If Michigan is playing a Big Ten team on a Friday night, expect a lot of second-period goals … from both teams.
For the second consecutive Friday night, the Wolverines prevailed over a visiting Big Ten opponent in a high-scoring game, with the teams combining for as many goals in the second period as some teams score in entire games — or entire weekends. In Michigan’s 8-3 win over Minnesota tonight, the Wolverines and Golden Gophers registered five goals between them in the second period, three coming within the span of a single minute and two of those scored by Michigan.
And the game was tied at 1-1 before a single minute of play had elapsed.
It’s a dizzying kind of hockey that the Wolverines seem content to play. In Michigan’s 6-4 win over Wisconsin Dec. 4, the Wolverines and Badgers combined for seven second-period goals.
“Our second periods have not been our strongest periods, for one reason or another,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “I look at the scoring on the season, there’s a definite trend. We’re pretty good in the first and really good in the third.”
Michigan freshman Kyle Connor recorded his first career hat trick, scoring two consecutive even-strength goals in the second period and one on a power play late in the third. Tyler Motte also had two goals for the Wolverines, and Minnesota’s Hudson Fasching registered two as well.
With as many goals as were scored, the shots were surprisingly low, with Minnesota edging Michigan 25-24. Michigan’s Zach Nagelvoort picked up his fifth win of the season with 22 saves.
Three different Golden Gopher goalies saw time in net: freshman Eric Schierhorn, who allowed five goals and registered the loss; sophomore Nick Lehr, who was scored on three times; and senior Ryan Coyne, who saw his first game time ever when he came in after Michigan’s eighth goal with 3:10 left in the third.
Minnesota defenseman Jack Glover said that there was no silver lining in this game.
“We hung our goalies — all three of them — out to dry on every goal tonight. There’s not much positive to take away.”
Motte scored his first goal of the game 16 seconds in, a rocket from the point, but Fasching answered with his first 14 seconds later, tipping in Glover’s shot. Dexter Dancs’ shot from near the right post at 6:30 gave the Wolverines a 2-1 lead after one.
At 10:09 in the second, Tyler Sheehy scored on a Minnesota power play to even the game, but that didn’t last for an entire minute. At 10:43, Cristoval “Boo” Nieves threaded traffic to score on Schierhorn, and at 10:58, Connor netted his first goal by picking up Motte’s rebound.
“From the mid-point of the second period,” said Berenson, “I thought we played our best hockey, in through the third. You knew Minnesota was a good team. If they get to play in your zone, they’re going to be dangerous and they were. I thought the first 10 minutes of the second period was all Minnesota, and we survived that. We gave up a goal we shouldn’t have, but we survived it and then we started to go.
“When Boo got through their defense and then scored, that just changed [things]. You could just feel that pick our team up and sure enough we scored the next shift, and away we went.”
Connor scored again at 14:38 from the far right corner, below the goal line, but Fasching answered once again for the Gophers at 16:26 to make it a 5-3 game after two.
“If you’d asked me at the start if we’d give up 24 shots, [I’d say] we’d be in good shape,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia, “but unfortunately, it was a rough night for our goaltenders right away. The first shot went in and then I thought we did a good job of kind of righting the ship. We came out and had a really good, strong second period, tied it up 2-2, then gave up two goals in 15 seconds. Big setback.”
In spite of giving up the last goal of the second period, the Wolverines carried momentum into the third, with goals from Max Shuart, Motte and Connor. Shuart’s goal was particularly pretty, as he took the puck from end to end and fired it cleanly past Lehr for his second goal of the season and the junior’s fifth career goal.
The Gophers (6-8-0, 2-1-0-0 B1G) and Wolverines (9-2-3, 2-0-1-1 B1G) meet again Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
“We proved there in the second that we can play with them,” said Glover. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we can. It’s frustrating to lose that momentum shift and not be able to recover.”
