Michigan
22-7-3, 17-5-3CCHA
Michigan State
22-9-2, 17-7-1CCHA
U-M Downs Spartans, Takes Command of CCHA Race
2/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
Huntzicker's goal, which also proved to be the game-winner, came from five feet inside the red line just 1:50 into the third. After picking off a Spartan pass through the neutral zone, he fired the puck at the net. The puck went just over the head of Michigan State goaltender Joe Blackburn, hit the cross bar and deflected into the net, giving Huntzicker his second goal of the season.
Cammalleri added the insurance goal with just over five minutes remaining in the game. After Josh Langfeld (Coon Rapids, Minn.) made a solid defensive play in the neutral zone to knock the puck loose, Cammalleri skated into the Spartan zone, faked a shot and drew the puck through John-Michael Liles' legs. Pulling the puck to his backhand, Cammalleri dropped it to himself and managed to get a one-handed shot past a sprawling Joe Blackburn to close out the scoring at 4-2.
After a scoreless first period, Mike Comrie (Edmonton, Alberta) scored his 18th goal of the season midway through the second period. Winning a faceoff in Michigan State's end of the ice, Andy Hilbert (Howell, Mich.) drew the puck toward Huntzicker. The puck was deflected to Comrie at the top of the left circle, and his shot deflected off a Spartan defender and sailed over Joe Blackburn and into the net.
The Wolverines extended their lead with four minutes remaining in the second period on Geoff Koch's (Exeter, N.H.) 11th goal of the season, a near carbon copy of Michigan's first goal of the night. This time, it was John Shouneyia (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) who won the faceoff and fed the puck to Sean Peach (Langley, B.C.), who took a slapshot which Joe Blackburn stopped with his pads. The rebound bounced out to Koch, and he fired it past the glove of Blackburn to give Michigan a 2-0 lead.
Michigan State (22-10-2, 17-8-1 CCHA) closed the gap with a short-handed goal from Shawn Horcoff with just six seconds left in the period to make the score 2-1 heading into the second intermission. After Huntzicker's goal just under two minutes into the final period, the Spartans cut the lead again with a power-play goal from Brad Hodgins halfway through the period.
Michigan's Josh Blackburn (Choctaw, Okla.) made 21 saves en route to his 10th win of the season. Michigan State's Joe Blackburn also made 21 saves and suffered the defeat.
Saturday night (Feb. 26) the Wolverines and Spartans square off in a non-conference game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Opening faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m. and the game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net Detroit.
N O T E S
The Wolverines are one CCHA win away from clinching their first outright regular-season title since the 1996-97 season. With an 18-5-3 CCHA record, Michigan has 39 points and leads Michigan State (17-8-1, 35 points) by four points and Northern Michigan (15-6-4, 34 points) by five. U-M and MSU each have two CCHA games remaining, while the Wildcats have three left.
Northern Michigan stayed in the hunt for the CCHA regular-season title with a 6-1 win at Miami (Ohio) on Friday (Feb. 25). The Wildcats and RedHawks meet again Saturday in Oxford, Ohio. A NMU tie or loss would clinch a share of the title for Michigan.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Red Berenson
On tonight's game ... "I liked our team. Home ice gives you an advantage, there's no question. Scoring the first goal was important in the game. Giving up the short-handed goal in the last minute [of the second period] was a tough goal to give up, and it was good that we came out and had a better period after that. It's a big win for our team. It was a good game for both teams, but a better game for our team."
On the type of game played tonight ... "These are the kind of games that you want to play in; these are the kind of games that you look forward to all year. I thought we had two games like this last weekend up at Northern. They were great games and good playoff-type games."
On the youth of the Wolverines ... "I just can't believe how young our team is. I look out there and more often than not, there's three or four freshmen. Our power play has four forwards and three of them are freshmen. It's kind of scary."
On Mike Cammalleri's unassisted goal ... "That's a complete talent goal. That's why you recruit a kid. You don't expect him to be able to do that in such a crucial moment in a big game, but he can do it."
On the play of the defense ... "I thought our defense was outstanding tonight. When you look back to the start of the year, I don't think I would have predicted that this would have been our defense. I'm so pleased that (Mike) Roemensky has come in and given us depth, and (Dave) Huntzicker has emerged as a top defensive defenseman in this league. I thought (Jeff) Jillson was a giant out there tonight. (Jay) Vancik played probably his best game. They all really played hard and played smart."
Freshman Center Mike Cammalleri
On Michigan State's play ... "Michigan State is the type of team that likes to keep it really tight; they don't like to give you a lot. After you get a lead on them, things are going to open up a bit because they're going to play with a little offensive desperation."
On his third-period goal ... "It was just a play that developed from Josh Langfeld, a good forecheck. I stepped in, and it was just a one-on-one situation, something we practice a lot. I got a good move out of it, and was able to step by the defense. (MSU goaltender Joe) Blackburn kind of gambled and went for the poke-check. I was able to just grab it before he could get it and slip it in."
Junior Defenseman Dave Huntzicker
On the play of the defense ... "We got a big boost the second half of the season with the return of (Josh) Blackburn and Mike Roemensky coming in. It's a big boost when you've got a goalie that's really hot right now. He really solidified our defense. We just needed some time to get used to each other."
On what the win means in terms of the CCHA race ... "We knew it would help our cause, but we havent wrapped anything up yet. We've got some big games next weekend, and we want to keep the momentum going and just do what we can to get an automatic berth and keep going from there."
Sophomore Goaltender Josh Blackburn
On tonight's intensity ... "They just threw their best at us. This is a big rivalry; we were excited all last week about it, and I'm sure they were excited too. We beat them up there, in their own rink, so I'm sure they wanted to come in here and tear us apart, and we wanted to tear them apart. Everybody went all out."
On the importance of tonight's win ... "It's a huge game. It's Michigan State; that's what you come to Michigan for -- to play Michigan State. So, it was a huge game for us, to win two in a row against Michigan State. It's the first time we've done that since I've been here. We're four points ahead, so we are in the driver's seat. On the other hand, we have two games next weekend."
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
