In many ways, No. 2 Michigan facing off against No. 1 Minnesota has felt like an inevitability for the past two months.
Once the Golden Gophers reached the top of the standings, no one in the Big Ten was going to catch them. With just four total losses in B1G play and a 9-2-1 B1G record in the second half of the season, Minnesota outscored conference opponents 46-23 in that stretch with three shutouts and only three games in which the Gophers allowed three or more goals.
On Saturday, the Gophers came from behind to defeat Michigan State 5-1 in semifinal play. Coach Bob Motzko said that even though the Gophers were a little rusty after their first-round bye, he liked the way the team responded.
“A lot of good things in there,” he said. “We’ve got to build on this, and we’ve got to build on it quick.”
In the past two months, the Wolverines have found every way to overcome every obstacle, grinding their way toward this chance to defend the Big Ten playoff championship.
As recently as mid-January, Michigan was in sixth place in the Big Ten standings. The Wolverines then embarked on a 7-1-0 run through four league opponents to climb to second place in the conference and survived a four-game 0-2-2 rough patch against Notre Dame and Ohio State to close out the regular season.
In Big Ten quarterfinal play, Michigan came from behind twice to beat Wisconsin. In the 6-5 overtime win, Rutger McGroarty scored the game-tying goal with 23 seconds left in regulation and Steven Holtz had the game winner at 9:06 in OT. The following night with the game tied 4-4, captain Nolan Moyle scored at 17:40 of the third period. T.J. Hughes and Mackie Samoskevich added even-strength goals in the next two minutes to make it a 7-4 Michigan win.
In their 7-3 semifinal game against Ohio State last weekend, the Wolverines wasted no time. Gavin Brindley scored 23 seconds into the game, Michigan led 3-0 after the first and their lead in the contest was never in serious trouble.
“The start was great,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato. “We’ve seen how that’s gone in the past when we score a couple quick ones. I think we didn’t let our foot off the gas and that was what I’m most proud of them for.”
That foot-on-gas approach is something that the Wolverines have relied on often this season, as their series against Wisconsin illustrated. In the second half and including the Big Ten playoffs, Michigan has outscored opponents 76-59, scoring 4.47 goals per game on average but allowing 3.47 goals per game on average.
The Wolverines took an important step forward against Ohio State, a team that had stymied them in three regular-season games. Naurato had alluded many times this season to Michigan needing to stay on top of their emotions, and after the semifinal win, he said, “I think we played better tonight with the lead than we had in the past. We did exactly what we worked on all week.”
The Golden Gophers were 3-1-0 against the Wolverines in the regular season. The teams split their most recent series the third week in January in Minneapolis. Both games were decided in overtime, and in both games, the Gophers scored the game-tying goal late in the third period to send the game to OT.
Following the semifinal win over Michigan State, Motzko was asked when the Gophers would turn their attention to Michigan.
“About 20 minutes ago,” he quipped, adding, “We’ve got some things to work on. Being off for two weeks, it showed in some areas. We have to have a sharp week, so we’ve got some work to do. They’re playing awful good right now.”
In terms of offense, these teams are near as equal as any two teams in the nation – and their both excellent. The Gophers and Wolverines are each averaging 4.11 goals per game, and their power plays are nearly equally lethal.
Defensive is where the teams differ in significant ways. Minnesota allows 2.23 goals per game to Michigan’s 3.19, and while the Gophers’ penalty kill has some room for improvement at 82.8 percent, the Wolverines have the 51st-best PK nationally (76.6 percent).
This contest is a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game, which the Wolverines won 4-3 in Minnesota. It’s also the fourth time that the two teams are meeting in the B1G title game. The Gophers beat the Wolverines, 4-2, at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena in 2015, and Michigan returned that favor by a score of 5-3 the following year at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
For what it’s worth, the only thing these teams are really playing for is a conference championship – and that should make this game one for the ages. Minnesota is the overall top team in the PairWise, and at No. 4 in the PWR going into the weekend, the Wolverines are likely to be a top seed in an NCAA Regional regardless of the outcome of this game.
The puck drops in Mariucci Arena at 8:00 p.m. EDT Saturday. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
High praise and well deserved
After the Gophers beat the Spartans to advance to the title game, Bob Motzko shared his thoughts about Michigan State, saying that Adam Nightingale and his staff has done a good job “really restoring … a real proud program” in East Lansing.
“Those kids were playing this year,” said Motzko. “We were a little bit of a tough nut for them to crack, but they were just four points out of second place and they played. It was a great job by their coaching staff.”
The kids are more than all right
There’s only one thing that every coach in the Big Ten agreed on when it came to end-of-season honors: Adam Fantilli is amazing.
Okay, so the word “amazing” wasn’t used anywhere in the league’s press release, but the asterisk next to Fantilli’s name for all-Big Ten first team honors indicates that he was a unanimous pick. Fantilli was the only unanimous pick for anything among the coaches who voted.
Perhaps the second thing that every coach in the Big Ten agrees on – and something that anyone paying attention to B1G Hockey this season will confirm – is that recruiters are brining outstanding talent into the conference.
Two Minnesota freshmen – Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud – are scoring co-champs with 36 points each in Big Ten action. With 25 goals and 31 assists, the league’s Rookie of the Year, Michigan’s Adam Fantilli, leads the nation in points and is second among goal-scorers.
All three forwards on the Big Ten First Team are sophomores or juniors: Fantilli and Cooley, and Minnesota sophomore Matthew Knies. Sophomore Luke Hughes (D, Michigan), junior Brock Faber (D, Minnesota) and senior Ryan Bicshel (G, Notre Dame) round out that team.
And it only takes a glance to see that Minnesota and Michigan have done particularly well recruiting in recent years. All but one player among the top 10 scorers in Big Ten action this season are from Minnesota and Michigan. That outlier is Ohio State’s Stephen Halliday, a freshman.
Additionally, only two players among the league’s top scorers are seniors, Minnesota’s Jackson LaCombe and Bryce Brodzinski. Everyone else is a freshman or sophomore.
Knies, Cooly and Fantilli are also 2023 Hobey Baker finalists.
All of this bodes well for the Big Ten, a league that feels as though it’s finally come into its own, 10 years in. Even if young talent leaves early, programs in the conference have established their ability to attract top players.
Thank you, everyone
This week, USCHO.com publishes the last weekly conference columns of the season. I certainly picked a good season to return to Big Ten coverage, as it’s been a fascinating ride. I’m grateful for everyone who rode along.
