Michigan
12-8-3, 5-6-2
Wisconsin
19-5-1, 10-3-0
Nazar's Three-Point Night Leads Michigan Past Wisconsin
1/26/2024 10:12:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Frank Nazar III led U-M with three points off two goals and an assist along with 15 faceoff wins.
» Rutger McGroarty notched a pair of assists for his fifth-consecutive multi-point performance.
» Dylan Duke extended his active point streak to 11 games with a two-point effort.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore center Frank Nazar III notched a three-point game and potted a pair of goals to lead the No. 14-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team to a 5-1 win over the third-ranked University of Wisconsin Badgers on Friday night (Jan. 26) inside Yost Ice Arena. The victory earned Michigan three points in the Big Ten standings.
Goaltender Jake Barczewski manned the crease for the Wolverines, and the veteran turned in a stellar performance as he stopped 42 of the 43 shots that he faced to earn the win over UW, his 10th victory as a Wolverine.
Freshman forward Garrett Schifsky gave Michigan an early lead when he scored his 11th goal of the season at 6:26 to put the Wolverines up, 1-0. Schifsky picked off an errant pass in front of Barczewski and moved the puck to linemate Dylan Duke to initiate the breakout. Duke rushed down the left flank and entered the offensive zone before pulling up near the half wall and attempting to thread a pass into the slot for T.J. Hughes. When a Badger deflected the pass, it skittered back to Schifsky and he wasted no time before picking a corner and denting the twine from the slot.
The Wolverines (12-8-3, 5-6-2) doubled their lead with 6:11 left in the second period after Wisconsin's goaltender failed in his attempt to clear the puck off the glass and out of the zone. Gavin Brindley dashed across the blue line just in time to keep the zone and funnel the attempt back toward the net, where Nazar received the pass before flipping a second-chance shot into the back of the net and giving Michigan a 2-0 lead over the nation's top-ranked defensive team.
Michigan was granted its first power play with 54 seconds left in the second stanza when Josh Eernisse had his stick slashed out of his hands in the neutral zone. Thirty-four seconds later, Dylan Duke redirected a point shot from Rutger McGroarty to put the Wolverines up by three. Hughes earned the secondary assist on the 35th goal of the year for the nation's top-ranked power-play unit.
UW (19-5-1, 10-3) found its way onto the scoreboard just 1:59 into the final frame and cut the deficit to 3-1 by cashing in on a rebound opportunity.
Nazar capped off a strong shift by notching his second goal of the night to bump the score to 4-1 and reclaim Michigan's three-goal lead at 5:05. Seamus Casey and McGroarty picked up the assists on their classmate's 12th goal of the year.
Wisconsin started its fourth power-play attempt of the evening at 12:15 after Ethan Edwards was nabbed for interference. Seconds after exiting the box following a successful kill, Edwards chased down a stretch pass and outlasted a single defender before sliding the puck into an empty net and making it 5-1 in favor of Michigan. Kienan Draper picked up the primary helper by blasting the puck down the ice while Nazar received the secondary for blocking the initial Badger shot.
Michigan finished the night with the four-goal win despite trailing in shots on goal (43-31) and tying in the faceoff dot with 32 victories apiece. U-M's top-ranked power-play unit finished the night 1-for-3 to continue its scoring ways as the Wolverines celebrated a dominant victory over the conference's top-ranked team.Â
Tomorrow night (Saturday, Jan. 27), the Big Ten rivals will reunite to finish off the regular season series at Yost. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the contest will be streamed live on B1G +.
