Michigan hockey beats MSU again, winning in East Lansing
Michigan hockey lost a lot from last year’s team and has had its ups and downs, just above the cut line in the pairwise rankings for the NCAA Tournament. But the Wolverines took a big step toward the postseason with a win at No. 2 Michigan State Friday night, the second time in three meetings this year the Wolverines have beaten the Spartans.
Goaltender Cameron Korpi came up huge, stopping 38 of 39 shots, and Michigan got a tip-in goal from Garrett Schifsky with 56.7 seconds remaining — his second game winner in three games with the Spartans this year — for a huge three points. U-M pulled four points ahead of Wisconsin, remaining fourth in the Big Ten Standings, and remained three points behind third place Ohio State with the win.
“I thought Cameron was outstanding,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said in the postgame. “They tilted the ice in their favor, their possession time probably doubled ours … but Korpi made some big-time saves.”
Especially in the second period, when the Spartans were buzzing. MSU scored first in period one, a power play goal that made it 1-0, but couldn’t stay out of the penalty box. The Spartans dominated play 5-on-5, but a 5-on-3 power play goal from TJ Hughes two minutes after Michigan State’s tally made it 1-1.
MSU peppered Korpi with shots in the second — he notched 20 saves alone in the period — but the Michigan goalie was up to the task. On the other end, Spartan’s netminder Trey Augustine stopped breakaways from Hughes and forwards Jackson Hallum and Josh Eernisse to keep it tied.
The third period included several outstanding saves from both goaltenders before Schifsky broke Spartans hearts again, tipping in Ethan Edwards’ wrist shot from the blue line over Augustine’s right shoulder to stun the crowd. Korgi would face a few more point block shots when MSU pulled the goaltender, but he was up to the task.
“Everyone knows how good of a goalie [Augustine] is, and you really have to earn it to beat him,” Naurato said. “It was a simple play at the end — just go low to high, shoot a puck at the net. [Schifsky] is there and finds a hole.”
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As a result, the Wolverines found a way to beat their rivals again. The two teams will battle again tonight at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit in the annual ‘Duel in the D.’
“I thought we got ourselves into penalty trouble to start,” MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said. “We did a heck of a job on the kill. We put a team with that much talent on the power play and we gave up three shots on five kills.
“… We said to our guys, ‘we’re disappointed but never discouraged,’ and we’ve got a big game tomorrow.”
Michigan currently stands No. 12 in the pairwise rankings with a 16-11-2 record and could solidify their NCAA chances with another win tonight.
