Michigan breaks through in third period, defeating Boston University, 5-1

BOSTON — Through two periods, it looked like nothing new for the Michigan hockey team: plenty of opportunities, yet very few conversions. But a team can only be snake bit for so long.

Statistically dominating throughout and setting a new season-high in shots, the 11th-ranked Wolverines (4-2-1) finally made it count in the third period with five goals, taking down No. 5 Boston University (4-2), 5-1.

In the beginning, Michigan dominated the stat sheet, but it was the Terriers who had the best scoring chances of the first period. 

A few minutes into the game, with the Wolverines on a power play, the puck came free and sailed toward their own goal with no defensemen back. While the Agganis Arena crowd crescendoed with excitement, graduate goaltender Logan Stein stayed calm and recognized the dire situation, skating way out of the net to beat opposing players to the puck and erase the threat. 

“I was just judging the speed of it, making sure I could get there,” Stein said. “And then I just wanted a quick start out of my crease to make sure I was gonna beat him there, and then made sure I put it hard up the wall so it didn’t get batted down by anyone.”

Two more times throughout the first period, BU had perfect looks in front of the goal, but — much like Michigan’s offense often this season — it couldn’t finish. After one period, the Wolverines had 25 total shots — more than they had in the entirety of their last game.

As Michigan already knows, though, it’s goals, not chances, that truly matter. And just minutes into the second period, with the Wolverines on the penalty kill, it was the Terriers who found the game’s first goal. With the puck cleared back into its defensive zone, BU defenseman Cole Hutson sent a stretch pass into the offensive zone and caught Michigan’s defense sleeping. The puck slid by three Wolverines defensemen onto the waiting stick of forward Cole Eiserman, who didn’t waste any time firing it between Stein’s legs and into the net.

Michigan was still struggling to convert, but with the sheer number of shots it was producing, it was only a matter of time until someone found the back of the net. And in the third period, sophomore forward Evan Werner finally did. About five minutes in, junior forward Josh Eernisse passed to Werner, patiently waiting on the right side. Werner repositioned himself quickly and then fired the puck into the top right corner of the net for his first goal with the Wolverines.

“He’s a guy that’s … probably a little snake bit, probably deserves a little bit more than what he’s getting,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “But credit to him, all week he was working on that same play, just some shooting development. And when you put the work in, then he gets a chance and he buries it.”

Then, a minute and a half later, Werner did it again.

On an odd-man rush, freshman forward Michael Hage was patient, carrying the puck closer and closer to the goal up the left side, eventually forcing BU netminder Mathieu Caron to commit. Once Caron bit, Hage found Werner directly in front of the right post, who tapped it in for his second goal and the Wolverines’ first lead. And they just kept pouring it on.

First, senior defenseman Ethan Edwards scored an unassisted goal from the slot on a power play. Then, again a man up, graduate defenseman Jacob Truscott added another from the same spot. With Michigan underperforming on the power play this season, those two goals were “very refreshing” to Naurato.

After an empty-netter from sophomore Nick Moldenhauer, the score was suddenly 5-1, with all five goals coming from players who were scoreless coming into the game — and all five coming in the third period.

“I think it was just a mindset switch,” Werner said of the transition from the second to third period. “Play like it was our last game and just come out hard. It was a back-and-forth game, but we capitalized on our chances in the third.”

The Wolverines have already played several games this season in which the puck just wasn’t bouncing their way. Despite the struggles, they’ve remained confident that things would eventually go their way. Through two periods Friday, it seemed more and more like that confidence was misguided.

But in the third period, Michigan proved it wasn’t.

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