The No. 13 Michigan hockey team spent the week reflecting on its most recent series against Penn State, remembering the chaos that ensued in November. But Friday, despite sweeping the first series against the Nittany Lions, the Wolverines’ lack of discipline in general made the memory a reality as they lost another special teams battle.
Though Michigan limited in its penalty troubles through the first period, Penn State spent the rest of the game capitalizing on the Wolverines’ faults.
“The timing of the penalties and the penalties in general hurt us,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said.
Similar to the rest of the Wolverines’ commanding playmaking in the first period, they shut down the Nittany Lions’ power play smoothly. With four big plays coming from multiple units, Michigan delivered clear after clear with little issue.
But the Wolverines’ signs of success were short lived as Penn State began to crack their foundation.
Five minutes in the second period, Michigan pocketed a power play opportunity, looking to run away with its one goal lead. However, the Nittany Lions acted before the Wolverines could convert. Freshman forward Michael Hage lost control of the puck at Michigan’s blue line andPenn State forward Tyler Paquette picked up the puck in the neutral zone. With just sophomore forward Evan Werner in Paquette’s way, he sunk a puck to grab a shorthanded goal.
And unlike the Nittany Lions, Michigan failed to overcome its own penalty plague. Because just five minutes later, the Wolverines skated to their familiar spot in the penalty box, delivering Penn State another gift.
Nittany Lions forward Aidan Fink logged his second goal of the night and broke Penn State’s record with his 14th career power play goal. Fink sniped the puck from the right face-off circle, sinking it into the corner of the net to bullzone Michigan’s penalty kill unit.
“We’ve taken a lot of penalties this year,” junior forward Jackson Hallum said. “We have to start learning and everyone on our team just (has) to look in the mirror.”
The Wolverines grappled back and rediscovered their rhythm from the first period to tie the game. But even as Michigan nearly fulfilled its comeback, its lack of discipline haunted it once again.
In a moment of chaos, freshman goaltender Cameron Korpi lost his stick. Nittany Lions forward J.J. Wiebusch took advantage of the chance as he backhanded a shot over Korpi’s head and delivered one final special teams blow that ultimately settled the game.
“(The loss) really stinks because we thought we were the better team tonight,” junior forward Kienan Draper said. “We did a lot of things that we talked about, just at the end of the day, penalties kind of cost us.”
While the Wolverines took five penalties, which is low compared to their recent string of games, three penalties was enough to sink them. Through five-on-five matchup in the first period, Michigan dominated every facet of the game. When playing in an even contest, the Wolverines controlled their time in the offensive zone to take the early two goal lead.
But when Michigan started taking the penalties, windows of opportunity opened up for Penn State — and it had no issue skating right through them. The Wolverines entered this weekend’s matchup knowing that their discipline and penalties held the weight of a win or loss. And Friday, Michigan earned the result it had hoped to avoid.
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