Kornacki: Nagelvoort, Calderone Not Enough for Wolverines
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
March 5, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Tony Calderone and Zach Nagelvoort gave the University of Michigan ice hockey team a chance to stage another one of the big comebacks it had routinely put together this season.
Calderone scored two goals in the third period to cut a four-goal deficit in half.
Nagelvoort stopped 10 of 11 shots after replacing starting goalie Steve Racine.
But they weren't enough in a 7-4 loss Friday night (March 4) to Ohio State, which added an empty-net goal for the final score.
The Wolverines broke out to a 2-0 lead before surrendering six unanswered goals and allowing their most total goals in a game at Yost Ice Arena since giving up seven in a loss to Notre Dame on Dec. 8, 2006.
What went wrong for a team that had been playing so well and was ranked No. 6 in the nation entering the game?
"That's a good question," said Michigan coach Red Berenson. "It was a little bit (penalty killing), a little bit in the defensive zone. We gave up a couple of breakaways and near breakaways that they didn't score on.
"We just were out of sync, and I can't tell you what it was. Maybe the team thought we had the week off because we weren't in school (for spring break). But we definitely did not play like a Michigan team has to play at this time of year."
It was a bad night all around for the Wolverines. First-place Minnesota beat Michigan State to open up a four-point lead on Michigan, which had its lead over third-place Penn State shrink to three points with the Nittany Lions winning at Wisconsin. Penn State visits Ann Arbor for a pair of games next weekend to end the regular season.
Berenson wouldn't commit after the game as to whether or not he would start Racine on Sunday (March 6) at Ohio State or switch to Nagelvoort, who had not played in a game since a 3-2 loss to the Golden Gophers at Yost on Dec. 12.
"I thought he played pretty well considering he hadn't played in (a while)," said Berenson. "You know, I talked to him this morning and I said, 'You have to do everything today like you're going to play tonight.' And he hasn't played in the last 15 games, but he was ready. So, good for him."
Nagelvoort, a junior from Holland, Michigan, shared the starting position last season with Racine, now a senior. But Racine won the job and had been playing very well until letting in a rough goal last Friday (Feb. 26) at Minnesota and then another in the overtime loss in that game.
"You never want to see anything like that happen," said Nagelvoort, referring to Racine coming out after allowing five of 19 shots to score. "But what I've been doing the whole time is preparing for an opportunity like this. I just had to be ready, and I think I stepped up to the call.
"Obviously, I have all the confidence in the world in my (goalie) partner. But, you've got to be ready because you never know what's going to happen, and everyone has an off night once in a while."
Nagelvoort, a fourth-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2014, had a 3.14 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage entering the game.
Racine had a 2.77 goals-against and .915 save percentage prior to Friday night.
Nagelvoort had watched 46 regulation periods and four overtimes played without getting between the pipes in a game that counted. So, what did he do to stay sharp?
"That's a big challenge," he said. "But it makes practices that much more important. That's the only time I've been seeing game situation. You wind up seeing pucks, right, and so practices end up being huge. It just ends up being getting in front of as many pucks as you can."
He credited Steve Shields, the former Michigan and NHL goalie, who is working with Michigan goalies as a full-time volunteer coach.
"He's helped me with a lot this year," said Nagelvoort. "One of my goals this year was to structure my game a lot, and it's a lot of movement stuff and a lot of positioning. But the biggest thing is just working on knowing I can stop the puck, and being mentally consistent. I think that's where my biggest steps have been this year."
He kept his team in the game, giving them a chance to storm back on offense.
The Wolverines (20-6-5, 10-4-3-2 Big Ten) had rallied from a deficit of two-plus goals to win or tie seven games this season. Two previous victories over the fourth-place Buckeyes came via that route.
Calderone scored his first goal 1:40 into the third period, and less than six minutes later defenseman Nicholas Boka scored a goal that ended up being waved off when the play was reviewed. That seemed to take the momentum away from Michigan, but Calderone scored again on a one-timer after receiving a great pass from Cooper Marody.
Six minutes remained to be played, but the Wolverines couldn't score again for another magical comeback.
"We got a couple of goals in the third period -- one by Tony in a five-on-five and another on a power play," said Berenson. "But you can't put yourself in a hole like that and expect to climb out. Like the last time we played this team here, we scored five goals in the third period to win the game, 8-6. We were down by two going into the third (period) and here we were tonight, down by four."
Calderone, a sophomore from Trenton, Michigan, has nine goals and is making a significant contribution as the right wing on the fourth line.
"He can contribute to that young line when he plays with Cooper and (Brendan) Warren when they got off to a good start this year," said Berenson. "Then they really went flat for a while after Christmas, and then Tony got hurt. Now Tony's back, and hopefully he'll get some confidence from this."
Calderone was injured and missed the last three games, but he returned to score a pair and tie Marody for the sixth-most goals on the team with nine.
"I was just working hard," Calderone said. "You don't look at the scoreboard and just play like you're down all the time. I got a chance to get back on the line with Cooper and Brendan, and I thought we connected well, and I was able to score, too.
"I skated quite a bit when I got back, and I was working out to stay in shape as best I could. And I thought I did a good job with that, and I felt pretty good tonight. I got better as the game went on."
Calderone had three goals and six assists as a freshman. He has the nine goals and nine assists for 18 points this season.
"I've been playing with some good guys and getting a little more ice time," said Calderone. "My role's stepped up, and I was lucky enough to capitalize on my scoring chances. I'm still not happy. I think I could be doing a lot better, especially defensively. But my point production has been a lot better."
Calderone said the team defense let down in this game.
"Our message all along is that you have to learn how to handle success and you have to know how to handle failure," said Nagelvoort. "We're at a point where we've put ourselves in a good spot with all the work we've done this year.
"We didn't play the way we wanted to for 60 minutes tonight, but it's a new game Sunday and we're going to bring that approach in Columbus."
• Michigan's Third-Period Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Buckeyes
