Michigan
3-1-1
St. Cloud State
3-1-0
Stein Earns First Career Shutout Behind Three Third-Period Tallies vs. St. Cloud State
10/18/2024 10:31:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Logan Stein turned aside all 21 shots that he faced to earn his first collegiate shutout.
» Garrett Schifsky continued his torrid start with a shorthanded goal in the third period.
» Michael Hage provided insurance with a goal for his team-leading seventh point.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Defense was the name of the game on Friday night (Oct. 18), as the 10th-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team rode a fundamentally sound performance and a trio of third-period goals to a 3-0 win over No. 13 St. Cloud State inside Yost Ice Arena.
The non-conference victory marked U-M's first shutout since Feb. 23, 2024 when the Wolverines defeated Notre Dame 4-0.
For the third straight week, Logan Stein started in net to kick off a two-game series for the Wolverines. The veteran goaltender was stellar between the pipes, making 21 saves to earn his first career shutout in his fifth year of collegiate play. Stein did the heavy lifting to keep the game scoreless into the third period and give Michigan's offense a chance to spark.
Following a collision in the neutral zone that temporarily downed a Husky skater, SCSU was handed a minor penalty for holding to give Michigan the first power play of the night at 15:21 of the first period. U-M tested the St. Cloud goaltender, but the home team failed to score before the game returned to even strength.
After one period of scoreless play, the Wolverines held an 8-7 lead in shots on goal in addition to a 7-5 advantage in the faceoff dot.
Michigan came out to start the second period with their best three-minute push of the night featuring dangerous opportunities for William Whitelaw and Garrett Schifsky within 10 feet of the St. Cloud cage. Several chances excited the crowd, but none found the back of the net.
In response to the hot start from the Wolverines, the visitors earned back-to-back attempts on the power play in the first half of the second period. Fortunately for the home crowd, Michigan's penalty killers continued their strong start to the season by dismissing both chances and preserving the scoreless tie.
Late in the second period, U-M's active career leading scorer, T.J. Hughes, drew a penalty with 52.7 seconds left. The Wolverines threatened once again, but the buzzer rang for the second intermission before they could open the scoring.
With over one minute of power-play time set to be carried over to the third period, Michigan led in both shots on goal (22-14) and faceoffs (17-12) despite the game being scoreless.
The early advantage expired without an ice-breaking goal for Michigan. Shortly thereafter, Whitelaw was banished to the box at 2:45 to give SCSU another power play.
On the ensuing advantage, a goal was finally scored, but not by the team with the extra skater. After an SCSU turnover, Schifsky skated into a pass from Tyler Duke for a breakaway opportunity while shorthanded. The sophomore forward pulled out a leg kick before sliding the puck past St. Cloud's goalie to earn a 1-0 lead for Michigan at 4:26. The goal marked Schifsky's third shorty through five games as a sophomore.
Michael Hage turned in an exceptional shift near the halfway point of the period to keep the puck in the Husky zone before ultimately depositing it into the opposing net to double the lead for the Wolverines. After he collected the puck in the corner, Hage skated out from the half-wall to the blue line before turning back to carve in toward the right post, all while shielding the puck with his body. With the goalie committed to the post, Hage slid the puck across his body before dunking it into the yawning cage from close quarters for an unassisted goal.
Fifth-year forward Philippe Lapointe netted an empty-net goal from the neutral zone at 16:17 to ice the game and put the Wolverines up 3-0. Assists on Lapointe's long-range strike went to Hughes and defenseman Ethan Edwards, marking Edwards' first point of the season.
The final buzzer rang on a 3-0 shutout win for Michigan, which finished the night with a 30-21 advantage in shots on goal as well as a 27-24 edge in the faceoff dot. With the win, Michigan moved to 3-1-1 on the young season while St. Cloud State dropped to 3-1-0.
On Saturday night (Oct. 19), the teams will reconvene at Yost to finish off the non-conference series. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the contest will be streamed live on B1G+.
