by Connor Earegood/CHN Reporter
Fresh off the heels of a statement 7-1 rout of rival Michigan State, the Michigan hockey team seemed primed for a rerun on home ice. It held a 4-1 lead over the Spartans halfway through the game, poised for the kind of win that could energize its postseason position.
Ten minutes later, though, it all unraveled. A nightmare 10-minute stretch in the second period turned into four straight goals against. Soon, that grew to six unanswered in a 7-5 loss. All the Wolverines could do was skate off with their heads down, knowing they’d wasted another opportunity.
Once again, Michigan suffered a painful loss, and once again, it was entirely preventable. At this point in the season, the Wolverines can’t afford the same old story. Yet, against Michigan State, it followed an all-too-familiar script.
“Sometimes you gotta be harder and get pucks out in certain situations,” graduate defenseman Marshall Warren said. “For 10 minutes, we didn’t do that and obviously it cost us the game, but it’s a good learning situation for us.”
But the problem with this Michigan team is that it hasn’t learned from these situations. Blown leads like that of Saturday are the main issue holding Michigan back. It isn’t a 10-minute stretch that’s ailing them, but rather its habit of those stretches.
Flip the calendar back to October, when Michigan surrendered three goals to UMass in a three-minute, third period span. November saw a two-goal collapse against Wisconsin, as well as a blown 3-1 lead against Minnesota. To add insult to injury, they also blew a 3-0 lead in a tie with St. Cloud at the end of the month.
Meanwhile for the Spartans, the win marks the first time they’ve overcome a deficit of two or more goals all season. Their previous five attempts to do so fell short — including twice against No. 2 Boston College — but bouncing back against Michigan in a rivalry game will help them prepare for hard-fought tournament games.
“I’m so proud of our guys, just the way yesterday went, and the first period today, just to keep battling and come back, that was huge for us,” freshman forward Gavin O’Connell told The State News. “Carrying that into the next weekend of just knowing we can always come back and if we keep our heads…
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