Sunday, October 30, 2005

Michigan splits at Alaska-Fairbanks

Noah Ruden pitches 4-0 shutout Saturday night

Michigan's No. 1 ranking is in jeopardy after they split this past weekend at Alaska-Fairbanks.

Friday night, Wylie Rogers made 34 saves as the Nanooks posted a 4-2 win over the Wolverines. Andrew Cogliano and Travis Turnbull each had a goal and an assist on the night and goalie Billy Sauer made 19 saves.

"There were too many mental breakdowns on our part, just giving the puck away," U-M senior captain Andrew Ebbett said. "We talked about how you need to bury the chances you get to win on the road and we didn't do that."

But Saturday night, Noah Ruden got the call in goal and the Bloomfield Hills senior made 23 saves for a 4-0 win and his first career shutout. All four Michigan goals were scored on the power play.

"You feel a lot better, it's not just the first road win, but it's the fact that we bounced back from last night," Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. "I thought we were better tonight. We bounced back. The team feels good and we didn't give up anything."

Ruden stopped Lucas Burnett's penalty shot late in the first period. Burnett was taken down by Jack Johnson on a breakaway attempt.

"You have to decide how you want to play it," said Ruden. "It was late in the period and the ice was choppy so I knew he wasn't going to deke, that helped. You just have to play them straight up."

Burnett's penalty shot was the first taken against the Wolverines since March 2, 1997, when OSU's J.F. DuFour scored on Gregg Malicke in Columbus.

Johnson, Matt Hunwick and T.J. Hensick all had a goal and two assists while Kevin Porter had a goal and an assist for the Wolverines. Cogliano extended his point streak to four consecutive games with an assist on Hunwick's goal. He has four goals and five assists during that span.

The Wolverines play a home-and-home series against Notre Dame this weekend. Friday night, U-M travels to South Bend for a 7:35 p.m. faceoff and the following night, the Fighting Irish come to Ann Arbor for a 7:35 p.m. puck drop at Yost Ice Arena.

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