By John Lachmann
Miami was never able to recover after surrendering a goal in the second minute and two more at the end of the first period.
No. 8 Michigan beat the RedHawks, 4-1 at Yost Arena on Friday after outscoring Miami, 3-0 in the first period.
The RedHawks actually outshot the Wolverines, 11-1 in the second period and 20-13 in the final two stanzas, but the damage had already been done.
Michigan’s Chris Brown skated around Miami freshman defenseman Ben Paudides and beat Miami senior goalie Cody Reichard with a wrister just 1:40 into the game to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
With 4:23 remaining in the opening frame, Michigan’s A.J. Treais blasted a shot over the shoulder of Reichard to make it 2-0.
Less than two minutes later, Treais scored again, this time on a 5-on-3 when his pass through the crease was deflected in by Reichard.
Reichard was lifted after the first period, having stopped just 8-of-11 shots, and senior Connor Knapp was inserted.
Miami seemed to have the momentum to start the second period, and junior Reilly Smith fired a shot that fooled Michigan goalie Shawn Hunwick, as the puck hit his glove but still bounced into the net just 31 seconds into the middle stanza.
However, that momentum was squelched when Miami was whistled for a too many men penalty 61 seconds later. The Wolverines’ Luke Moffatt tipped in a Jon Merrill shot to give Michigan back its three-goal lead.
With the loss, Miami slips into a three-way tie with Notre Dame and Ohio State for third place in the CCHA standings with 36 points.
Miami concludes its weekend series at Michigan at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday.
ANALYSIS: We rarely question Miami coach Enrico Blasi on this site. I think Blasi is one of – if not the best – recruiters in the country, as well as one of the best overall collegiate coaches.
But I have no idea why senior goalie Connor Knapp – who boasted a 0.83 goals-against average in January – was not in net to start this game.
Blasi went with senior Cody Reichard, who granted shut out Northern Michigan on 16 shots last Saturday, but he had allowed 12 goals in his previous three appearances.
The only possible explanation I can come up with is Knapp is not great in practice, and I saw evidence of this on Tuesday when he surrendered a 50-plus foot goal during a 2-on-2 drill and a couple of other goals on questionable shots.
Michigan’s first goal probably should’ve been stopped, but freshman defenseman Ben Paulides also failed to play his position and Wolverines junior forward Chris Brown wristed one past Reichard – a shot he probably should’ve handled.
The second goal was scored because 1) freshman Jimmy Mullin fanned on a clearing attempt from just outside the blue line, 2) Paulides was taken out of the play when UM’s Luke Glendening knocked him down, and 3) Reichard was unable to stop a blast by Treais.
Goal No. 3 was scored when Reichard stuck his stick out to deflect a cross-ice pass and knocked the puck into his own net.
Goal No. 4 was scored because Miami’s four penalty killers watched Michigan’s Luke Moffatt camp out in front of Knapp and redirect a shot into the net.
Reichard was pulled after turning aside just 8 of 11 shots, and he should’ve stopped at least one of the first two goals he allowed, and he put the third one in his own net.
Reichard had allowed 12 goals in his previous three outings before posting a 16-save shutout last Saturday.
Paulides has played well much of the time since joining the blue line corps full time, but he was brutal on Friday. He was caught up ice on the first goal and after he let Michigan’s Chris Brown get behind him, he made a futile attempt to strip the puck from him.
He also was knocked down by the Wolverines’ Luke Glendening after Miami freshman Jimmy Mullin was unable to clear the puck, allowing Treais to fire an uncontested shot over Reichard’s shoulder.
If junior Garrett Kennedy made the trip, I welcome him in the sixth defense spot on Saturday.
Reichard tipped the third goal into his own net, and the lone goal Knapp allowed was because Moffatt was left alone in front of the Miami net on a power play.
On goal No. 4, RedHawks senior Matt Tomassoni had just come out of the box, creating an unusual combination of Miami players, but junior Stephen Spinell came out to nearly the blue line when the goal was scored.
While Reichard has had an incredible career at Miami, he has almost single-handedly lost three of his last seven starts, and while Friday’s loss doesn’t qualify as a game he blew for the RedHawks, it’s really hard to understand why Knapp wasn’t in net from the start.
Three more thoughts: 1) Blasi went up to junior Curtis McKenzie immediately after the game ended and yelled at him while grabbing his facemask. McKenzie took the final draw of the game with 1.2 seconds left and dished out two cross checks.
My question is: Why would McKenzie take that draw unless Blasi wanted to either incite violence or have a physical player at center that can stick up for his team?
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