Michigan
20-10-2, 12-9-1
Ohio State
18-11-3, 11-9-2
Michigan Falls to No. 10 Ohio State in 'Faceoff on the Lake'
2/18/2023 8:37:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Adam Fantilli extended his point streak to 11 games with an assist for his 49th point of the season.
» Gavin Brindley scored his ninth goal of year and got Michigan on the board late in the second period.
» In dropping U-M's ninth all-time outdoor game, the program's record falls to 4-4-1 outside.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A fierce push late in the game wasn't enough for the fourth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team as the Wolverines fell to No. 10 Ohio State in a 4-2 decision on Saturday (Feb. 18) in front of 45,523 people at the "Faceoff on the Lake," an outdoor game at FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Michigan led OSU 20-7 in third period shots but failed to notch a pair of late goals before time expired.
Junior goaltender Erik Portillo started between the pipes for U-M, and the Swede made 30 saves on 34 shots faced while shouldering the loss.
Early in the first period, Michigan (20-10-2, 12-9-1 Big Ten) received the game's first power play when OSU took a penalty for cross-checking at 3:39. The attempt failed, but U-M returned to the man-advantage at 8:37. Once again, the power-play unit failed to convert as the Wolverines dropped to 0-for-2.
Evening things up in short order, U-M took a pair of penalties in succession but was able to kill both to drop the Buckeyes to 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Michigan embarked on its third power play of the game with 3:17 left in the opening frame. U-M challenged for a major penalty on the play, but an official review determined a minor penalty was sufficient. Just over halfway through the advantage, Portillo was called for tripping with 2:13 left to even play at four-on-four for 1:04.Â
After one period, the game remained scoreless and each team was 0-for-3 on the power play. OSU led in shots on goal, 14-7, as well as in the faceoff dot, 18-7.
The fourth power play for Michigan came and went early in the second period. Trading chances once again, Gavin Brindley was whistled at 10:50 for slashing to give OSU (18-11-3, 11-9-2 Big Ten) their fourth man-advantage.
With an Ohio State power-play chance about to start after the regularly-scheduled media timeout in the middle of the second period, an extended pause took place while the ice crew addressed a number of issues with the sheet in the Michigan zone.
After the OSU power play was dismissed and teams returned to 5x5 play, the Buckeyes opened the scoring at even-strength with 5:39 left in the second period to make it 1-0.
Following a hit between the benches with 4:59 left in the second period, another piece of ice was damaged along the dasher and in need of attention from the ice crew. The officials decided to send the teams to their dressing rooms for an earlier-than-anticipated intermission.
With 24:59 left to play in regulation, Ohio State held a 1-0 lead as well as a 23-14 advantage in shots on goal. The Buckeyes had also expanded their lead in faceoffs to 33-10, but each squad was a paltry 0-for-4 on the power play.
Once play resumed, Ohio State's fifth power play began with 3:23 left in the second stanza when a Michigan forward was sent off for cross-checking. Thirty-four seconds later, the Buckeyes banged home a cross-crease pass to set off the fireworks and take a 2-0 lead with 2:49 left.
Shortly thereafter, Brindley scored to get Michigan on the board and make it a 2-1 game with 1:35 remaining. Adam Fantilli earned the lone assist to extend his point streak to 11 games.
The pendulum continued to swing less than a minute later when OSU capitalized on a netfront scramble and buried a rebound from the high slot, taking a two-goal lead for the second time.
After two full periods of play, Ohio State held a 3-1 lead as well as a 27-17 edge in shots on goal and a massive 40-12 lead in the faceoff dot.
Fantilli drew a penalty early in the final frame when his feet were taken out while dashing into the Ohio State zone along the right wall at 1:10, so the Maize and Blue embarked on its sixth power play of the contest. Once again, the team failed to find the back of the net.
Toward the middle of the period, Eric Ciccolini finished off a rebound after crashing the net and following a shot that had been fired by teammate Jackson Hallum from the top of the left circle. Freshman center Frank Nazar III earned the secondary assist on Ciccolini's tally that made it 3-2 with 11:14 left.
Sixty-one seconds later, with Ohio State on their sixth power play, a centering attempt from the goal line to Portillo's left was deflected off of his stick and into the net to make it 4-2 in OSU's favor. The Buckeyes would finish 2-for-6 for the night on the power play.
Michigan's seventh power play started with 7:45 left in regulation when Ethan Edwards was dragged to the ice, but the team failed to notch a power-play goal to fall to 0-for-7 on the night and 0-for-12 on the weekend.
The Wolverines made a furious rally with the goaltender pulled, but the visiting Maize and Blue never found a critical third or fourth goal and ultimately dropped the game by a 4-2 score. The late push ended up tilting the final count for shots on goal in Michigan's favor, 37-34. The final faceoff tally was 53-29 in Ohio State's favor, but U-M did win 17 faceoffs in the third period after winning just 12 in the first 40 minutes.
Next week (Feb. 24-25), the Wolverines will finish off the regular season with a pair of games on home ice at Yost Ice Arena against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Friday night's contest is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on B1G +. On Saturday, the program will celebrate its annual "Senior Night" following the regular-season finale, with puck drop slated for 8 p.m. ET. That game will be broadcast nationwide on Big Ten Network.
