Its Tech vs Northern, do I need to say anything else in the intro? Nah, lets get too it.
Friday, January 27th Michigan Tech 3 – Northern Michigan 0
It felt much closer than a 3-0 game, and you can see why when you look at the xG over time chart. The first period was almost dead even, and despite the Huskies taking the lead in the second period, it was still close until about when Northern took a penalty in the third and the Huskies took over in terms of xG. But even still, it was still a one goal game until 2:30 left in the third. Nice to see that the Huskies were supposed to win the game, and they did. It’s always fun when your team wins and the math matches up with reality.
It’s interesting to see the location of shots in this game, Tech had a lot more shot attempts, but the Wildcats had a higher percentage of dangerous shots. It kept things pretty close most of the game, but in the end Tech was able to maintain the amount of possession they had early in the game and start generating more dangerous opportunities later in the game.
Saturday, January 28th Michigan Tech 4 – Northern Michigan 1
Northern came out buzzing on Saturday night and had me pretty worried early on, but Tech held on through the initial barrage of shots and managed to grab the lead going into the first intermission. Northern fired back quickly in the second period, but after Tech regained the lead thanks to Caderoth’s goal the Wildcats weren’t able to get much going the second half of the game. The Huskies on the other hand played a very consistent game, and it payed off with a big win to finish up the sweep.
Its seems like about half of the Wildcats high danger chances happened in the first five minutes of the game, after that the Huskies slowly but steadily took over the game and ended up with nearly 2 xG more than Northern by the the time the final whistle blew.
No thoughts, just vibes
If your entire ability to get hyped for watching the team you claim to root for play is hoping to see your rival lose, you aren’t a real fanbase. It’s pathetic and I wish Northern fans were better because the rivalry would be so sick if the majority of their fans cared about their team even when they were playing other teams even half as much as they hate Tech.
Closing Time
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at some nice charts and graphs with me. If you have any questions about the charts, my analysis, or just want to say hello, please leave a comment or reach out to me on the THG discord server (@Augie) and I’d be happy to try and answer your questions.
Special thanks to Livonia Technical Services for being the official sponsor of all InStat analytics at Tech Hockey Guide
