Two years ago, the No. 12 Michigan hockey team housed one of the top power play units in the country. Last season, the Wolverines’ special teams identity faltered as they struggled to convert on opportunities. But on Saturday, Michigan’s brand of efficient power play hockey reignited as it became the basis of its victory.
The Wolverines (2-0) relied heavily on their strong power play performance to complete a commanding win over Mercyhurst (0-2), 7-0, sweeping the opening weekend series.
“There is no better feeling than singing the fight song after a sweep, especially at home,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “… I felt like everyone was involved in the forwards and the wealth was spread out a little bit.”
While Wolverines took just two minutes to score the first goal in their game opener on Friday, Michigan ran into an unexpected roadblock early in the first period — Mercyhurst’s defiant response. Rather than finding the swift offensive production that the Wolverines became familiar with in the first game, the Lakers entered the competition looking for redemption.
That fight from Mercyhurst began to fizzle when the Lakers took a holding penalty seven minutes into the first period. Michigan utilized the man-advantage as it peppered three quick shots,attempting to crack goaltender Charles-Edward Gravel, little by little. Sophomore forward Michael Hage sent a slap shot from the left circle to the waiting stick of sophomore forward Will Horcoff for a swift deflection that put the Wolverines on the board.
Mercyhurst consistently clogged the slot in the first period and forced the Wolverines to take the outside shots. Even as Michigan relentlessly attempted to break down the wall Gravel created, it only received blocked shots in return for the rest of the period.
The Wolverines continued to fight through the Lakers’ defensive pressure in the second period as Gravel stood tall after snatching 17 saves in the period prior. Nonetheless, as Michigan struggled to find the back of the net, an opportunity presented itself — another penalty. In similar fashion, the Wolverines’ power play unit decided to handle the goal scoring problem themselves once again.
Sophomore defenseman Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen received the cross-slot pass to take the puck up to the top. Rather than passing out wide, Rhéaume-Mullen ripped a shot down the slot mere feet in front of the blueline, pushing Michigan’s lead to two goals.
“It’s one weekend, but for the power play to get off to the start that they did and guys are getting stuff,” Naurato said. “(We) are getting things quicker which means we can get to the next thing. I’ll give a bad analogy, but if you don’t know addition and subtraction, we can’t move on to the next thing.”
The scoring woes and defensive battles the Wolverines faced early on had dissipated on the backs of their power play units. Three minutes later, the special teams success set up the foundation for freshman forward Cole McKinney to strike gold for Michigan’s third of the game.
After a scoring lull in the end of the second period, the Lakers routinely found themselves in the penalty box through the third period as they attempted to fight back from their three-goal deficit.
As the Wolverines strived to convert more of those opportunities, they found themselves in a 5-on-3 advantage with 12 minutes left in the third period. They made use of their extra ice space as Horcoff snagged his second goal of the night. Yet, as Mercyhurst welcomed back a player from the box on the ice, freshman forward Malcolm Spence followed the steps of his scoring predecessors to notch Michigan’s fourth power play goal of the night.
Though Michigan chose a less flashy path to victory, the foundation of the Wolverines’ aim went back to something simple for them — power play dominance. By the time Michigan lit the lamp the sixth and seventh time on the night, its special teams performance had already finished the job.
While the Wolverines won in a less flashy manner than Friday’s showing, they resorted back to a key characteristic of Michigan hockey. And with a win due to their power play success, the Wolverines leave their opening weekend with a better grasp of who they can be.
