Wolverines beat Spartans in OT at the Joe
By Brian Kalisher –
DETROIT – For the second straight game at Joe Louis Arena, the Wolverines and Spartans needed overtime to decide an outcome. And for the second straight game, the Wolverines emerged victorious.
Michigan’s A.J. Treais led the Wolverines with a pair of goals but the ultimate decider came from junior Kevin Lynch when he scored the game-winner in overtime, as the Wolverines beat the Spartans 3-2 at Joe Louis Arena Saturday night. The win broke the tie in the CCHA standings, giving Michigan just two more points than their in-state rival.
“The puck squirted to me, I think it was [Travis Lynch] or [DeBlois], made a nice pass to me on my backhand,” Kevin Lynch said. “I tried to get it off quick and it went wide and I kind of circled around there and then DeBlois flipped the puck up and the ‘D’ kind of made a weird play and it bounced right by them, and right when I got the puck on my stick I just tried to quick-release it and it went in.
“It was actually a great moment because I was having kind of a tough game, I was battling, slit my finger open in warm-ups trying to get ice off my skate, and I was battling through that and then, you know, I wasn’t having a great game so that kind of made it a little better.”
It was only fitting that Lynch was the one who iced the game for the Wolverines, considering he had a bit of a hot and cold weekend. Coach Red Berenson wasn’t sure how to handle his playing time in the extra session.
“I thought he was really good and really bad on the weekend,” Berenson said. I can tell you there were times in the third period I thought about not putting him out in the overtime…I know that Kevin has had a good record against Michigan State. I know he’s had a good record at Joe Louis, they got one shift in overtime and the game was over, so you never know.”
While Lynch provided the game-winner, it was a pair of goals by junior forward A.J. Treais that gave Michigan the slight edge in a tightly-contested game. The Bloomfield Hills native said he always feels comfortable playing at Joe Louis Arena.
“Growing up, I played for Little Caesars,” Treais said, “so I’ve been playing here since I was eight or nine and I don’t know, it just comes easy to me here.
“It’s just one bounce in these rivalry games and it could have easily been their game there, so luckily we got that bounce and Lynch put it home there.”
The usual sea of red found at Joe Louis Arena was replaced with 20,066 fans donning the Maize and Blue of Michigan and the Green and White of MSU. Fans from each side took turns chanting “Go Blue” and “Go Green” depending on which team controlled the tempo. And as is the case whenever college hockey takes over JLA, the teams each brought their pep bands to add to the college atmosphere.
“This was a game of momentum,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “There were times where they had it and we had it, and it wasn’t much of neither. In the overtime, first shot that goes in you’ve got to be lucky, but I liked our overtime, spirit, our work ethic and I thought we were generating something. Both teams are playing to win.”
The Wolverines started the game strong, while the Spartans found their groove a little later in the first period. Treais broke open the scoring for the Wolverines at 12:12, taking a pass from teammate Luke Glendening, and firing it on a MSU goalie Will Yanakeff before scoring on his own rebound. Phil Di Giuseppe also assisted on the play.
A few seconds later Michigan State’s Kevin Walrod nearly tied the game for the Spartans, firing one off the goal post. MSU put some late pressure on the Wolverines, including great defensive play by junior captain Torey Krug, who made great plays at the blue line to keep the puck inside the Michigan zone, allowing his team to create extra scoring chances.
The Wolverines finished off the first period leading 1-0. Despite the lone tally in the first frame, each squad had plenty of quality scoring opportunities – with both Yanakeff and Hunwick making key stops. The shots after one were 12-11 in favor of Michigan.
Michigan State busted out of the gate with an early 2-on-1 opportunity a minute into the second period, before U of M’s Mac Bennett slid to break up the play.
That early momentum wasn’t for nothing, however, because sophomore forward Greg Wolfe tied the game for the Spartans a few minutes later at 3:32. Wolfe took a pass from teammate Kevin Walrod and fired a shot from the top of the circles to beat Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick.
Minutes later, at 6:14, the Spartans put together a play that saw Wolfe and Krug work the puck around at the Michigan blue line on the power play, before Krug sent a pass over to Brett Perlini, who then fired it past Hunwick. Lee Reimer also chipped in with an assist.
Michigan answered right back when Treais and Glendening connected again to find the back of the net. Treais took a pass from Glendening, who slid the puck through a couple of MSU defenders, and roofed it on Yanakeff.
Yanakeff robbed Michigan forward Alex Guptill on a point blank shot before the Spartans killed off half of a late elbowing minor, sending the rivals into the second intermission knotted at two goals apiece. Michigan still led by one shot, 20-19.
The third period was packed with back and forth action, both teams vying for the next goal. The Wolverines hit two posts on the same play with three minutes remaining in the third period. Yanakeff may have found a little bit of luck on that play, but the MSU goaltender made an outstanding save 30 seconds later when Michigan crashed the net again.
Three periods couldn’t decide the game and the squads took it to overtime to see if they could break the 2-2 tie.
Then, just a couple minutes into the overtime session, Michigan’s K. Lynch had two scoring chances on Yanakeff – the second one went in. Michigan walked away with the 3-2 victory, avenging a heartbreaking comeback victory by the Spartans a night earlier.
“I just saw the puck open and obviously, like I said before, the defenseman made kind of a soft play and I thought he was going to have it for sure,” Lynch said. “I didn’t expect that, when I got it I tried to make a quick play to the net and it went in.”