Michigan Set to Face No. 4 MSU in Battle for Frozen Four Spot

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The No. 10-ranked and No. 3-seeded University of Michigan ice hockey team will take on rival No. 4-ranked and No. 1-seeded Michigan State in the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional final on Sunday (March 31) at 5:30 p.m. CDT with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four. The contest, to be played at Centene Community Ice, will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Notes

• One of college hockey's greatest rivalries is renewed for the second time in as many weeks in the NCAA's Maryland Heights Regional, as the University of Michigan and Michigan State will face off for the 343rd all-time meeting, but first in the NCAA tournament.

• U-M owns a 176-142-24 advantage over the Spartans in the all-time series, including a narrow 11-10 edge in postseason meetings. MSU won the first seven postseason contests between the rivals until Michigan turned the tables in 1996. Since then, U-M is 11-3 in the playoffs versus the Spartans.

• Michigan opened the 2024 NCAA tournament by knocking off No. 5 North Dakota on Friday night. After falling behind in both the first and second periods, Michigan tied the game early in the second and third periods. In the final frame, the Wolverines never looked back, scoring three times to secure a 4-3 win. The line of Dylan Duke, Garrett Schifsky and T.J. Hughes was tremendous. Duke, the Wolverines' leading active career scorer, netted a pair of goals in the third period. Meanwhile, Schifsky notched two assists and Hughes scored one while assisting on another. The trio finished the night with a combined +8 rating.

• Rutger McGroarty leads the team in scoring with 52 points on 16 goals and team-high 36 assists. Big Ten Player of the Year Gavin Brindley has 51 points off a team-best 24 goals and 27 helpers. After Duke's two goals Friday, he is now tied with the team lead in goals with 24 while adding 22 assists. Hughes matches his total with 46 points, followed by Seamus Casey with 45 and Frank Nazar III with 40. All six are averaging over one point per game. McGroarty and Casey rank third and fourth nationally in helpers.

• Michigan's top-ranked power-play unit is operating at 35 percent and has scored 49 times, the most for Michigan since they had 49 in 2005-06. U-M has been strong in the faceoff dot (52.7 percent) and the penalty kill (78.6 percent) has improved in the second half.

• In a homecoming for Jake Barczewski, a native of O'Fallon, Mo., he set a new career high in wins by going 19-13-3 as a Wolverine. Earlier this year, he surpassed a pair of major milestones with his 100th collegiate start and 3,000th career save. Barczewski is the active NCAA saves leader with 3,674 over his five seasons. The goaltender has accrued 955 this year while posting a .907 save percentage and 2.83 goals-against average along with a pair of shutouts.

• This year's NCAA tournament bid for the Wolverines is the 41st in program history. That figure is a record, as are Michigan's 27 Frozen Four appearances and nine national titles. After Friday's win, the Wolverines improve to 58-32 in the tournament all-time.