Michigan’s hockey team was dealt a big blow in its 7-4 victory over Notre Dame last Saturday, as star goaltender Jack Ivankovic was injured on a collision at the net. While he’s out for the foreseeable
future, the Wolverines still kicked off their road series at Minnesota in emphatic fashion to the tune of a 5-1 victory.
Even without Ivankovic, the Wolverines showed in Friday’s series opener that their star power was more than capable of getting the job done. Freshman Stephen Peck drew the start in net, while Friday’s game also marked the first in the Michigan career of Kason Muscutt, who joins the Wolverines from the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL.
Michigan came out as the aggressor right from the opening face-off — striking for nine shots on goal in the first five minutes of the game. Its 10th would come from Tyler Duke, who ripped a slap shot from the point and snuck the puck past the traffic and into the Minnesota net to give Michigan an early 1-0 lead.
Minnesota was given a chance to tie the game near the end of the first period due to a Duke tripping penalty. The Gophers capitalized from L.J. Mooney and made it 1-1 at the first period intermission.
The Wolverine attack would stay hot in the second period, continuing to bombard Minnesota goaltender Luca Di Pasquo with shots. They would put up two more goals about midway through the period, with Michael Hage and Jayden Perron scoring to give Michigan a 3-1 advantage. Michigan would carry its two-goal lead into the second intermission with Minnesota fortunate to keep it that close.
Heading into the third period, Michigan could afford to stay conservative and protect its lead, but the offense was too much for the Golden Gophers. With about seven minutes into the period, Nick Moldenhauer buried a one-timer from T.J. Hughes to make it 4-1. In the final minutes, Michigan was awarded a power play thanks to a hooking penalty on Minnesota’s Luke Mittelstadt; the Wolverines tacked on one more for good measure with Hughes scoring his 10th goal of the year to make it 5-1.
Michigan dominated all night long, winning 37 face-offs and getting a whopping 52 shots on goal against Di Pasquo, who could hardly be faulted as he still managed to make 47 saves on the night.
Michigan is now 19-4 overall and 10-3 in conference play. The teams will go right back to work again Saturday night in Minneapolis, as Michigan will look to secure a sweep and win its fifth straight game.
