Even though it didn't work out last night, I suppose I'll give it another go for the second game against Ohio State. The Blog That Yost Built also did a live-blog of last night's action, and I'd encourage you to check that out, especially if you want to see an account of the game by someone who knows way more about hockey than I do.
After last night and the Les Miles saga unfolding all day, let's see if the hockey team can make things any better. I should probably just start drinking. Bell's Two-Hearted IPA, coming up.
Brian Hogan gets the start in net tonight. Really? This is an interesting wrinkle. Sauer didn't play that badly last night. Was this some sort of scheduled thing? Get Hogan blooded against supposedly inferior competition?
Same officiating crew as last night. Kampfer is back in our lineup, however. Fardig's playing with a cast on his hand. If he starts missing passes, I'll just call him "Tim Massaquoi". We look just as listless tonight as last night. And just as I type that, Porter almost sneaks through the Buckeye defense. OSU sends a shot at HOgan, but it goes wide. He hasn't made a stop yet. I don't think Palmer has either. OSU's trying dump and chase, to no avail. GOAL!!! Hagelin carries it in, his shot goes wide, but it's held in behind the OSU net. A Buckeye defender tries to hamper Rust, but he steps out to Palmer's left and stuffs it in on the wrap-around.
Apologies to the FSN crew, I guess it's Red who can't pronounce "Palushaj" (It's "Puh-loo-SHY", by the way). Fardig goes down to block a nice shot from the point by DeSantis. Ooooohhh. 3-2, pass all the way across in front from Porter to Kalorik and Palmer makes the save. Holy crap, bouncing puck, Hogan on the other side. Michigan defender (Kampfer, I think) gets a stick on the rebound to knock it away from Elkins.
Off an OSU icing call, Hagelin gets the puck in the other corner, skates near the faceoff circle, passes back to Palushaj, who sends it right back and Hagelin stuffs it past Palmer. YESSS!!! 2-0, Wolverines!
11:44 left in the first. OSU looks much more disorganized now. They take another icing call. Palmer's favorite athlete is Tom Brady? OK, kind of weird. Langlais rocks Fritsche, who's slow to get up, and takes an elbowing/contact to the head call. OSU gets pressure, gets a scrum going in front. The refs are slow to stop the play and there's a...penalty shot? Oh, crap. Please be real, Hogan. Goebel's the shooter. YESSSS!!!!!!!!! DENIED!!!!!! Goebel comes in, goes backhand, stick side, but Hogan has him!!!
Side note: I love that they've got Sergott mic'd up tonight.
Fardig blocks a shot and we get a clear. :21 left in the penalty to Langlais, and DeSantis is heading to the box to make it 4-4 hockey for a while. Langlais is out. Up top, Paciorretty to Porter, over to Langlais, back to Pacioretty near the...4:30 of the circle. He's left open, so why not take a shot? It's frickin' bullet and Palmer whiffs. GOAL!!! I love this game so far. 3-0, good guys. We want MOOOOOOORE GOALS.
The Bucks immediately take another penalty, this one Dingle for cross-checking Miller halfway down the ice. Nothing's going right for them. A giveaway in the neutral zone momentarily gives me pause, but almost immediately Porter is crashing the net with a great chance and Palmer makes a nice save on him. Someone hits the wrong button and we get the Belle Tire in a Michigan helmet instead of the game. Screw you, Belle Tire. I saw you supporting MSU up in East Lansing at that football game. :30 left in the penalty, 6:00 in the period, they get a clear. OSU has 5 shots on the board, are at full strength, and still sucks. Turnbull tries to make a shot go through Palmer, but that doesn't work.
Comcast would have us believe that the Big Ten Network was a guard at Abu Ghraib and was caught on a yacht with Donna Rice.
Michigan has a great puck control sequence down low, but they aren't going to get anything out of it. Going the other way, Kevin Porter gets called for a high stick. Hey, I have an idea. Let's not make Hogan stop another penalty shot. OSU got 4 shots on their first powerplay, and on their first one here, Hogan makes a good stop. It's getting a little chippy down there. Llewellyn giveaway near the slot, yikes, but OSU can't get a shot. Holy crap, how did the puck not go in? Wild sequence with Wolverines sprawled all over and Hogans stick in his net, but Bucks just miss. Then Somma hits a Wolverine after the whistle, so he's going to the box. Our penalty expires, and then the period does. We get some shots, but Palushaj's rocket goes wide and the period ends. 3-0, Maize and Blue. OSU managed to get their shot count up to 10 and we're sitting at 11, which is surprisingly even. OSU's had three high-quality chances, I'd say, and they haven't converted. We start with about 1:15 left on our powerplay. Langlais has trouble keeping a puck in from Pacioretty, so reset. I think Langlais really wants to be a forward. Ooh, momentary 2-1 for the Bucks after the penalty expires. No pass and Hogan makes a nice stop on the shooter.
Sergott now whistles Rust and Peter Boyd for roughing/contact to the head, so we're 4-4 for two minutes. Should be a net advantage for us. But Reed is trying to crash the net, but Kevin Quick does a nice job of taking everything away from him. A Summers drop pass results in a shot and a stop. Kampfer, from the point, is denied. And everyone's back to full strength. We look really confident out there, if less hungry.
