Wolverines to Head East for Series With New Hampshire

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The University of Michigan ice hockey team (3-7-2) takes a break from Big Ten action with a trip east to play a pair against the University of New Hampshire (5-4-1). The teams will face off Friday (Nov. 22) and Saturday (Nov. 23) at the Whittemore Center with puck drop for both games at 7 p.m.

The Series

Michigan and New Hampshire renew the series history after a five-year hiatus. Michigan leads 7-3-3 in the all-time series 7-3-3 against New Hampshire since the teams first met in 1983. The teams split the series the last time out (October 2014) with UNH winning game one, 5-1, over then-No. 10 ranked Michigan before the Wolverines took game two, 2-1.

The teams have met three times in the NCAA Tournament, the first on April 2, 1998, in the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal in Boston. Michigan defeated UNH, 4-0, behind goalie Mary Turco and then defeated Boston College for the national title. Michigan and UNH met up again in the NCAA Regionals in 1999 and 2004, with the Wildcats winning, 2-1, in overtime in the 1999 Regional; the Wolverines won 4-1 in the 2004 Regional.

Scouting the Wildcats

UNH enters the weekend at 5-4-1 and is receiving votes in the USCHO.com national poll. The team has wins over two nationally-ranked opponents, including a 3-1 win against then-No. 2 ranked UMass on Nov. 10. The Wildcats followed up that upset with losses in a pair of games at Maine. At 3-3 in conference play, UNH sits tied for seventh in Hockey East.

Sophomore Jack Pierson leads New Hampshire in scoring with 13 points, on two goals and a team-best 11 assists -- fourth best in the nation. Junior Max Gildon leads the defenseman in scoring and is second on the team overall in scoring with four goals -- all of which have come on the power play -- and eight assists for 12 points. Junior Charlie Kelleher is right behind with 11 points on our goals and seven assists. Sophomore Angus Crookshank and junior Kohei Sato have each tallied a team-high five goals.

UNH is one of the least penalized teams in the nation, averaging just 7.6 penalty minutes per game to rank 58th out of 60 schools. They also boast the seventh-best power-play unit in the nation, converting 12 of 44 chances for a 27.3 percent success rate.

Junior Mike Robinson has started in eight of UNH's 10 games and has a 3-4-1 record with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Sophomore Ty Taylor has made two appearances and is 2-0 with a 2.91 GAA and an .872 save percentage.

Wolverine Bites

• Luke Martin recorded his 200th career block on Thursday (Nov. 13) against Michigan State and now leads the team with 204 career blocks and 20 on the season.
• Dakota Raabe leads the team in on-ice ratings with a plus-3. He has appeared in all 12 games and has three assists playing a large role on the penalty kill.
• Michigan is 13th in the nation in shots on goal, averaging 31.67 shots per game. The team's 380 shots on goal is eighth best in the nation.
• 2019 first-round NHL draft pick Johnny Beecher is leading the way for Michigan inside the faceoff dot. Beecher has won 123 of his 225 draws to lead the team with a 54.7 percent clip while posting a team-high six points on the season.

Goalie Strauss Mann has made 315 saves in his 12 starts between the pipes, the eighth-most stops in the nation. His two shutouts have him tied with a handful of other netminders for second in the nation.

Up Next

Saturday, Nov. 30 -- at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CST
Sunday, Dec. 1 -- at Wisonsin (Madison, Wis.), 4 p.m. CST