Michigan
14-6-0, 7-5-0
Ohio State
10-6-0, 6-4-0
Wolverines Settle for Split After Penalty-Filled Loss to Buckeyes
12/11/2021 11:27:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Nick Blankenburg scored Michigan's lone goal to cut its deficit to 2-1 in the second period.
» A pair of freshmen, Mackie Samoskevich and Luke Hughes, assisted on Blanks' tally.
» The traditional rivals combined to accrue 99 PIM on 24 penalties.
Site: Columbus, Ohio (Value City Arena)
Score: #17 Ohio State 6, #3 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (14-6-0, 7-3-0-2 B1G), OSU (10-6-0, 6-4-0-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Dec. 29 -- vs. Michigan Tech - Great Lakes Invitational (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 7 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Wolverines searched for a sweep on Saturday evening (Dec. 11), but failed to leave Columbus with a second win as the No. 3-ranked University of Michigan hockey team dropped a 5-2 penalty-filled game to No. 17 Ohio State at Value City Arena to close out the first half of the season with a loss, but on top of the Big Ten standings.
Erik Portillo started the night in net for the Wolverines, making 33 saves before giving way to Noah West for the final 11 minutes of the contest. West stopped three of the four shots he faced.
The Buckeyes started out strong after dropping Friday night's (Dec. 10) game to the Wolverines. OSU scored goals at 2:09 and 9:13 of the first period to build an early 2-0 lead.
Due to poor ice conditions that were unable to be resolved by arena staff during a stoppage, the officials decided to call for the first intermission to start early with 2:27 left on the clock. When the teams came out and reconvened for the second period, they played out the remainder of the opening frame before proceeding to the second.
With play halted for the first intermission, U-M was behind 2-0 while trailing 16-8 in shots on goal. On the power play, OSU was 1-for-3, while the Wolverines were 0-for-1.
The teams traded power-play chances once play resumed, but neither could convert, so the teams returned to full strength just 26 seconds into the period with U-M still trailing 2-0.
As the game wore on, the only constant was a steady flow of penalties.
Late in the period, with Michigan (14-6-0, 7-3-0-2 Big Ten) on its fifth power play of the game, the team's PP unit turned in a ferocious effort to finally get the Wolverines on the board after 1:11 of pressuring the OSU end with an extra attacker. Matty Beniers settled the puck down low in the right corner before sending it back to Luke Hughes, who was quarterbacking the power play from the point in the middle of the ice. Hughes used his centralized position to quickly swing a pass down low to Mackie Samoskevich on his left. Samoskevich, operating down low from the left side of the ice near the goal line, stickhandled in space while waiting for a teammate to cut through the slot on a mad dash toward the net. Moments later, it was captain Nick Blankenburg who created a lane for himself, made a break for the net, and smashed home a pass that Samoskevich had set up perfectly for a one-time blast with 1:40 left to play in the frame.
In the waning seconds of the middle frame, Portillo came up big for the Wolverines with a key stop to keep the score at 2-1. With 20 minutes left to play in the weekend series and the first half of the 2021-22 season, U-M trailed by one goal while being outshot by OSU 28-19.
Over the course of 50 seconds from 11:39 to 10:49, Ohio State (10-6-0, 6-4-0-0 Big Ten) scored three consecutive goals to pad and transform their slim lead into a four-goal margin.
With 9:11 left to play in regulation, West entered the game in net for the Wolverines.
Not long after, a Buckeye was sent off for a major penalty and a game misconduct after cross-checking Jimmy Lambert up high behind the play in the neutral zone.
The Wolverines were unable to capitalize on the extended advantage, but the game continued to devolve as the closing minutes slowly ticked off the clock. Ohio State added one more goal to put the finishing touches on a 6-1 win while outshooting U-M 42-26.
Following the culmination of this weekend's trip, Michigan will turn its attention to final exams and embark on holiday break. The Wolverines will be back in action on the Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29-30 for the Great Lakes Invitational. This year, U-M will welcome Western Michigan (Dec. 29) and Michigan Tech (Dec. 30) to Yost Ice Arena for a pair of games, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. on both nights.
