NO. 10 OHIO STATE 4 | NO. 3 MICHIGAN 1
OSU derails Michigan
14,777 see Buckeyes score on 4 power plays
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Michael Arace
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>ERIC ALBRECHT | DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Michigan goaltender Al Montoya tries to keep Ohio State’s Matt Beaudoin away from the puck in the first period. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Michigan’s Jeff Tambellini, among the top 10 scorers in college hockey, picked the pocket of Ohio State defenseman Matt Waddell and was off on a breakaway just 3 minutes, 40 seconds into last night’s game at Value City Arena.
It was one of the more compelling games played in the nation. It pitted the Wolverines, ranked No. 3 and sitting in first place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, against the Buckeyes, ranked No. 10 and probably the only team in the league with an outside chance of catching the Wolverines.
Right off the hop, here was Waddell trying to catch Tambellini. Waddell couldn’t do it. Not many can. Ohio State goaltender Dave Caruso was left alone, he was reading deke and he was wrong.
"(Tambellini) has the quickest release I’ve seen in a while, other than what I’ve seen when I’ve played against the pro guys," Caruso said. "I saw his stick flex and the puck went to the roof. I thought, ‘Please, I pray, get a corner.’ "
The puck got the corner where the crossbar meets the right post. Ping. The fourth-largest hockey crowd in Ohio State history (14,777) exhaled. So did Caruso.
The Buckeyes scored four powerplay goals and beat their vaunted rivals 4-1. Tambellini’s near miss wasn’t where the game turned — it was early, and, besides, OSU’s Dan Knapp had already hit a post down the other end — but it was an important juncture.
The crowd, figuratively and literally, was huge. There was some question how the Buckeyes would handle such a throng. The atmosphere was special. This was Big Blue. The fans would either be seized or nullified and the first goal would be a telling factor.
"They get ahead," Michigan captain Eric Nystrom said, "and they just collapse you and play great defense."
That is what happened. The Buckeyes (16-6-3, 13-3-1) kept the Wolverines (18-6-1, 15-2-0) to the outside and let Caruso see the puck. They killed eight of their nine penalties and converted 4 of 7 power plays.
They got ahead on a powerplay goal by Knapp at 7:07 of the first period.
Matt Beaudoin and Rod Pelley each had a goal and an assist. Rod Pelley scored his 10 th power-play goal of the season. For the Wolverines, Milan Gajic had a goal in the first period.
"We haven’t lived up to our record or expectations," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "No question, we didn’t have a good game tonight."
Knapp came unchecked off the back wall to poke in a rebound. Just over five minutes later, Gajic tied the score with a power-play goal. He tucked in a shot that had trickled through Caruso’s legs. At 16:52, Beaudoin scored a goal of wondrous purity when he rifled a wrist shot, from the right dot, over the stick-side shoulder of Al Montoya. That made it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
"Score at the right time," OSU coach John Markell said, "and it can change the momentum of the game."
In the second period, the Buckeyes got caught running around in their own end at times. But the interior of their defense remained relatively intact and Caruso handled the assault.
At 7:50 of the second, Michigan’s Brandon Kaleniecki had a goal waved off because of a high stick. The coaches steered clear of commenting, but Caruso said, "I like it."
The Buckeyes nailed down the win with two power-play goals in the third period. Tonight brings the rematch.
"We’ve got to play the same hockey club with a burr under their saddle," Markell said. "It’s up to us to match the same emotional level."
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