The Michigan Wolverines rallied with two goals in the third period, including getting an unusual bounce on a goal by Luke Glendening, en route to a 2-1 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday evening.
Yesterday evening, the Buckeyes were trailing 2-1 going into the final minute of the game. Ohio State notched a game-tying goal on a power play with 10 seconds remaining Friday followed by scoring the game-winner in overtime.
“I thought obviously Michigan is going to come back,” Ohio State coach Mark Oseicki said. “That is a (darn) good hockey team from top to bottom. You knew when they lose (last week) to Minnesota and lose last night, you knew what kind of effort they were going to come with. We knew they were going to put everything at the net. They found a way to get a lucky goal. Put things on net and things happen.”
Tonight, the Buckeyes had a chance to tie the game at two as Michigan’s Ben Winnett hooked Ohio State’s Danny Dries with 37 seconds remaining to give OSU a power play to finish the game. In the closing seconds, Chad Langlais was charged for slashing and Ohio State had a six-on-three power play for four seconds. Michigan’s Matt Rust tied up Ohio State’s Peter Boyd on the ensuing faceoff and the Buckeyes were unable to muster a shot.
“We are a pretty good penalty-killing team,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said, “but after what happened last night, you don’t want to repeat it. I have been in this rink too many times where you have had it happen to each team, it is amazing how many last-minute scenarios where it has gone one way or the other way. At least tonight, it went our way.”
The Wolverines entered the third period down 1-0 despite outshooting the Buckeyes 31-20 the first two periods.
Michigan got the game-tying goal 6:02 into the third from Glendening on a weird bounce that went through the five-hole of Buckeyes goalie Cal Heeter.
“Just put pucks on net,” Michigan forward David Wohlberg said. “That was what we were talking about. One goal can change the whole flow of the game.”
“It was a good sign to get a little bit of puck-luck,” Berenson said.
“We were getting shots and chances and their goalie played well. Obviously, we had a lot of shots and couldn’t score and then to get a bounce like that, that was huge. And then it was anyone’s game like last night. It came down to the third period. The team that would win the third period would win the hockey game.”
“After that goal, I think we were on our heels a bit for about a five-minute period,” Osiecki said. “I have never seen a bounce like that and all of a sudden; it was in the back of the net. That was as strange of a goal that you can see. And certainly you are going to have some momentum change there.”
The Wolverines took a 2-1 lead 14:36 into the third when Wohlberg collected a rebound off his own shot off the post and deposited the puck past the stick of Heeter. The goal was Wholberg’s second game-winner of the season.
After a scoreless first, the Buckeyes got the first goal of the game 12:32 into the second. Alex Szczechura scored for the second straight night as he beat the stick of Michigan goalie Bryan Hogan from the right circle. Boyd notched his 100th collegiate point assisting on Szczechura’s goal.
After Heeter made a great block of a Kevin Lynch shot, the Buckeyes led a rush down the other end of the ice. Ohio State appeared to get a 2-0 advantage over Michigan with five minutes left in the second as Danny Dries knocked in a rebound off a shot from Shane Sims. The goal was waived off quickly and the call was confirmed after a lengthy review. It appeared the reason was due to Peter Boyd tussling with Hogan on his stick side. No official reason was given by the on-ice officials, however.
“It was just a scramble,” Boyd said. “I don’t really know what the refs saw in there, there were so many bodies in there. But obviously something we didn’t (see) and they made the call. Definitely changes the outcome I think going into the third period.”
Michigan hosts Michigan State next Saturday for a single game in Michigan Stadium in front of what will be the largest crowd to ever see a collegiate hockey game in person. Ohio State travels to play inter-state opponent Bowling Green State for a pair of games next weekend.
