Michigan makes third straight Frozen Four with 5-2 win over Michigan State
Michigan is returning to the Frozen Four after a 5-2 victory over Michigan State on Sunday evening to win the Maryland Heights (Missouri) Regional in the NCAA hockey tournament.
UM stuck a dagger in MSU with two goals in 12 seconds midway through the third period, turning a 2-2 game into a 4-2 lead.
First, winger Dylan Duke used a burst of speed to drive past the defense on a zone entry and sneak a puck past Spartans goaltender Trey Augustine to make it 3-2. Then off the ensuing faceoff, the Wolverines generated an odd-man rush where Frank Nazar III fed a between-the-legs pass across the crease to a crashing Gavin Brindley, who drove home the highlight-reel goal to make it 4-2.
A power play tip-in goal for Duke in the final minutes was just a cherry on top.
“We’re brothers out here and we love each other to death,” Nazar said on ESPN. “And that’s what just brings us together and that’s what did it in the third there, playing for each other.”
The win sends the Wolverines to back-to-back Frozen Fours in the first two seasons under head coach Brendan Naurato and the third-straight for the program. It’s the 28th overall appearance in the Frozen Four for Michigan, the most in NCAA history.
The Wolverines face No. 1 overall seed Boston College on Thursday, April 11, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota,
The Spartans pounced on an early power-play opportunity to take the lead less than seven minutes in after Brindley was whistled for hooking. A blast from the point by Michigan State’s Matt Basgall was redirected on net by teammate Gavin O’Connell, sending the puck trickling into the net through the legs of Wolverines goalie Jake Barczewski to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
The goal was put under replay review, as officials checked to see if O’Connell had used a high stick and directed his shot home from above the crossbar. After a few glances at the play — with O’Connell’s stick within a few inches of the crossbar — officials determined the goal stood.
Michigan’s offense revved up in response, eventually striking early in the second period as Ethan Edwards beat Spartans goalie Trey Augustine to get the Wolverines on the board.
Wolverines defenseman Jacob Truscott then found his linemate, Warren Marshall, sitting open on the backdoor to break the tie almost seven minutes into the third period but the Spartans responded four minutes later, scoring a second power-play goal as Joey Larson powered home a wide open shot from the slot, setting up the action-packed finish.
It was a physical game with no shortage of penalties. The Spartans opened the scoring via the man advantage and the teams were whistled for 10 combined penalties. But despite the Wolverines boasting the most effective power play in the nation entering Sunday — converting at a 35% clip — it was the Spartans who made hay with the advantage.
While Michigan went 1-for-6 on the power play, Michigan State was an effective 2-for-4 on the man advantage.
The 2023-24 season series went well for the Spartans after Michigan skunked them in the first matchup of the year, 7-1. Michigan State took the next four games off the Wolverines, including a 5-4 overtime victory at Munn Ice Arena in the Big Ten Tournament championship game on March 23. That win secured Michigan State’s first conference title since the formation of the Big Ten in men’s ice hockey.
But when the only way forward — the only way to the Frozen Four — was to beat its rivals, it was Michigan prevailing on Sunday night.
“Throughout the regular season and the Big Ten finals, those guys were kind of whipping our butts,” Nazar said of Michigan State.. “And [being] able to come in here to (Barczewski’s) home and get the win was unreal.”
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.