Tyler Duke’s efforts a saving grace in Michigan’s late collapse

TEMPE, Ariz. — In the third period, Tyler Duke bent down to block an Arizona State shot. Sacrificing his body on a penalty kill, the junior defenseman took a puck to his foot, requiring him to leave the ice to be checked out by the trainer. By the time he returned, the No. 10 Michigan hockey team had surrendered two goals and started overtime.

The Wolverines’ late collapse was emblematic of Duke’s impact — he’d made his presence felt all over the ice, but without him, nobody picked up where he’d left off. Just 11 minutes passed between Duke’s block and the start of overtime, but that’s all the Sun Devils needed to end the game tied three apiece.

“He was our best player the whole night,” graduate forward Phillipe Lapointe said about Duke. “Sacrificing his body, blocking shots, he was just a prick to play against in the D-zone. (Duke) did all the little things right, and made our life easier coming out of the zone.

While the little things Duke did added up for a big impact, he also didn’t shy away when the lights shined brightest. After Arizona State broke out through the neutral zone with an odd-man rush, it was just Duke standing in between their forwards and Michigan freshman goaltender Cameron Korpi. As the Sun Devils pressured closer toward the crease, Duke read the play perfectly as he masterfully poked the puck away with his stick.

Already having left his mark defensively, Duke flashed his two-way ability in the second period. After receiving a pass from graduate defenseman Tim Lovell, Duke rocketed a shot up high past Sun Devils goaltender Gibson Homer. Opening up the scoring, Duke’s snipe was his second and final shot attempt of the game. Although he’s not typically called upon to put the puck in the back of the net, he provided the Wolverines a goal when they needed one.

By the time Duke’s third period block happened, the game seemed in control. Up 3-1 with just minutes remaining, Duke had led Michigan throughout the game defensively and was its offensive catalyst in the second period. So it’s safe to say between his injury and overtime, his impact was surely missed. All it took was just a few minutes for Duke’s efforts to disappear behind his teammates’ faults.

“That’s what was so disappointing,” Wolverines coach Brandon Naurato said about Duke’s block and the eventual overtime tie.

Throughout the game, Duke was a force, sacrificing his body on the defensive end and making forward-like impacts in the offensive zone. Arizona State had no answers for what he brought to the table. But once he was off the ice, nobody else stepped up for Michigan. The Wolverines lost focus, their defense fell flat and they committed an egregious penalty that stacked the deck in the Sun Devils’ favor.

On the ice for two of Michigan’s goals and off the ice for all of Arizona State’s, Duke was the common denominator — the Wolverines played better with him than without him. Without his key blocks, poke checks and goal, there wasn’t enough production to overcome the Sun Devils’ play.

Once the game ended in a tie, Duke’s impact shifted. He’d been the engine driving Michigan toward a win, but his strong play became the pulse that was just strong enough to salvage Michigan’s efforts into a tie rather than a full-blown loss.

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