Michigan's hockey team's season long attempt to put together a complete performance was resolved Saturday night. It was resolved in a big way.
Setting a program record for goals in a Big Ten conference game and using point scoring from thirteen different skaters, the Wolverines avenged Friday night's loss to Penn State with an 8-1 rout of the Nittany Lions.
Beginning with Boo Nieves highlight reel goal early in the second period and ending with Michael Downing's late third period score, the Wolverines were led by JT Compher's first two goals of the year and featured single-goal efforts by Tyler Motte, Zach Hyman, Andrew Copp and Alex Kile.
As importantly, Michigan combined that scoring punch with a strong goaltending performance by Zach Nagelvoort who turned aside 41 Penn State shots.
"The difference in tonight's game for me was we didn't have that let down that cost us the game last night," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "We couldn't recover from it. The pucks also went in for us tonight. Even though we didn't score in the first period, our team played patient, played hard, and then sooner or later you have to put in the net. Boo Nieves' goal I thought was the highlight; it was a highlight-reel goal. You don't get many of those, but tonight we needed a goal, and he got one. Zach Hyman crashed the crease on his and so on. We got some good hockey plays, we got some good hard-work goals, but it was very good to see the puck go in. On the other end, (Zach) Naglevoort had to play well. At times, this was not an 8-1 game, it could have been a lot closer, and he kept their goals down."
Compher's drought-ending pair of goals were clearly a relief to the sophomore assistant captain.
"It was just a matter of time when JT was going to score," pointed out Berenson. "We just hoped he wouldn't get too frustrated in the meantime while he's going through that. He's always been a goal scorer, and it wasn't like he was hurting his game. His game was good. Both his wingers (Boo Nieves and Max Shuart) have come alive and started to score. Shuart has played well, Boo has played well, and it's good to see JT get a goal. But that line has been good ever since we put them together."
Naturally, Compher was willing to credit teammates for their role in his scoring, especially his initial effort.
"It feels really good," Compher said. "It was a really, really good pass by Max (Shuart) down low. Zach Werenski made a nice play to get it to Max, and I was just happy to get one in. I feel like the weight is off my shoulders a little bit, and I can go back to not answering questions about it and playing hockey."
The win evens Michigan's Big Ten conference record at 1-1.
"It was a lot of fun," said junior captain Copp. "I wish we could have done that two nights in a row, but we can't get last night's game back, so we were happy with what happened tonight."
Setting a program record for goals in a Big Ten conference game and using point scoring from thirteen different skaters, the Wolverines avenged Friday night's loss to Penn State with an 8-1 rout of the Nittany Lions.
Beginning with Boo Nieves highlight reel goal early in the second period and ending with Michael Downing's late third period score, the Wolverines were led by JT Compher's first two goals of the year and featured single-goal efforts by Tyler Motte, Zach Hyman, Andrew Copp and Alex Kile.
As importantly, Michigan combined that scoring punch with a strong goaltending performance by Zach Nagelvoort who turned aside 41 Penn State shots.
"The difference in tonight's game for me was we didn't have that let down that cost us the game last night," said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "We couldn't recover from it. The pucks also went in for us tonight. Even though we didn't score in the first period, our team played patient, played hard, and then sooner or later you have to put in the net. Boo Nieves' goal I thought was the highlight; it was a highlight-reel goal. You don't get many of those, but tonight we needed a goal, and he got one. Zach Hyman crashed the crease on his and so on. We got some good hockey plays, we got some good hard-work goals, but it was very good to see the puck go in. On the other end, (Zach) Naglevoort had to play well. At times, this was not an 8-1 game, it could have been a lot closer, and he kept their goals down."
Compher's drought-ending pair of goals were clearly a relief to the sophomore assistant captain.
"It was just a matter of time when JT was going to score," pointed out Berenson. "We just hoped he wouldn't get too frustrated in the meantime while he's going through that. He's always been a goal scorer, and it wasn't like he was hurting his game. His game was good. Both his wingers (Boo Nieves and Max Shuart) have come alive and started to score. Shuart has played well, Boo has played well, and it's good to see JT get a goal. But that line has been good ever since we put them together."
Naturally, Compher was willing to credit teammates for their role in his scoring, especially his initial effort.
"It feels really good," Compher said. "It was a really, really good pass by Max (Shuart) down low. Zach Werenski made a nice play to get it to Max, and I was just happy to get one in. I feel like the weight is off my shoulders a little bit, and I can go back to not answering questions about it and playing hockey."
The win evens Michigan's Big Ten conference record at 1-1.
"It was a lot of fun," said junior captain Copp. "I wish we could have done that two nights in a row, but we can't get last night's game back, so we were happy with what happened tonight."
