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After the No. 7 Michigan hockey team surrendered a fifth goal to Minnesota State, freshman forward Michael Hage shot the puck down the ice in frustration. Now down 5-2 with about two minutes remaining in the third and final period, that final goal was the nail in the coffin for the Wolverines, whose defensive struggles sank their chance to win the season opener.
Though graduate goaltender Logan Stein faced just 23 shots on net, five of them flew past him as the Michigan’s defense failed to protect its defensive zone. The Wolverines were consistently a step behind, failing to react quickly to its own mishaps in the neutral zone.
But struggles in the first game of the season aren’t novel, especially for a Michigan roster fraught with turnover. It takes more than just preseason practices to iron out simple metal mistakes, and the Wolverines learned that the hard way.
“The main message was just doing the little things right in our D zone,” Hage said. “We felt like everything they had we gave it to them tonight.”
Those little things turned out to not be so little, as the start of the second period marked the beginning of Michigan’s troubles. The first of these mistakes to cost the Wolverines came off a turnover by senior defenseman Ethan Edwards in the neutral zone, leading to an outlet pass and a 3-on-1 rush for the Mavericks. Failing to commit to the puck, junior defenseman Tyler Duke left an open runway for Minnesota State forward Brian Carrabes to rocket a shot top shelf.
Just four minutes later, a Mavericks forward accidentally tipped the puck toward the Michigan’s defensive zone, it seemed to be a routine moment as graduate defenseman Jacob Truscott corralled the puck.
But in an instant, Truscott tripped on his own skate, giving the puck right back to Minnesota State with an odd-man rush to boot. And after a slick pass down low, Mavericks forward Brett Moravec netted a crafty backhand shot behind Stein to take the lead.
“The game just comes down to winning your races and battles,” Naurato said. “Throughout the chaos, we’re trying to be predictable to each other with our spots, and other guys need to be in spots. But then we need to make plays (in) those areas, so figuring out how we want to play and obviously getting the chemistry is new, but being by yourself and turning the puck over at the blue line is an individual point.”
The second goal wasn’t the only turnover at the blue line that led to a goal, as graduate defenseman Tim Lovell made a sloppy pass backward that was picked off by Minnesota State defenseman Luke Ashton. Subsequently, he blasted a shot by Stein, sinking the Mavericks’ third unanswered goal — enough to put the game out of reach.
Minnesota State added even more assurance with two more goals, as it spewed confidence in the closing minutes of the game. And by the time the Mavericks struck gold for the fifth time, it was more than just Hage who knew the game was over. With just over two minutes remaining, the players, the coaching staff and the Wolverines’ fanbase knew it too.
After a game full of costly turnovers, Michigan skated off the ice disheartened. It was a frustrating night for the Wolverines— one where their lights were shut out every time a turnover led to the puck in the back of their net.
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