Michigan to Open Regular Season Hosting Lake Superior State

• Friday's game marks the 3,000th game in Michigan ice hockey history.
• Last Saturday, Michigan posted a 7-1 exhibition win over Bowling Green.
• Michigan owns a 65-47-7 record in the series and has won the last three meetings with LSSU.

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The University of Michigan ice hockey team opens the 2021-22 season this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 8-9), hosting Lake Superior State at Yost Ice Arena. Friday's (Oct. 8) game -- the 3,000th in program history -- will begin at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's (Oct. 9) finale is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Both games will be streamed live on B1G+.

The Series

From 1981-2013, Lake Superior State made frequent trips to Yost Ice Arena for CCHA play. Returning as a non-conference foe, LSSU is coming off of a successful year in which it won the WCHA tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the teams meet to kick off the 2021-22 campaign in search of early season, resume-building wins, Michigan holds a 65-49-7 all-time series edge over the Lakers. At Yost, the Wolverines' advantage against LSSU is 32-19-4. When the teams last faced off in October 2019, U-M swept Lake State at Yost with 4-0 and 4-3 wins.

About Last Week

The Wolverines faced off against Bowling Green last Saturday night (Oct. 2) in an exhibition at Yost Ice Arena. Sophomore forward Brendan Brisson led the Maize and Blue to a resounding 7-1 victory over their former CCHA rivals by potting a hat trick. Captain Nick Blankenburg added two goals while Kent Johnson scored once and assisted on three others. In net, Erik Portillo stopped all 17 shots that he faced in 51 minutes.

• The exhibition was the first time that fans filled the bleachers inside Yost in more than 500 days. A crowd of 5,400 -- including a packed Children of Yost contingent -- cheered as Michigan skated to a win in the tuneup game.

Recapping 2020-21

• Michigan went 15-10-1 last season and earned its 38th bid to the NCAA Tournament before its season was ended prematurely due to COVID-19.

• A strong defensive corps limited opponents to just 1.96 goals per game, sixth best in the nation. On the other end, a potent 3.50 goals per game had the scoring offense ranked ninth nationally.

• The freshman class accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring with 126 of U-M's 256 points (42 goals, 84 assists). The Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year, Thomas Bordeleau, paced the scoring with 30 points -- including a team-high 22 assists.

• Behind Bordeleau in scoring was Kent Johnson with 27 points, Matty Beniers with 24, and Brendan Brisson with 21. Beniers led the B1G in on-ice rating at +21, eighth best in the nation.

• Owen Power led the team in blocked shots, was on the ice for 31 of Michigan's goals and added 16 points behind All-America defenseman Cam York.

• Strauss Mann went 11-9-1 in goal with five shutouts, a .930 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average. The two-time Mike Richter Award finalist left Michigan with 11 career shutouts -- fourth most in program history. This year's stalwart, Erik Portillo, registered a 4-1 record with a 1.67 GAA and a .936 save percentage in his first collegiate season.

Scouting the Lakers

Lake Superior opened its regular season last weekend with a series split at Nebraska-Omaha. The squad put up a 4-3 win on Saturday (Oct. 2) before falling 3-0 on Sunday (Oct. 3). Junior Brandon Puricelli leads the squad with three points, scoring twice including the overtime winner on Saturday. Harrison Roy has a goal and an assist and Dawson Tritt has the other goal for the Lakers. Seth Eisele earned the win in net with 37 saves on 40 shots, and Ethan Langenegger stopped 26 of 28 the following day.

Up Next

Friday, Oct. 15 -- at Minnesota Duluth - Ice Breaker (Duluth, Minn.), 7:37 p.m. CDT
Saturday, Oct. 16 -- vs. Providence or Minnesota State - Ice Breaker (Duluth, Minn.), 4:07 p.m. CDT