On two goals by Jake Slaker in the final five minutes of regulation, Michigan skated past Vermont, 3-2, to secure a home sweep of the Catamounts.
With the Wolverines down 2-1 at 15:07, Slaker fired from the right circle and hit the glove of Vermont goaltender Stefanos Lekkas before the puck found the back of the net. At 19:06 on a two-on-one breakaway with Will Lockwood, Slaker shot from nearly the same spot and angle and found Lekkas’ five-hole for the game winner.
“You see what Jake’s all about,” said Michigan coach Mel Pearson. “He can play any way you want. You want to play a skill game, you want to play a physical game, you want to play a skating game, he’s got it all. He’s one of our hardest workers in practice and he’s one of our hardest workers in the game. It’s nice for him to get rewarded. I didn’t like a couple of the shots he took tonight, blowing them high over the net, but when it counted, he put one in. He’s a good player.”
Slaker’s game-winning goal was Michigan’s only lead of the game, as Vermont controlled long stretches of the first and second periods and held Michigan scoreless on the power play for the second consecutive night. In spite of Saturday’s loss, Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon was pleased with the way his team rebounded from Friday’s game, which he called “awful,” adding that tonight’s effort he’s seen from the Catamounts this season.
“I think we played a really good game,” Sneddon said. “It’s kind of bad bounces, really. We did a great job killing penalties all weekend. We were aggressive on the play and unfortunately they end up with a two-on-one. We get a little bit of a bad read by our forward. Our goalie almost makes the save and it just kind of sneaks in.”
Max Kaufman gave the Catamounts an early lead when he scored shorthanded at 12:19 in the first on a feed from Craig Puffer, who assisted on both Vermont goals. The game was tied 1-1 after one when Michigan’s Adam Winborg netted his first of the season, a wraparound at the right post, at 18:17. At 7:48 in the second, Drew Best put the Catamounts up 2-1 on the power play.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the third, Slaker said that the Wolverines were never discouraged.
“I think we tried to get pucks to the net and get some traffic in front of their goalie,” he said. “I thought overall in the third period, we just kept at it when we were down and it came to four or five minutes left and we ended up finding one.”
Slaker’s breakaway game-winner began at the other end of the ice with a big save by Hayden Lavigne.
“We had a great scoring chance on that same play,” Sneddon said. “Matt O’Donnell jumps up as a defenseman, gets a great shot on goal, their guy makes a great save, and unfortunately it comes the other way and they finish their chance. Game of inches.”
Michigan put together consecutive wins four times last season but secured only one weekend sweep when the Wolverines beat Penn State twice in March. Pearson said he hopes to see more of that as this season progresses.
“I thought it was a fairly even game,” Pearson said. “There’s going to be some things on the tape we don’t like, but nonetheless a big win and I think a character win for our team.”
Next weekend, each team opens play in its own conference. Vermont (2-4-0) hosts New Hampshire in a single Hockey East game Oct. 28, while Michigan (3-1-0) travels to Penn State for Big Ten action.
Around the Big Ten
North Dakota 4, Minnesota 0
Junior Nick Jones, who transferred from Ohio State after playing minor junior hockey, made his first goal as a Fighting Hawk count.
The game-winning goal at 4:59 in the first in North Dakota’s 4-0 win over Minnesota.
Christian Wolanin led North Dakota with two goals and Colton Poolman had his first of the season as the Fighting Hawks went 3-for-6 on the power play en route to a home split against the Golden Gophers.
Senior Cam Johnson recorded his 10th career shutout in his fourth win of the season, blocking all 22 shot he faced.
Ohio State 3, Massachusetts 0
After beating the Minutemen 3-1 Friday in Amherst, Ohio State shut out Massachusetts, 3-0, to complete the road sweep.
Kevin Miller, Janik Moser and Matthew Weis each scored a goal apiece – in the first, second, and third periods, respectively – but sophomore Tanner Laczynski had the first assist on all three goals.
Miller’s game-winning goal at 11:12 in the first period was his first of the season, but Moser’s insurance goal at 12:19 in the second was the first of the senior 89-game career. OSU senior goaltender Sean Romeo picked up his third win of the season, making 23 stops in his second career shutout.
Western Michigan 3, Michigan State 1
Freshman Josh Passolt netted his first career game-winning goal for Western Michigan at 4:31 in the third as the Broncos beat visiting Michigan State, 3-1, to earn a split in this home-and-home series after losing 6-4 to the Spartans in East Lansing Friday night.
The Broncos led 1-0 after one on Hugh McGing’s goal at 11:51 in the first. After a scoreless second period, Patrick Khodorenko tied it for Michigan State on the power play at 4:31 in the third, but Passolt answered at 4:31 to put the Broncos ahead again, with Colt Conrad adding the empty-net goal at 19:24.
Ben Blacker made 15 saves in his third win of the season as the Broncos outshot the Spartans 38-16.
Wisconsin 4, Northern Michigan 0
No. 6 Wisconsin rebounded from a 5-4 overtime loss with a 4-0 blanking of Northern Michigan in Green Bay’s Resch Center.
Ryan Wagner scored the game-winning goal on the power play at16:58 in the first, assisted by Cameron Hughes – who led all Badgers with a goal and two assists – and Trent Frederic.
Will Johnson scored 57 seconds into the second period and Hughes netted his own goal just under nine minutes later, the second Wisconsin goal of the night with the man advantage.
Sophomore Jack Berry had 11 saves in his first game of the season in net for Wisconsin as the Badgers outshot the Wildcats 43-11. Atte Tolvanen started in net for Northern Michigan and gave up three goals on 21 shots before being replaced by Mathias Israelsson, who allowed one goal on 21 shots.