OH SNAP. Mitera LEVELS a Buck. Fardig skates in alone on Palmer, but can't get a good shot and it dribbles into Palmer. I can't believe I said "oh snap."
Dammit, Comcast Local. Somehow OSU gets a complete breakaway and Dingle beats Hogan to close it to a 3-1 game, but we're playing an interview with Red and don't see the play happen.
And now OSU's on the powerplay after a big Mitera hit. Have to stand tall on this. OSU has a decided spring in their set. Can we stop talking about Goebel's colitis? And something happened with Porter on a shorthanded try and he's heading to the box for a high stick. :08 of 5-3 don't matter. Michigan's doing a nice job on the kill. A puck unfortunately rolls dangerously into the high slot, but shot goes wide. PK over. OSU didn't register a shot on goal. They're still playing a lot better and we look a bit disorganized. Michigan breaks up a 4-2 and heads back the other way, but Palmer makes saves on Turnbull and Winnett and the puck lands on the wrong side of the net.
OSU has stepped up their level of play by a lot. We need to reassert ourselves. Palmer's looking a lot more like last night. 4:30 left. Kolarik to Porter, who gets stuffed and the puck's just sitting out in front, but Palmer gets a toe on the rebound. Porter gets a 2-1 and draws the defender. He slides the puck over to Pacioretty and he buries the opportunity. GOALLL!!! 4-1, Michigan, and I breathe a little easier for the moment. 3:15 left.
Delayed penatly. Extra attacker on, rotation set up. Palmer saves the one-timer and Sims heads to the box.
Arg. Pacioretty gets called for tripping as Dingle tries to get a shorthanded break. Hagelin is fast. He catches Goebel easily, as this game has started to go end-to-end. Somma comes in, gets a shot, and the rebound is irrelevant as the period has already ended. 4-1, Michigan after 2. Oh, Kolarik starts the period with a nice chance he can't connect on. He put a sweet move on Reed. Penalty to Pacioretty expires without further incident. BGSU is burying Wayne State. I'd watch out for them. Oh, Palushaj finds Naurato crashing the net, but Toy gets his stick in to break up the chance. Hogan makes the save on a 2-2. Miller gets hit and is a little slow getting up. Sergio Somma rocks Langlais well after he ices the puck, but not late enough to get a call. 16:30 left, let's finish this game.
Someone has a dirty mullet. Palushaj has a sweet shot denied by Palmer. If not for him, this is a laugher. Oh, damn it. Somma draws a penalty and, on the delayed call, a Michigan defender trips in the right slot. The guy in front goes to take his spot, vacating the left slot with Somma just sitting there. He tries to walk around Hogan, but he's there for the initial stop. Unfortunately, he now has a wide open rebound. 4-2, 14:58 remaining.
SOmma's favorite movie is Tommy Boy. It figures. Hey, hey, hey! McIlvane goes high and demolishes Kampfer. Kolarik goes spinorama and almost finds the open net. He's played well this whole series.
12:12 left in this game. Run clock, run.
The Big Ten Network was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Savings & Loan scandal. It was also a guest of Idi Amin. They had the defense minister over for dinner.
Holy crap. Again, lots of space and lots of bouncing pucks near the front of our net. It all ends with Summers and a Buckeye going to the box. 11:30 left.
On the 4 on 4, Michigan did a great job of controlling play and denying OSU and opportunity to get any closer. The Comcast director sucks, giving us shots of guys getting on and off the ice when the GAME IS HAPPENING. 9:00 left now.
Comcast, giving props to the Hockey Band and Alumni Band from last week. Lebler draws a stupid minor (I'm considering making a macro) with 7:19 left, getting his stick up too high when finishing a check. It's Kolarik who gets a shorthanded opportunity first. Comcast has lost the clock. OK, it's back 0:36 left in the penalty, 5:56 in the game as OSU brings it in offsides. Michigan clears and Gorham is going to the box! Roughing/contact to the head is the call. 5:48 left in the game. Big, dumb penalty, borne of frustration. Oh, crap. Puck gets left in the high slot. Hogan makes the save and we manage to find the handle before a rebound can be attempted. And HOLY BALLS! Langlais whiffs trying to hold in a puck and gives up a 2-1 and Hogan just STONES Goebel. The puck is sitting in the crease, but the Palushaj finds it and heads the other way. Fantastic save.
OSU is getting good pressure again, very aggressive on the PK. We're not exactly super-aggressive ourselves. Penalty expires.
2:00 left. Coincidental penalties. Gorham is more comfortable in the box and Llewellyn has heard about the accomodations. OSU has an empty net. Puck slips down the ice over DeSantis's stick, but 4 Bucks are on Pacioretty to deny him a hat trick. Back in our zone, the net comes off and the faceoff is outside our zone. They still carry it in and get good pressure. Hogan makes a nice save on a quick wrister from the circle that sneaks around Quick. Under 30 to play. Miller does a nice job of tying up OSU in their end for a little while. Goebel gets a last chance, but Hogan makes the stop.
Great game out of Hogan for his debut. He made some excellent stops. We didn't play like the #2 team in the country, but we came out of here with a good, solid win. That big start in the first period was huge. We kept making ugly turnovers in the neutral zone and our own end and had some trouble cleaning up in front of our own net, but the offensive end was clicking better. Our other 3 lines played much better tonight following the shakeup by Red. Next up is Bowling Green, and that could be a very tough series.
