GRAND RAPIDS - Thirty-three seconds.
That's exactly how long it took Michigan captain Brendan Morrison to dispel all the tension and apprehension that preceded yesterday's NCAA West Region quarterfinal game.
Morrison scored on a pass from teammate Jason Botterill shortly after the opening faceoff, and the Michigan hockey team went on to beat Minnesota soundly, 7-4, before a largely maize-and-blue crowd of 8,926 at Van Andel Arena. The victory put the Wolverines (35-3-4) in the NCAA semifinals against Boston University at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on Thursday.
Michigan's 35th victory established a new single-season school record for wins.
Jason Botterill's lead pass early in the first period sent Morrison in all alone on Minnesota goalie Steve DeBus. Morrison deked left, brought the puck back, and put it past DeBus with his backhand on the first shot of the game to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
And the Gophers never recovered.
"We talked about that before the game," Morrison said about his team's quick start. "We wanted to come out and get a good jump ... The key was getting off to a good start."
Minnesota's best chance to regain the momentum came minutes later, but the Gophers failed to convert on two Michigan penalties. Five big saves by Marty Turco helped keep the Wolverines' lead intact.
"It was a good game for our penalty killers," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Turco played outstanding in the first period, keeping the puck out of our net, while we were putting the puck in their net."
Bill Muckalt's breakaway goal with 1:19 left in the period was followed by Botterill's rebound goal, and suddenly, Michigan's lead had swelled to 3-0.
The Wolverines didn't waste any time in the second period, either. Botterill's second tally of the game came just 23 seconds after intermission, on assists from Muckalt and Chris Frescoln.
Just 34 seconds later, Warren Luhning's pass found an unattended Matt Herr at the Minnesota blue line. Herr walked in and flicked it over DeBus' shoulder to make the score 5-0, and the Gophers found themselves in quite a hole.
"I thought for us to have won today, we would've had to score on a couple of our power plays early," Minnesota coach Doug Woog said. "That's a premier hockey club, and they played, in my mind, a premier game as well."
Not all went perfectly for Michigan, however. Turco lost his chance at a shutout about four minutes after Herr scored, when he gave up a soft goal to Minnesota's Erik Rasmussen. Rasmussen slid the puck weakly toward the side of the goal, and Turco didn't even move for it as the puck banked off the post and into the net.
But with under 11 minutes to play in the period, Greg Crozier scored for the Wolverines to reestablish the five-goal lead and make the score 6-1.
Still, the Gophers refused to completely roll over, and some careless miscues by the Wolverines helped Minnesota narrow the gap and make the score look respectable.
Rasmussen scored his second goal of the night on the power play to cut the lead to 6-2 with 8:02 remaining in the second period. Rasmussen, who scored a hat trick against Michigan in November during the College Hockey Showcase, has scored five of his 15 goals this season against the Wolverines.
With 5:50 left to play in the period, Minnesota's Casey Hankinson tipped in a shot from the point, making the score 6-3.
But with 2:25 left in the second, Morrison effectively buried the Gophers with his second goal of the evening. A beautiful pass off the boards by Blake Sloan sprung Morrison into the Minnesota zone.
The only goal of the third period was scored by Minnesota's Dave Spehar, but the Gophers were unable to muster any other offense, and the game ended 7-4.
Jason Botterill was named the West Regional's Most Outstanding Player, scoring two goals and two assists. His points came on the first four scores of the game. Morrison, Sloan, Hankinson and Minnesota defenseman Mike Crowley were also named to the All-Tournament team, along with Cornell goaltender Jason Elliott.
North Dakota was the other West Regional team to advance to the final four, earning the trip with a 6-2 victory over Cornell in yesterday's early game. North Dakota plays Colorado College on Thursday, with the winner facing the winner of the Michigan-Boston game. The championship game will be Saturday.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Greg Crozier jumped into the arms of Marty Turco after the Wolverines defeated Minnesota to advance to the NCAA semifinals in Milwaukee ...