With video: Wolverines growing frustrated with losing streak, scoring slump

Chad Langlais can't remember when it's been this bad.

Not only is Michigan's hockey team mired in a 4-game losing streak, but the Wolverines have scored only 4 goals in back-to-back weekend sweeps against Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State.

The Wolverines have misfired on breakaway chances and squandered power-play opportunities, shortcomings that have put Michigan under .500 after 10 games for the first time since 1986.

Making matters worse, Michigan has yielded 13 goals in the four consecutive losses.

But one thing they won't do is panic.

"It's just something we're going to have to experience and something we're going to have to work through," Langlais said this week. "In the end, I think it's going to make us stronger."

Although the Wolverines have, at times, shown promise of meeting preseason expectations that landed Michigan atop the Central Collegiate Hockey Association polls, a lack of consistency has sent the Wolverines down the conference standings.

Despite his team's troubles and losses in three of four home games this season, coach Red Berenson doesn't think the Wolverines are that far away from playing the kind of hockey he expects.

The 15th-ranked Wolverines (4-6, 2-4 CCHA), who face Bowling Green in a home-and-home weekend series beginning Friday at Yost Ice Arena, previously hadn't dropped four straight games since 2005.

Berenson's solution is to keep things basic rather than falling into a trap of overhauling every aspect of the game plan. He will stress playing hard without the puck and sticking with what he knows his team is capable of rather than pushing too hard to try and fix things immediately.

"When you're losing, you tend to analyze everything and I think that only throws you in the wrong direction," forward Louie Caporusso said. "Sometimes, you just have to take it easy and play the game you know and everyone just has to relax a little bit."

Berenson returned Carl Hagelin, Matt Rust and Chris Brown to Michigan's top line, turning to a lineup Michigan began the season with. Caporusso, who has scored only one goal in 10 games, has been moved to a line that includes sophomore David Wohlberg and freshman A.J. Treais, creating a line that hasn't played together this season.

In an effort to widen the team's leadership corps, Hagelin and sophomore Luke Glendening were voted alternate captains.

While Michigan's lack of scoring is perhaps most noticeable, the Wolverines' inability to take care of the puck has also taken a toll. Against Michigan State, three Michigan turnovers - including early in a 3-2 loss at Yost - led to Spartans' goals and putting the Wolverines in the kind of early deficits that have plagued Michigan of late.

"Our mistakes are costly mistakes," Berenson said. "We're making mistakes that are turning into goals so we've got to keep our game simple. We've got to minimize turnovers and mistakes. We're in games, but we're not playing well at either end of the ice."

With a long season ahead, Berenson admonishes his players to persevere, reminding them that they're making strides toward rediscovering their winning ways. As frustrating as the latest stretch has been, Michigan's veterans know they're best to keep pushing forward understanding that game's worth of well-executed hockey could turn things around.

"There's glimpses of a team that could be really great, but until we put that together for 60 minutes straight, we're going to keep floundering," Langlais said. "It's frustrating and it's easy to get on people's nerves and people are at the end of the wire right now, but I think we have to remain positive and move through this thing together."

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