speed down the right wing. After he cleared the defenseman, he cut through the crease, waited until Dobes was down and out, and lifted the puck up and over him into the yawning cage. We’ve seen his speed all year, but that kind of stickhandling, patience, and shot lift are all a bit inconsistent. As he grows and solidifies those areas of his game…look out.

Defense Notes.

-This isn’t just about the defensemen (although it does include them). Michigan was just bad in their own zone. Ohio State took it to them a pinned them back all night. There were way too many Forever Shifts for the Buckeyes as Michigan was just chasing and hoping to just get a stick on a puck. When they would, too many times, they could not clear…let alone get the puck deep into the OSU end. Maybe the ice was bad? It probably was, late. But Michigan struggled like this at Yost against OSU in the Friday game. This is a matchup problem for Michigan. They fixed it a little on the second night a month ago. They’ll need to do that again before Saturday.

-Seamus Casey returned to the lineup on Thursday night. However, it looked like Luke Hughes went to the locker room and missed killing off the major in the first period. He also appeared to miss the third and overtime. There is no update as of this writing. Hopefully, he will be available for Saturday. If not…BAD. Michigan just cannot dodge the injury bug.

This was one of the better looks on either team’s power play (Bill Rapai)

SPECIAL TEAMS CHART

Power Play. Oof. Michigan did get a few power plays on Thursday evening. They did very little on any of them…until Rutger McGroarty hit the iron in overtime. Michigan has struggled against OSU’s vaunted penalty kill all season. Thursday was no different. They will have to figure something out before Saturday.

Penalty Kill. Michigan was once again called for a major. Facemasking on Seamus Casey. They killed it with ease. They also killed off a few more penalties. The problem is that they just seem to keep taking too many penalties. Maybe the major was legit. Maybe the rest of them were. It was honestly really hard to tell from that view and without many replays.

Erik Portillo gave Michigan a chance on Thursday night (Bill Rapai)

GOALTENDING CHART

Notes. Erik Portillo had a pretty solid night in net…from what I could tell. He made quite a few saves, especially when Michigan was failing to get out of their zone, repeatedly. While he did drop his stick a few more times, he did seem to track the puck a lot better, not dropping many (if any?) shots out of his glove, as he has done too much this year. It’s tough to put any of the goals on him, either, as two of them were absolute rockets. He did have a look a couple of them, but they just seemed like really great shots…one of them a one-timed blast. The tying goal was an unreal backhand pass from Mason Lohrei to Tate Singleton, who snapped a one-timer from the other side of the ice. In all, Erik Portillo definitely kept Michigan in the game and gave them them a chance to win, multiples times on Thursday night. Alas.

ODD MAN RUSH CHART

Notes. By my count, there was one OMR in the entire game and it was a 3v2 for Michigan. They actually got a good chance in the slot, but Dobes made the save.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Michigan played like poo. They were being outshot 25-8 after two periods, but were still winning. They were also an iron from winning in OT. Honestly, getting anything out of this game, looking back, is a positive. This game is a tie in PWR, so whatever. In the standings, though, they did cut down their magic number to finishing ahead of Ohio State (their biggest threat to second place) to 7. They’ll need a result in Cleveland on Saturday to control their own destiny next weekend. Game 2 is Saturday outdoors in Cleveland at 4pm on BTN.