WOLVERINES DEADLOCK IN HOME OPENER, 4-4
October 15, 2004

The Michigan hockey team battled back from two one-goal deficits to tie New
Hampshire, 4-4, in their home opener at Yost Ice Arena tonight.

The Wolverines got off to another fast start as Jeff Tambellini tipped in
his first goal of the season 1:40 into the contest.

U-M continued to dominate most of the first period until a late penalty by
Jason Dest put the Wildcats on the power play. Preston Callander won a
faceoff in the U-M zone to Sean Collins, and his shot beat U-M goalie Al
Montoya shortside with 2:33 left in the opening period to tie the game.

But the Wolverines quickly regained the lead nine seconds later when Jason
Ryznar beat Wildcat goalie Jeff Pietrasiak to put U-M up 2-1 heading into
the first intermission.

Michigan outshot New Hampshire 15-3 in the first period, but as has been
their fault over the past few season, the second period was a complete
turnaround for the opposition. The Wildcats came out and took control in
the middle session.

UNH tied the game on a weak goal 3:33 into the period by Josh
Ciocco. Montoya pinched the pads and thought he had the puck, but it
trickled out and across the red line.

Then at 7:42 Daniel Winnik scored off a rebound on Brett Hemmingway's shot
to put the Wildcats on top, and they would carry that lead to the intermission.

In the second period the Wildcats turned the tables and outshot the
Wolverines 14-6. "Sometimes you don't want to have an intermission," U-M
coach Red Berenson said on the Wolverines second period struggles. "You
have the momentum and want to keep going."

With both teams each winning a period, it set up a third period showdown,
and the captain was first to strike. Eric Nystrom, coming off an injury
and playing in his first game of the season, slammed home the puck at 4:36
to tie the game 3-3.

Couple of funny bit about this one... when Nystrom came off the bench, Al
Randall and Jim Hunt were talking on WTKA about how he hadn't played much
but maybe he can get the equalizer here. Sure enough, about five seconds
later, Nystrom scored the goal. Then after the game Randall was talking
with Nystrom about coming back from injury and scoring. Nystrom said it
was a tough injury and you have to work your way back in the line-up, hence
why he wasn't playing much, but "in the third period I was on the bench and
I was about ready to throw up," the captain said.

But 1:47 later, Ciocco notched his second goal of the night, this time on a
scramble in front of the net, to put the Wildcats back ahead.

The Wildcats continued to attack, but couldn't put the game away as Montoya
came up with a few huge breakaway stops.

Then a holding penalty to Daniel Winnik would put the Wolverines back on
the power play with 8:47 remaining in regulation. Tambellini let a blast
go that was stopped by Pietrasiak, but freshman Kevin Porter dove around a
UNH player and managed to shove the rebound in the net for his first career
goal to tie the game with 7:41 left in the third period.

Michigan managed to kill off a late penalty by T.J. Hensick to send the
game to overtime and momentum on their side. The Wolverines dominated the
extra session, but couldn't connect as the game ends in a 4-4 deadlock.

Al Montoya finishes the game stopped 25 shots, while his counterpart Jeff
Pietrasiak turned aside 44 pucks. Both teams finished the game 1-for-7 on
the power play.

Michigan will face St. Lawrence tomorrow night at Yost Ice Arena to wrap up
the weekend. The puck drops at 7:35 p.m. ET. The Fighting Saints defeated
Michigan State 3-1 tonight in East Lansing.

WTKA Three Stars
----------------------------
3. Jeff Tambellin (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. Kevin Porter (1 goal)
1. Josh Ciocco (2 goals)

CCHA Scores
----------------------------
St. Lawrence 3, at Michigan State 1
at St. Cloud State 2, Northern Michigan 1
Ohio State 4, at Ferris State 2
at Bowling Green 3, Windsor 2 (Exhibition)
at Miami 4, Notre Dame 2
at Western Michigan 5, Alaska Fairbanks 4
at Colgate 3, LSSU 2

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That's all for now...

Go Blue!

Jason
Michigan Hockey Net
http://MichiganHockey.net/