WOLVERINES FIGHT OFF IRISH, 8-5

It was one of those wild, crazy nights down in South Bend. Every time
Michigan put Notre Dame down, the Irish fought back. The Wolverines and
Fighting Irish scored a combined seven goals in the third period, with
Notre Dame getting as close as 6-5, but in the end U-M was finally able to
pull away for an 8-5 victory.

Freshman Andrew Cogliano led the way with two goals and two assists, while
senior goalie Noah Ruden made his second consecutive start and turned away
26 shots for the victory.

The Irish took a very early lead 18 seconds in to the game. Ruden thought
he had the puck covered up along the side of the net, but Matt Amado came
out with the puck and put it in the net.

The Wolverines would come back and use special teams to their advantage
once again. Travis Turnbull tied the game at 9:50 when he beat Irish
goalie David Brown on the first of four U-M power play goals.

Michigan took the lead with 47 seconds left in the opening stanza when Jack
Johnson fed a pass to Chad Kolarik, who ripped it for his first goal of the
season.

Two more firsts in the second period would increase Michigan's lead to
4-1. Freshmen Jason Bailey at 5:55 and Brandon Naurato at 11:22 on the
power play each scored their first career goals.

With 3:28 remaining in the period, playing 4-on-3 hockey, the Irish caught
the Wolverines making a line change and Tim Wallace went in and beat Ruden
to make it 4-2 heading in to the third period.

Just 2:47 in to the third period, U-M extended third lead back to three
goals on the power play. A tic-tac-toe play was finished off by Kevin
Porter scoring his team-high seventh goal of the season.

It looked like the Wolverines iced the game, but the Irish would hang
tough. At 7:16, Mike Walsh threw the puck on net from the half boards and
somehow it beat Ruden short side over the left shoulder. Al Randall and
Jim Hunt on WTKA still have no idea how it went in.

The Wolverines would respond again with 7:29 left in regulation. Just
after killing off a two-man advantage for the Irish, T.J. Hensick and
Cogliano raced down ice on a two-on-one rush and Cogliano feed Hensick, who
buried the puck past Brown to make it 6-3.

Once again it looked like the game was out of reach and once again the
Irish responded, only this time they did it with two goals in a span of 23
seconds to cut U-M's lead to 6-5. Garrett Regan scored with 4:47
remaining, then shortly thereafter Erik Condra scored on a
breakaway. Ruden protested that goal didn't go in, but to no avail.

But 57 seconds later, Cogliano snapped a shot over Brown's shoulder to put
the Wolverines back ahead by a pair of goals. Then with 49 seconds left,
Cogliano would finally finish off the Irish with an empty net goal.

A much closer game than it should have been, no doubt Red will be preaching
the need to play a full 60 minutes of hockey... or rather defense... to the
team.

The two teams will finish off their weekend series tomorrow night at
Yost. The game can be seen locally on Comcast Local. Also, tonight's game
replays on CSTV at 3:30 a.m. late night tonight and again at 8 p.m.
Thursday night.

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CCHA SCORES
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at Michigan State 5, Northern Michigan 4 (ot)
at Miami 3, Ohio State 1
Alaska Fairbanks 5, at Ferris State 2
at Bowling Green 7, Nebraska-Omaha 3

And in the most lopsided game of the night, Lake Superior State crushes
Western Michigan 10-0 in Kalamazoo. Anyone want to try figuring out the
Broncos? They lost to Niagara and Robert Morris (who lost to Penn State's
CLUB team), then they sweep Ohio State only to follow that up by getting
destroyed by LSSU at home.

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JOHNSON NAMED CSTV NATIONAL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
From MGoBlue.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Freshman defenseman Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich.) of
the University of Michigan ice hockey team was selected as the CSTV/Hockey
Commissioners' Association National Division I Player of the Month for October.

Seven games into his freshman campaign, Johnson has solidified a position
for himself in Michigan's top defensive pairing. His +5 plus/minus rating
is the best on the team and his 3-8-11 scoring line ranks him third on U-M
in points. He also is first on the team in penalties (13) and penalty
minutes (26).

The third overall selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Carolina
Hurricanes, Johnson has the highest point total among the nation's
freshmen. Counting all blueliners across the country his 11 points are tied
for third best.

Held without a point in his career debut, Johnson then had a three-game
point streak during which he notched eight points, including a 1-3-4
performance against Quinnipiac on Oct. 8 and a three-assist output against
Merrimack on Oct. 16. Johnson recorded his third game with three or more
points at Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 29 with a goal and two assists.

Johnson skated for the U.S. National Team Development Program in 2003-04
and 2004-05. Last season he helped Team USA capture the gold medal at the
2005 IIHF Under-18 Championship.

Johnson has been recognized twice already by the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association, as its Rookie of the Week on Oct. 10 and the Defenseman of the
Week on Oct. 17.

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That's all for now...

Go Blue!

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