Michigan cured its home woes, and for the Wolverines it couldn’t have come at a better time. <\/p>\n
After giving up a quick goal, the Wolverines rattled off four straight in a five-minute span before holding on and sweeping Nebraska-Omaha, 6-3, in front of an electric crowd at Yost Ice Arena. <\/p>\n
“It was a big weekend for Michigan,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “We needed to have back-to-back games at home where we could walk out of here and feel good about the whole weekend at home.”<\/p>\n
Holding a disappointing 5-5-2 mark at home coming into the series, Michigan finished off its first weekend sweep at Yost in over a year. The last one came Jan. 5-7, 2001, against Lake Superior. <\/p>\n
But more importantly for the Wolverines, the win, coupled with a Michigan State loss at home to Notre Dame, brought Michigan (18-8-5. 15-5-4) into a first-place tie with the Spartans heading into the rivals’ nonconference matchup at Joe Louis Arena this Saturday.<\/p>\n
Michigan’s fifth straight win didn’t come easy.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks struck first just three minutes into the game. Taking advantage of an odd bounce off the boards and a stickhandling mistake by Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn, Scotty Turner slammed a loose puck just outside the crease into the net for a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Berenson later said that Blackburn had been struck in the right index finger with a shot in Friday’s game, forcing him to receive four stitches — and thus having an effect on Blackburn’s puck-handling ability.<\/p>\n
But it didn’t matter, as the Wolverines caught fire shortly thereafter and took over the game. With 11:45 remaining, Michigan captain Jed Ortmeyer started the four-goal barrage with a power-play tally. John Shouneyia slyly maneuvered around the Nebraska-Omaha zone before sending a diagonal pass to Ortmeyer in the slot. The Omaha native one-timed it past a flailing Dan Ellis to tie the game.<\/p>\n
Thirty seconds later, Michigan freshman forward Milan Gajic gave Michigan the lead on an odd-man rush. But the Wolverines’ third goal was the turning point that Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Kemp said put the Mavericks “on their heels.”<\/p>\n
The Mavericks had a 3-on-2 opportunity, but the rebound off a nice Blackburn save kicked out to Gajic who led a Michigan rush of its own. As Gajic carried the puck down the right side, defenseman Jay Vancik jumped into the play and redirected a pass over Ellis’ blocker to take the wind out of the Mavericks’ sails and force Kemp to call an early timeout.<\/p>\n
“Those next two goals came so quick that it really sent us on our heels for a while — up through the rest of the period,” Kemp said.<\/p>\n
Gajic’s second goal of the game came three minutes later, giving Michigan a 4-2 lead heading into intermission and marking just the second time this year the Wolverines have scored four times in one stanza.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks wouldn’t go away, and got within 4-3 at the end of the second period. But thirty six seconds into the third period, Ortmeyer put Nebraska-Omaha away with a fluky goal.<\/p>\n
With two Mavericks draped around him in the right circle, Ortmeyer ripped a slapshot top shelf on Ellis, and the 6,759 in attendance erupted.<\/p>\n
“That was a huge goal,” Berenson said. “Maybe it was a little lucky, it was a bad angled shot that normally doesn’t go in. “But it did, and it was a huge goal.”<\/p>\n
Michigan outshot the Mavericks, 31-22 and stoned them on all four of their power plays — bringing the Wolverines’ penalty kill streak to 55. Michigan now holds a six-game unbeaten streak over Nebraska-Omaha (5-0-1), but has won two in overtime.<\/p>\n
After rattling off eight straight wins and pulling within two points of the Wolverines’, Nebraska-Omaha’s last two losses have put them seven points behind Michigan and Michigan State with just four conference games remaining.<\/p>\n
“It’s really tough,” Nebraska-Omaha defenseman Jason Jaworski said. The losses “have put us behind the eight-ball now, and we just have to respond in our next few games and get back on track.”<\/p>\n