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Frozen Four bound: Michigan hockey holds off Quinnipiac, wins 7-4

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•03/27/22•

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Michigan hockey crushed Colgate in first round NCAA Tournament play. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

It was tighter than it should have been at the end, when Michigan gave up three goals in about seven minutes of the third period. A 4-0 lead quickly moved to 4-3, and the Wolverines were hanging on for dear life with five minutes to go against Quinnipiac in a regional final game in Allentown, Pa.

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But Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold pulled his goalie in a questionable move with four minutes to go and his team buzzing. Michael Pastujov scored into the empty net with 3:37 left, and Michigan added an empty netter and a full strength goal to put it away.

The Bobcats scored with 22 seconds left to cap the scoring in a wild third period.

“The main thing is we’re on to Boston,” Michigan head coach Mel Pearson told ESPN2.com. “I didn’t like our third period, but give them all the credit. They never gave up. They worked hard, and they had us on the ropes there.

“But our guys found a way, and that’s all that matters at this point.

Michigan got off to a quick start on a goal by Nolan Moyle only 33 seconds in. He pounded away at a rebound until it finally found the net behind goaltender Yaniv Perets.

Michigan took a 2-0 lead when Luke Hughes found Jimmy Lambert after Lambert’s face-off win. Hughes put it on the tape and Lambert tipped it in to give the Wolverines a two-goal lead they’d take into the second period.

Erik Portillo, though, was as big a story in the first period as the offense. Thought Perets stopped 12 of 14 shots, including two breakaways, the Michigan goalie stopped all 14, including several great scoring chances.

“He just competes,” Pearson said. “I just told him … you see the four goals against, but he could be the first star of this game. He really kept us in this game … a lot of open looks in the first period.

“But he competes, takes up a lot of net, reads plays well. I thought he was outstanding tonight.”

Thomas Bordeleau scored with 13:54 remaining in the second for Michigan on a beautifully executed power play tally. Owen Power and Brendan Brisson set him up with some tic-tac-toe, and Brisson buried it from straight away.

Garrett Van Whye scored a shorthanded goal with 1:06 remaining in the period, and Michigan was in complete control.

But the Bobcats rallied. They scored three straight, the first on a bad bounce and the second on a turnover, to make a game of it. It was 4-3 Michigan when Quinnipiac’s Desi Burgart scored with 8:48 remaining.

The Bobcats continued the pressure before Pastujov finally got the momentum back with the empty netter for Michigan.

Michigan finished it off and is now Boston bound for the Frozen Four. They’ll play fellow one seed Denver Thursday, April 7.

“The hardest part is getting in this situation when you have the lead and play with this pressure,” Pearson said. “Just play your game. I thought we got away from our game there.

“[Denver] is a good offensive team … as good as any team in the country. So, we’re going to have to make sure we play three periods, not just two.”

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