defense

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!! (Patrick Barron)

CLICK HERE for game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

 

Setting The Stage:  Michigan (20-13-3-0) and Minnesota (22-9-5) are set to renew their rivalry as they battle for the right to play in next week's Big Ten Tournament Championship Game against Michigan State. This will be the 3rd year in a row that Michigan has played a Tournament game at Mariucci, with the previous two both being victories for the Big Ten Tournament Championship. Tonight is the 5th meeting of the season between the Wolverines and Gophers. Michigan won 3-2 at Yost in a shootout on November 11th and won again on March 2nd, taking a thrilling 6-5 overtime victory in the last game of the regular season. Michigan advanced to this game by defeating Notre Dame in the Big Ten Quarterfinals 5-4 and 4-3 last weekend at Yost. Minnesota defeated Penn State 5-1 and 3-2 in overtime in Minneapolis last weekend.

 

 

The Battle: In a complete contrast to the game these two teams played two weeks ago, where wide-open hockey was the order of the day, this was a classic playoff game where every inch of ice was contested from the drop of the puck to the final horn. This game was won by the Wolverines in the trenches, where they consistently beat the Gophers in puck battles in both the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. This section is commonly taken up with the exploits of Brindley, McGroarty, Hughes and Casey after Michigan victories but tonight the spotlight is on players like Draper, Estapa, Eernisse, and Warren who hounded the puck all night and generated a lot of offensive plays on transition from their stellar defensive work.

 

Kienan Draper opened the scoring just over three minutes into the 1st period on a rebound from a shot by Chase Pletzke. It's worth noting that the assist Pletzke received on that play was his first since the 2020-21 season. The Wolverines appeared to extend the lead just over three minutes later when Luca Fantilli scored from the front of the net after being set up by Phillippe Lapointe, but Minnesota challenged the goal and the play was ruled offside. Michigan did extend the lead to 2-0 late in the 2nd period after Gavin Brindley took a long pass from Marshall Warren and put a laser over Justin Close's right shoulder just under the bar. Rutger McGroarty started the play retrieving a loose puck in his own end and making a cross ice pass to Warren.

 

Minnesota had a couple of good looks in the 3rd, but Barczewski was up to the challenge until Jimmy Snuggerud fired a wrist shot by him with 1:29 left in the 3rd while the goalie was pulled for an extra attacker. Barczewski was screened on the shot by the Gophers' Oliver Moore and never saw the shot. Although Minnesota had the puck on the perimeter after they pulled the goalie again with less than a minute left, Michigan didn't allow them to penetrate the house and the exclamation mark on the great team defensive effort happened when T.J. Hughes blocked a shot near the end of the game.



[AFTER THE JUMP: More Winning Content]

(That Winning Feeling! - Bill Rapai)

CLICK HERE for game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

 

(Barczewski Shuts out St. Cloud - Bill Rapai)

CLICK HERE for game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.