Head coach Tom Anastos said he sensed an expected tentativeness in his team in the opening period Friday night, which he believed his team performed through despite the loss.

“When we did take care of the puck, (we) weren’t able to do it,” Anastos said following the 5-1 loss. “We’ve got to do a better job of making sure pucks aren’t turned over in the neutral zone. We’ve got to make sure point shots get to the net or get below the goal line so they’re not blocked because then (U-M) will transition.”

Junior forward Greg Wolfe found the first half of the series “frustrating,” noting the Spartans played better than the final score might let on.

“I don’t think the score really reflected the type of game it was,” Wolfe said. “I think it was a lot closer than the score said it was. At the end of the day, we have to find a way to score goals and keep the puck out of our net.”

Following Friday’s game, Anastos commended junior goaltender Will Yanakeff’s performance, as he made 29 saves throughout the three periods.

Freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand got the nod the following night, and his performance was comparable to Yanakeff’s with 40 saves.

“I just think … our mindset going into the game (was) that it was our house,” sophomore forward Brent Darnell said. “We knew that there was going to be a big turnout, so we want to get off to that good start. (Friday) we started a little slow.”

Linemates
One line in particular that made a splash against U-M was Darnell-DeBlouw-Berry, which had five goals and five assists combined Saturday night.

Anastos said he went on his “gut feeling” and started the line in both games of the U-M series.
“They got a little bit of experience in a hostile environment (Friday) night,” Anastos said after Saturday’s win. “I wrestled with what to do (Saturday), and I thought, ‘You know, I’m going to give them another chance.’”

Three of that line’s goals came from the stick of sophomore Berry, who picked up his first hat-trick of his college career.

After the game, Berry noted the feeling that hat-trick gave him was a feeling he never had experienced before.

“Matt Berry has a high talent level,” Anastos said. “He has a high skill level, and we’re trying to get him to reach his potential. Part of getting to his potential is to really push himself to work at a high level every day. That’s not uncommon. (Last) week in practice, he was having the best week maybe of his season and a half here.”