ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was Michigan coach Red Berenson’s 1300th career game behind the Wolverines’ bench and it was even Friday the 13th.
Michigan’s 7-3 victory over Niagara was no matter of luck, though, good or bad.
Michigan had earned its season 4-1-1 record using potent offense while struggling on team defense and in goal.
Berenson made no secret of the fact that he expected and needed improvement on the defensive half of the ice. Ever hard to please, Berenson wasn’t ecstatic about Friday night’s effort by his Wolverines, including goaltender Steve Racine, but he grudgingly admitted that the effort was an improvement.
“I’m a critic of our players if we don’t play really well,” offered Berenson. “On team defense, three goals against at home again – not good enough. They got a three-on-one chance. I thought Racine was fine, but I can’t say we were especially good defensively.”
Offense was a different story for Michigan.
Kyle Connor’s two first-period goals, sandwiched around Justin Selman’s goal, sent the Wolverines to an early lead they would never relinquish. The three goals in the game’s first 11 minutes were matched on the defensive side by a pair of point-blank saves by Racine.
Cooper Marody and Tyler Motte added second-period goals to put Michigan ahead 5-0 before Niagara added a late one in the middle stanza when Tanner Lomsnes converted a two-on-one chance late in the second period, a goal which first was overruled. Video review convinced referees Barry Pochmara and Bruce Vida that Lomsnes goal was indeed legitimate.
The teams each scored two goals in the final period.
Berenson may not have been totally pleased, but Marody and Zach Werenski weren’t totally disappointed in the team’s defensive effort or the goaltending.
“We knew that we’re good at scoring goals, but the coach really stressed that we needed to be hard on the defensive side of the puck.” said Marody. “We were better at that today. I don’t think the goals we gave up were due to too many downfalls on the defense.”
“I thought he played well,” said Werenski of Racine. “He made a lot of big saves for us. It was good to start with a 3-0 lead to help give him some confidence.”
“We didn’t quit,” said Niagara coach Dave Burkholder. “We kept competing, kept moving our feet, finishing our checks. You’ve got to find some positives somewhere. A lot of it is that that’s how 12 NHL picks should look. They’re [Michigan] pretty darned good. We didn’t answer for it at times, but overall, our compete level was good.”
“We’re supposed to be the better team on paper,” added Berenson. “And I thought we were.”
