Michigan
22-4-0, 13-3-0
Ohio State
8-15-1, 4-10-0
Moldenhauer's OT Snipe Carries U-M to Series, Season Sweeps of Ohio State
1/31/2026 9:05:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Nick Moldenhauer notched a pair of tallies for his first multi-goal game as a Wolverine.
» T.J. Hughes recorded his 100th career assist on Moldenhauer's game-winning goal.
» Michigan finishes out the month of January 6-0 and sits atop the Big Ten standings.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It was Nick Moldenhauer's time to shine on Saturday night (Jan. 31), as the junior forward secured his first career multi-goal game to propel the top-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team past Ohio State 3-2 in overtime at Value City Arena to clinch a season sweep over U-M's rivals to the south.
Freshman goaltender Stephen Peck started in net for the fourth straight game, played shutout hockey for more than 54 minutes before a pair of quick goals forced the game into overtime. He set a new career high by making 32 saves while improving his career record to 5-0.
With the victory, Michigan (22-4-0, 13-3-0 Big Ten) improved its overtime record to 4-0 this season while securing its fifth road sweep of the season.
The rivals traded power-play chances in the opening frame without breaking the ice until forward Garrett Schifsky collected the puck in the neutral zone and forged ahead without support to carry it into Ohio State's zone. The junior button-hooked in the left circle and stickhandled momentarily to buy time until his classmate, Moldenhauer, skated into the slot to receive a pass. Schifsky sent a feed to his tape, and the winger made no mistake, quickly tucking a laser beam of a shot inside the top shelf to put Michigan up 1-0 at 17:43.
After 20 minutes of action, U-M carried a one-goal advantage to the dressing room. The Buckeyes had built a 10-6 edge in shots on goal in addition to an 11-5 lead in the faceoff dot, but the Wolverines rode Moldenhauer's shorthanded marker to a first intermission lead.
Back for the second period, Schifsky was banished to the locker room with a major penalty and a game misconduct at 5:40 after contacting the OSU goaltender while carving behind his net.
Michigan's penalty-kill unit continued its strong showing by remaining stout for five minutes to force play back to 5-on-5. It would not be the last infraction, however. Each team continued to carve a path to their respective penalty boxes as whistles consistently broke up the flow of the game.
A quiet period for the Wolverines came to an end with the team's 1-0 lead still intact. OSU's advantage in shots on goal (22-10) and faceoff wins (21-13) continued to balloon despite Peck and the U-M penalty killers doing their job to keep the Buckeyes off the scoreboard.
U-M came out hard for the third period to dominate possession and continuously test the opposing goalkeeper with shots from a variety of angles. Halfway through the frame, the Wolverines had racked up an 8-1 lead in shots on goal.
A mix-up by the Buckeye netminder resulted in a loose puck bouncing off the end wall and out the other side of the net, where Adam Valentini was waiting to bang home the rebound from near the blue paint. The freshman's eighth tally of the season gave Michigan a 2-0 lead at 10:30; Cole McKinney and Luca Fantilli recorded the assists.
Penalties finally bit the Wolverines when the sixth infraction of the evening handed a power-play chance to Ohio State at 12:59. Just under two minutes later, a point shot worked its way through traffic to trim the deficit back to 2-1 with 5:44 left in regulation.
The Buckeyes (8-15-1, 4-10-0 Big Ten) scored again to tie it up with 3:15 remaining when a puck was redirected to squeak through Peck's gear and roll across the goal line.
Sixty minutes were not enough to determine a winner, as the score was deadlocked at 2-2 when regulation came to a close. The Buckeyes scored two goals in the final six minutes of regulation to force overtime. OSU continued to lead in shots on goal (32-21) and faceoffs (28-26).
Each team took turns with the puck in the 3-on-3 extra session, but U-M won the race to three shots when Moldenhauer walked over to the left flank and sniped a game-winning goal to clinch the season sweep for the Wolverines and claim the extra point in the conference standings. Senior captain T.J. Hughes earned the primary assist to stretch his point streak to nine games, while junior blueliner Ben Robertson collected his 16th helper of the season with the secondary assist.
It took nearly 63 minutes of game time, but Michigan celebrated the 3-2 victory by mobbing Moldenhauer and Peck along the glass. The Buckeyes finished the evening with leads in shots on goal (34-24) and faceoffs (29-27), but they failed to net an all-important third goal.
Next week, Michigan will battle second-ranked Michigan State in a pair of high-profile showdowns on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 6-7) across southeast Michigan. The first contest will take place at Yost Ice Arena before the rivals head to Detroit for the annual Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena. FS1 will broadcast Friday's meeting before Big Ten Network carries the finale.
