Michigan
12-8-1, 4-7-0
Ohio State
15-7-1, 8-5-0
Michigan Upended by Rival No. 8 Ohio State in Series Opener
1/13/2023 9:51:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Forward Dylan Duke scored twice in his first career game against his brother, Tyler.
» Adam Fantilli recorded an assist and has points in 15 of 17 games played.
» Goaltender Erik Portillo made a career-high 45 saves while shouldering the loss.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The program's 100th anniversary celebration weekend got off to a rocky start on Friday night (Jan. 13), as the sixth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team fell 7-2 to No. 8 Ohio State inside a sold-out Yost Ice Arena.
Junior netminder Erik Portillo manned the crease for U-M, stopping a whopping 45 of 52 shots that he faced while keeping the deficit from worsening. Despite shouldering the loss, the mark of 45 saves was good for a new personal best.
The teams traded power plays in the early going, but neither side converted on their first chance.
As the first period's media timeout ended with 8:30 left, Michigan (12-8-1, 4-7-0 Big Ten) embarked on its second power play after a Buckeye had been called for hooking. Twelve seconds later, the Wolverines took a 1-0 lead with a power-play tally. T.J. Hughes worked at the half-wall before curling in toward the middle of the ice and feeding Mackie Samoskevich in the slot. He chopped a fluttering puck toward the net that was altered in midair by Dylan Duke, who was firmly planted in the netfront area.
Ohio State (15-7-1, 8-5-0 Big Ten) struck back with a power-play goal of its own at 16:16 to tie it at 1 and move to 1-for-2 on the power play.
After one period, the teams were tied at one goal apiece despite the Buckeyes building a large 23-7 advantage in shots on goal.
Portillo made several incredible saves in the first half of the middle frame before surrendering his second goal on the 36th shot he faced to see OSU take a 2-1 lead at 6:21. OSU doubled its lead 3:10 later with a shot from the left point through traffic to make it 3-1.
A skirmish just after the halfway point of the game resulted in offsetting penalties, but a delayed whistle that had preceded the scrum forced the Buckeyes to play shorthanded for two minutes.
OSU converted on back-to-back power plays to extend its lead to 5-1 at 17:31 of the second.
Immediately after conceding the fifth goal, the Wolverines broke into the Ohio State zone and scored their second goal of the night to make it 5-2. Luke Hughes collected the faceoff win and dashed through the neutral zone before driving deep into the OSU end on the right flank. As his fellow Wolverines assembled in the offensive zone, Hughes sent the puck through the slot where Adam Fantilli and Duke were hard at work to establish a presence. After Fantilli helped to shuffle the puck over to Duke on the left wing, the sophomore forward banged home his second goal of the night.
OSU was called for a minor penalty, but an official review upgraded the penalty to a five-minute major penalty for kneeing. Seven seconds after starting the five-minute advantage, U-M ceded a shorthanded goal that made it 6-2.
After two periods, OSU carried a four-goal lead into the dressing room along with a 45-16 lead in shots on goal.
Current Columbus Blue Jackets and former Wolverines Nick Blankenburg and Kent Johnson participated in the Score-O contest at intermission, with last year's captain, Blankenburg, sinking a shot from the far blue line.
Back on the ice for the third period, Michigan was whistled for a bench minor penalty at 3:38 that spoiled the last 30 seconds of the advantage that had carried over from the middle frame.
An offensive-zone possession in the OSU end netted the Wolverines a power play when the Buckeyes were whistled for holding at 7:35. Halfway through the advantage, Hughes was whistled for a lone embellishment call to even play at 4-on-4.
Ohio State scored its seventh goal of the night just after its skater had exited the box to register the team's fourth power-play goal of the contest.
The final shots-on-goal tally was 52-21 in OSU's favor, as the Buckeyes took the first meeting of the season.
On Saturday (Jan. 14), the Wolverines finish off their series versus Ohio State with puck drop at Yost set for 4:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
