Glendening stars in shutout, Berenson declines comment
Michigan picked up three key points Friday night with a 2-0 shutout of No. 9 Ferris State at Yost Ice Arena. Sophomore forward Luke Glendening impressed with two goals but the Wolverines' penalty killing was the real No. 1 star …
The Bulldogs only had three power-play opportunities (and were blanked on all three) but with the score knotted at 0-0 12:25 into the first period, Glendening and sophomore forward David Wohlberg - two of Michigan's best penalty killers - were whistled for calls at the same time, giving FSU a full two-minute 5-on-3. But Ferris attempted only one shot, and it was weak.
"That was huge," head coach Red Berenson said, of the kill. "That could have been the whole game so to kill that off that kept us in the game.
"I think we just pressured the puck and they never really got set up and they were never able to make more than two passes. They didn't get the puck in where they like to get in. It was an important kill. Our penalty killers were all in sync."
The crowd of 6,866 Yost patrons began to erupt with 15 seconds left in the penalties and the din grew loud enough for fans outside the building to hear as time expired.
"I think you all heard the crowd get into it after we killed the full two minutes off; it was a big step for us and it changed the momentum of the game," senior defender Steve Kampfer said.
Michigan took a 1-0 lead 3:43 into the second period, finally capitalizing on a good chance after missing a few loose scrambles in the first frame. Junior forward Louie Caporusso sent a cross-ice pass to an open Glendening, who glided in on net and wristed a shot into the top right corner from just outside the right faceoff circle.
Less than five minutes later, Glendening corralled a loose puck in the slot - junior forward Scooter Vaughan made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone and in front of the net - and deposited another wrist shot into the netting as it rang off both posts.
The goals were the fourth and fifth of the year for the former walk-on turned captain.
"Luke's an excellent player," Caporusso said. "It's not a surprise to us he's playing this well and scoring those goals. He has a nice shot and he works his tail off, and that's what's going to happen, and I'm lucky to have him on my line."
The Maize and Blue spent the rest of the game holding Ferris State at bay while seeking to extend their lead. The latter didn't happen but the former did as U-M moved within two points (30 to 28) of fourth-place Lake Superior State (6-1 losers to Notre Dame Friday).
"It's a good victory against maybe as good a team as we've played since Wisconsin [in November]," Berenson said. "I thought defensively we had to play one of our best games. Not that they didn't get some shots because they did but the game was played the way we needed to play.
"At this time of the year all of our games are going to be like playoff games and really stingy defensively. Goals for are not going to come easy, as you saw tonight. They're the best offensive team in our league, with the best power play and we were able to shut them down. Now we have to do that tomorrow night."
Junior goalie Bryan Hogan made 22 saves to record his second shutout in three games.
Note: In town for Saturday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings, former Wolverine and current Los Angeles Kings' defenseman Jack Johnson took in the game. He even took a pair of shots during Michigan's second-period entertainment - Score-O.
After the game, Berenson refused comment and laughed off a question when he was asked if he'd like to respond to an article in which the Kings' general manager rips Berenson's coaching acumen and development of Johnson as a player.
As he walked away from the press conference to his team's locker room, Berenson said "You can write your own story on that" giving little reason to validate the absurdity of the initial comments.