Michigan 7-0 (2-0 CCLA). Photo from Official site.
In the MCLA, there’s a cavernous gap between the top teams and the rest of the pack. That was on full display last night in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse as the Michigan Wolverines took PIttsburgh to the woodshed, keeping the Panthers off the board for the first 47 minutes of play while running up an 18-goal lead en route to a 20-1 victory.
Any team that visits Ann Arbor is likely to leave with a loss, unless it’s a top, top squad. BYU missed their opportunity Friday night, and it’s looking like Colorado State and Arizona State (BIG first weekend of April) will be the last teams with a chance to hand Michigan defeat on their home field.
Tempo-Free
From the game recap, your tempo-free breakdown:
| Pittsburgh | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitt | Michigan | ||
| Faceoff Wins | 9 | Faceoff Wins | 16 |
| Clearing | 6-23 | Clearing | 16-19 |
| Possessions | 35 | Possessions | 52 |
| Goals | 1 | Goals | 20 |
| Offensive Efficiency | .029 | Offensive Efficiency | .385 |
Hide ya kids, hide ya wife, this was an all-around pasting. That defensive efficiency number is the best Michigan has put up this year or last. The offensive efficiency is good-not-great for the Wolverines, but when you win by 19 goals, maybe the precision wanes a bit during the game.
Greiner (9/14) and Ernst (7/11) were both successful on faceoffs, and like I said in the BYU recap, my Official Concern in that aspect of the game is gone until we see a really bad performance. Michigan cleared the ball good-not-great, but they rode the living hell out of the Panthers. A .261 success rate on clears is not just bad, but bordering on obscene.
Notes
If not for a slow-paced Michigan offense (which is probably the right thing to do when you can seemingly score at will), this one could have been even uglier. They took their time breaking down the Pitt D.
Ryan Snyder blew up, scoring 4 in his first career multi-goal game. He was playing the Trevor Yealy role on the second line, finishing on the crease. The two players couldn’t be much different in stature, with Yealy standing 6-4 and Snyder at 5-7, but Snyder plays a much more physical game than you’d expect from a 155-pounder.
All three goalies played, with Fowler letting in the lone Pitt goal. The Panthers didn’t threaten a whole lot, so it’s tough to get a read on keeper play.
Elsewhere
Up Next
Wolverines have another weekend double-dip coming up, with #16 Boston College on Friday and #9 UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday. Both games are at 7PM in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse.