Every cog in the Michigan hockey team’s defense has run smoothly for snippets of time this season.

There have been nights when goaltender Bryan Hogan has been played to his full potential, aided by a Wolverines defense that has taken care of the puck.

Those moments aren't enough for Michigan coach Red Berenson.

In 10 games this season, Michigan has yielded 28 goals - double the number top-ranked Miami (Ohio) has in 12 games. While the Wolverines are keeping pace offensively (26 goals) with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's top team, the shortcomings defensively have kept Michigan mired in the bottom half of the standings at 8-8 overall, 4-6 in league play.

If Michigan is to make a run toward the top of the CCHA beginning with this weekend's home-and-home series with Notre Dame, the improvement has to come from its defense.

The Irish (7-7-4, 4-4-4 CCHA) enter the series having not scored in 133 minutes, including being shutout twice in a weekend sweep with Miami.

"The difference comes down to goals against," Berenson said. "We're trying to score goals - that's the name of the game. But it's the goals against that kill you."

Michigan has made strides, allowing two or less goals in four of its last five games. The exception came last Friday in a 5-2 loss to Ohio State when the Buckeyes took advantage of a pair of penalties to notch two goals before capping the win with an empty-net goal.

Lapses, especially in the third period, have cost Michigan. While Berenson has seen his team make strides toward breaking away from its first-half struggles, the next step is establishing consistency defensively.

"We are correcting it, we are making an effort to fix it whether that's the coaches pushing the players a little bit harder or the upperclassmen and captains making sure guys are being held accountable," senior captain Chris Summers said.

"In hockey, things happen in a matter of seconds, and one shot can change the entire course of the game."

Berenson put added emphasis on defensive play this week. Summers said his teammates must give greater attention to detail, focusing on every shift as the Wolverines attempt to establish some sort of rhythm defensively.

"We think we've got the goalie, we think we've got the defense and we think we've got the team to play better defensively," Berenson said. "But we haven't proven it."

"We've learned the hard way, and we're still not happy with our overall defensive game."

Berenson said the Wolverines aren't far from where they need to be, seeing enough progress to believe Michigan may be close to turning things around.

"It's obviously really frustrating - there's no other way to put it," sophomore forward Luke Glendening said. "But we have to stay positive. You start to get down and that's the moment when you let it go, and none of us are ready to let this go. I can tell you that much."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him at Twitter @jeffreyparnold.