The game it didn’t play to end the year garnered most of the attention for Michigan last week, but with the defending national champion coming to town this weekend, it’ll be important for the Wolverines to turn the page into the new year quickly.
Michigan and the Minutemen will play a Saturday-Sunday series at Yost Ice Arena this weekend.
With the game against Western Michigan not being played, the last result for Michigan was a 0-0 tie against Michigan Tech.
It was the first time the Wolverines have been shutout this season. Even with a plethora of high-profile players missing, head coach Mel Pearson said that zero goals on the board shows that the team needs to do some things better.
“We’ve got to get more traffic to the net,” Pearson said after Wednesday’s game against MTU. “We’ve got to be harder at getting to the net. We looked a little rusty but, again, we have to put more pressure on the net and get there.”
The bright spot for Michigan, as it usually is for both teams on each side of a scoreless draw, was goaltender Erik Portillo. The sophomore netminder made 27 saves in the contest and picked up his second shutout of the season.
“I feel like I really trusted my game,” Portillo said after the game. “It’s something I’ve been working on all season, just trusting myself and knowing that I can make every save. I don’t have to overdo anything.”
Pearson said that, aside from stopping the puck, he liked how Portillo worked with the defensemen.
“He stood his ground and really did a good job there,” he said. “He played the puck extremely well tonight. It really took a lot of pressure off our defensemen and made it easier for them. He looked calm.”
The games against UMass wrap up the nonconference schedule for the Wolverines. They currently have a 7-1-0 nonconference record.
Michigan State looks for home cooking against Minnesota
Michigan State ended up being the only team that played both of its home games in the modified Great Lakes Invitational Showcase, going 1-1.
With the Gophers coming to town this weekend, the Spartans will look for some rare home success against the Gophers. Since becoming conference mates Michigan State is 3-10-2 against Minnesota at home. The two teams will play on Friday and Saturday at Munn Ice Arena.
The Spartans were dropped 3-1 by Western Michigan last week and rebounded by defeating Michigan Tech 3-2 in overtime. Like Michigan, goaltending was key for the Spartans in the game against the Huskies. Drew DeRidder had 43 saves in the contest, including 19 in the second period.
Since getting swept by Michigan in early November, Michigan State has a 7-3 record. DeRidder has been the goaltender for six of those wins and is averaging 29 saves in those contests. He has an 8-5-1 record with a 1.99 GAA this season.
PairWise check-in
The adage is that you shouldn’t put too much stock into the PairWise Rankings until after the new year so, with 2022 officially here, let’s take a look where the Big Ten’s seven teams find themselves.
Michigan leads the pack, coming in at No. 6, followed by No. 11 Minnesota, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 20 Penn State and No. 37 Wisconsin.
Obviously, the amount of games remaining can and will change things on a week-to-week basis, but it’s a fun thing to watch. One question remaining is with more games being canceled or postponed, like this weekend’s Ohio State and Wisconsin series, will the format for selecting NCAA tournament teams be changed again this season?
