Michigan
5-2-1
Lindenwood
1-5-2
Michigan Scores Eight Special Teams Goals To Rout Lindenwood
10/28/2023 11:15:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» T.J. Hughes led the way with his first career five-point game via two goals and three assists.
» Seamus Casey scored once and added two assists to extend his point streak to 13 games.
» Michigan scored six power-play and two short-handed goals to continue its strong special teams play.
» In total, 10 Wolverines finished with multiple points, including four with three or more.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A second straight game featuring an offensive outburst saw the sixth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team roll past Lindenwood 10-1 Saturday night (Oct. 28) at Yost Ice Arena. In the process, the Wolverines dusted off and updated segments of the program's record book that had not been touched since the 1995-96.
Prior to this weekend's victories, the last time U-M scored nine goals or more in back-to-back games was January 1996, when the eventual national champions dominated Ferris State (10-3), Miami (13-0) and Illinois-Chicago twice (9-3, 9-1) in four consecutive outings.
Goaltender Jake Barczewski manned the crease for the sixth time this season after Noah West turned in a strong 19-save performance in Friday night's (Oct. 27) blowout win. Barczewski looked stout, making 27 saves on the 28 shots he faced to earn his fourth win of the season.
Eleven seconds into an early two-man advantage, Gavin Brindley threaded a wrist shot from the left dot that beat the netminder's glove to make it a 1-0 game at 10:50. T.J. Hughes and Seamus Casey assisted on Brindley's fourth power-play strike of the young season.
By adding the first period assist, Casey extended his career-long point streak to 13 games. Brindley's goal marked the seventh time in eight games that a Wolverine opened the scoring.
The Michigan power-play unit stayed hot by burying a second tally at 12:23 off a precision passing play. Once again, Hughes earned the primary assist for his pass across to Rutger McGroarty, who buried a one-timer from the right flank to make it 2-0. Brindley collected the secondary helper to notch his second multi-point game of the weekend.
After one period, U-M held a 2-0 lead off a pair of power-play tallies and a 19-5 advantage in shots on goal. The two-goal stanza marked the team's fifth straight multi-goal period, including all four periods against Lindenwood.
The Lions found their way onto the scoreboard following an offensive flurry to make it 2-1 at 8:07. Lindenwood's goal kicked off a Michigan offensive flurry.
Thirty-seven seconds after the Lions halved the deficit, McGroarty netted his second goal of the night to make it 3-1. The sophomore skated hard to the net and finished off the play to cement a multi-goal performance. Defenseman Marshall Warren earned the primary assist, while Brindley received the secondary.
Less than two minutes later, Hughes scored off assists from Jackson Hallum and Nick Moldenhauer to bump the score to 4-1 in Michigan's favor. With the goaltender scrambling, Hughes settled into soft ice and swiftly blasted Hallum's feed into the back of the net.
Thirty-one seconds after the lead had been increased to three, it was extended to four with a power-play goal from Casey. Hughes and Duke assisted on the play that saw U-M take a 5-1 lead.
Shortly thereafter, head coach Brandon Naurato challenged a play for head contact following a separate scuffle away from the play. After an official review, a Lion was sent off for a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
Just five seconds into the five-minute power play, Frank Nazar III received a pass from Moldenhauer before quickly putting a shot on goal that rang off the post and ricocheted off the goaltender's back. With the puck rolling in the blue paint, Mark Estapa crashed the blue paint and finished off the play to make it 6-1 with his first goal of the year.
Hughes notched his fifth point of the night to make it 7-1 when he buried a power-play ome-timer into a wide-open net at 13:07 of the second.
That power-play tally marked UM's fifth of the game, with the Wolverines netting five power-play goals for the first time since October 29, 2022, when U-M had five against Western Michigan.
Brindley made it 8-1, burying Michigan's first shorthanded goal of the season with 4:10 left in the period. He intercepted a pass in the slot while killing off a penalty and created a breakaway chance for himself. After entering the offensive zone, Brindley fired from the top of the circle that put the home team ahead by seven.
Hallum secured his third goal of the weekend, and the team's second shorthanded tally of the period, to make it 9-1 with 3:08 remaining in the second. Nazar and Warren assisted on Hallum's marker.
With one period left in the series, Michigan held a commanding 9-1 lead and a 44-15 edge in shots on goal. Of the nine tallies, five came on the power play and two were shorthanded. The team's seven-goal frame matches its effort from a year ago, when the Wolverines tallied seven in the second period in an 11-1 victory over Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament.
Duke appeared to have scored a goal of his own, redirecting a high shot while passing in front of the crease, but a Lindenwood challenge for high-sticking proved successful and the score remained 9-1 with half of a period left to play.
Michigan's red-hot power-play unit was given a late opportunity with 2:10 left in regulation. Estapa scored his second on the night on U-M's 51st shot on goal to make it 10-1 off a tic-tac-toe passing play in a triangle below the dots. Lapointe and Nazar collected the assists on Michigan's final tally of the evening.
Michigan ended the night with a 52-28 lead in shots on goal as well as a 37-32 edge in faceoffs, and U-M's special teams shined.
Michigan finished with six power-play goals on nine opportunities to take over the nation's top spot in both power-play goals and power-play percentage. The penalty-kill unit looked similarly impressive, turning aside all five Lindenwood power plays.
The last time the Wolverines scored six power-play goals in a game was Dec. 31, 1996, when the Wolverines went 6-for-10 in an 11-1 victory over Ferris State.
In total, 10 Wolverines turned in multi-point performances. A quartet of sophomores led the way, as Hughes notched five points, Brindley had four, and Nazar and Casey each had three.
Next week, the Wolverines return to conference play with its first Big Ten road trip of the season against Wisconsin on Friday at 7 p.m. CDT and Saturday (Nov. 3-4) at 6 p.m. CDT, and both games will be streamed live on B1G+.
