Michigan dominates icers in series opener, 5-1

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Everything changes in the playoffs.

It didn’t matter that the No. 10 MSU hockey team won three-of-four games against Michigan earlier this season.

It didn’t matter that injuries caused U-M to be without its starting goaltender and senior captain.

And it didn’t matter that the Spartans were the No. 2 seed entering the CCHA Tournament, compared to U-M’s No. 7 ranking entering the playoffs.

Everything was put aside Friday night at Munn Ice Arena as the Wolverines gave the Spartans an old-fashioned whooping, routing MSU 5-1 in the quarterfinals of the CCHA Tournament.

To avoid elimination from the conference tournament, MSU must win its next two games in a row against U-M in the best-of-three series. More importantly, MSU must win to keep its season alive. If they lose this series, its NCAA Tournament hopes are in serious jeopardy.

And there was no sugarcoating this loss for the Spartans. It was downright ugly.

The Wolverines posted three goals in the first period and held MSU to a measly 16 shots on goal for the game.

“We have to try and stay positive and get something positive out of this,” senior forward and co-captain Nick Sucharski said. “The one positive we can look at is that it’s going to be hard to play worse and they aren’t going to be playing any better. That first period was the best we’ve seen them play all year.”

MSU head coach Rick Comley said his team was drastically outworked in the lopsided loss.

“We’ve had guys have good years and work hard,” Comley said. “They just have to react. It’s a slap in the face and you have to react.”

U-M got on the board in the first period with two breakaway goals three minutes apart. Forward Carl Hagelin beat MSU sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano at 7:06, then forward David Wohlberg did the same at 10:18 to put U-M ahead 2-0.

The Wolverines tacked on another goal at 13:35 when forward Louie Caporusso danced around two MSU defensemen in the slot and beat Palmisano stick side.

“That first period they came at us like a house on fire,” Sucharski said. “We were back on our heels.”

The Spartans had been in this situation before against their archrival. In the last meeting between the two teams, U-M went up three goals at the end of the first period. But MSU battled back and scored the next four-straight goals, only to give up two late goals in the third period to lose the game.

That’s why U-M defenseman Steve Kampfer’s power play goal from the point was so huge. The tally padded the Wolverines lead to four goals.

“We talked about the fact that a three-goal lead against this team is not necessarily safe,” U-M head coach Red Berenson said of the Spartans. “We’ve got to play better and harder as the game goes on and not let them have a life. We’ve been in this building and the momentum can change dramatically. The home fans are just waiting for something good to happen.”

Through the first half of the second period, MSU looked like a team in shambles. It took more than 12 minutes for the Spartans to record their second shot of the period, resulting in Comley jumbling the line pairings.

The shake up worked, and at 14:31 in the second period the Spartans finally got on the board with a power play goal. Junior defenseman Jeff Petry took a shot from the point that was deflected by a U-M defenseman and then redirected off freshman forward Derek Grant into the net. After a quick review upstairs, the goal stood and was credited to Grant.

The goal gave life to the Spartans. But only momentarily.

Only 10 seconds after Grant’s goal, MSU put together a tic-tack-toe passing play in the offensive zone. Sucharski received a pass at the bottom of the left faceoff dot and sent it cross ice to Grant, who was wide open streaking to the net. But the pass handcuffed Grant and he was unable to redirect the puck into the vacant net.

Comley said if Grant could have converted, the Spartans may have found a spark. Instead, the Wolverines continued their domination, holding MSU to four shots in the second period.

The Wolverines made the score 5-1 with 43.4 seconds remaining in the second period. Palmisano misplayed the puck and before he could get back into position, Caporusso tapped the puck into the net.

Senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz replaced Palmisano to start the third period. Palmisano made 20 saves in the loss.

The two teams played a scoreless final frame. MSU did spring three odd-man rushes late in the game, but failed to muster any serious threats on U-M backup goaltender Shawn Hunwick.

“Maybe we were nervous,” Comley said. “Michigan cranked their game up. Obviously that was the best they’ve played against us all year.”

The season is potentially on the line for the Spartans on Saturday night. With a loss, it is unlikely MSU will receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

“The one good thing is that it is a game of desperation tomorrow,” Sucharski said. “We are going to take it one game at a time because we need to win tomorrow. If we lose, we are out basically. Whatever you want to say aside, with this could happen, or this could happen, we are looking at it, as if we lose we are done. The desperation is going to be there.”

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