PROVIDENCE, R.I. — For the first time all season, the No. 9 Michigan hockey team had zero power play opportunities Saturday night against No. 7 Providence — a surprise, considering the vitality of the power-play unit to the Wolverines’ offensive gameplan.
With Michigan’s primary offensive weapon blunted, it needed to look elsewhere for goals. Senior forward Josh Eernisse answered the call, utilizing his speed and size in a stellar outing that propelled the Wolverines to a sweep-clinching victory over the Friars.
“He just creates so much,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “He does so many little things on the forecheck and tracking back into the zone that are underappreciated. It’s good to see him get on the scoresheet and get rewarded.”
Eernisse didn’t start the game off on quite the note he might’ve wanted, serving a two-minute penalty for boarding around nine minutes into the first period.
But he only had to wait until the second period for an opportunity to redeem himself. Six minutes into the period, holding a 1-0 lead, the Wolverines found themselves down a man yet again — this time, senior defenseman Tyler Duke for holding. Attempting to capitalize, Providence hammered at Michigan’s goal, but freshman defenseman Asher Barnett picked up and batted down a goalbound puck. Eernisse pounced on the breakaway, using his speed to get in front of a Friars defenseman and slot home with his shorthand to double Michigan’s lead.
And his second goal was nearly a mirror image of his first. About 11 minutes into the third period, senior forward Kienan Draper lodged a puck loose with a faceoff win — and once again, Eernisse got to it first. He glided across the ice with a burst of pace nearly identical to that which had led to his first, and put another into the net to put the finishing touches on the victory.
“I think (my speed is) a strength of my game that I try to use,” Eernisse said. “Just beat guys at foot races. Use my speed when possible. So when there’s a 50-50, I challenge myself to win all those, and then I was able to just get a loose break on both of them.”
But Eernisse’s impact Saturday night was more than just the numbers on the scoresheet. Deployed on the Wolverines’ fourth forward line with Draper and freshman forward Aidan Park, Eernisse and his linemates used their height and strength to assist defensively, be it by dropping deep, throwing up checks or man-marking Providence’s forwards.
Their skills came to be of especially great use early in the third period. Michigan opted to put its fourth line on the ice early in the period in the hope of bunkering down and holding onto a thin lead.. And it paid off, as the Wolverines didn’t concede again after the second period.
“Part of our role is just being hard and not giving up anything defensively,” Eernisse said. “Whether it’s in the third, or just any moment of the game, it starts with good defense, and then from there we can work and we can get our offense going.”
And it was that “hardness” that characterized Eernisse’s play across both offense and defense against the Friars. He utilized his physicality, toughness and explosivity to great effect both in scoring two breakaway goals and defending that lead he’d fought to secure, and the final product was a starring role in an early, head-turning sweep of a top-10 opponent by Michigan.
