Northeastern 3, Michigan 2

I thought a lot of our top players came back this season because last
year left a bad taste in their mouths. Well, these past two weekends
have done that to me.

Another weekend, another disappointing split. Despite being outshot
47-20, Northeastern played a strong game, received outstanding
goaltending, and once again their special teams came through.

The stat of the game: 0-for-12. That's what Michigan did on the power
play tonight. The Huskies finished the game 1-for-5 with the
man-advantage.

After killing off two early penalties, Michigan jumped out to a 1-0
lead 7:49 into the contest when Jack Johnson put in his own rebound
against NU goalie Brad Thiessen.

The Huskies would take five of the next six penalties during the
remainder of the period and the Wolverines couldn't convert.

Northeastern would tie the game 5:06 into the second stanza on a goal
by Randy Guzior, and they would take the lead 1:18 later on a power
play goal by Jimmy Russo.

A few minutes later NU's Joe Vitale would crash into Billy Sauer for a
goalie interference penalty. Jim Hunt on WTKA said Vitale didn't even
attempt to put on the brakes. Jack Johnson would come to his defense,
and that's where it got iffy on the radio broadcast as they were
unsure what happened. In the end, Vitale got two minutes for running
the goalie, Dennis McCauley got two minutes for roughing, and Johnson
ended up with a five minute major for fighting and a game
disqualification, meaning he will miss next Friday's game at Michigan
State.

The Wolverines would fail to put any pucks in the net during the
second period despite peppering Thiessen with 20 shots.

Chad Costello would make it 3-1 Northeastern with 9:16 remaining in
the third period.

Kevin Porter would finally put one in the net for U-M with 3:24 left
in regulation to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Wolverines also finally decided to wake up following the goal and
applied some pressure, but Thiessen held his ground. Then with 1:09
remaining, Travis Turnbull got called for hooking. U-M pulled Billy
Sauer from net and got close a few times, but the Huskies hung on for
the victory.

Thiessen finished the game with 45 stops, while Sauer had 17 for U-M.

The Wolverines had more than their fair share of chances to make
something happen, but give credit where it's due to Northeastern for
capitalizing on their opportunities and holding on despite all their
penalties. While some are going to question us losing to the Huskies,
it doesn't come as a huge shock to others. While their record was
1-3-1 coming into tonight, their schedule has consisted of Boston
College, Boston University, and Vermont. They lost to BC, took BU to
the brink but lost 4-3, and tied Vermont 3-3 (Vermont had been around
the Top 10 in the polls at the time). So, they were due to win a big
one.

Michigan returns to CCHA action next weekend with a home-and-home
against Michigan State. Friday night will be in East Lansing and
Saturday night at Yost. Friday's game will be broadcast on Comcast
and Satuday on ESPN 360.

---------------------------

That's all for now...

Go Blue!

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