Fueled by Rutger McGroarty’s and Seamus Casey’s five-point weekends, the Wolverines swept the Irish in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
There is nothing quite like postseason hockey. The thrill, stress, anxiety and elation are unmatched in sports. For fans of the Michigan Wolverines , these feelings are already understood because seemingly every game this season has been a roller coaster of emotions.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament , the two-time defending tournament champions had grown comfortable in uncomfortable situations, which is the best and worst thing about the Wolverines. Facing Notre Dame in the quarterfinals, Michigan kept to form.
In game one, after trailing early 1-0, Michigan stormed back to take a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Rutger McGroarty and Nick Moldenhauer before the first intermission. In the second period, Notre Dame responded with three unanswered goals in less than four minutes. Trailing 4-2 with three minutes remaining in the second, fans were silent, and thoughts of, “Well, it’s a best-of-three series,” were deafening.
And then, the Wolverines struck back. First, it was an even-strength goal from Garrett Schifsky at 17:04 to make it a one-goal lead. Then it was Michigan drawing a five-minute major that completely changed the complexion of the game. Before the end of the middle period, T.J. Hughes rocketed home the tying goal and the Wolverines still had four minutes remaining on the power play.
In the final period, Michigan capitalized in the waning moments of the man advantage to take a 5-4 lead when McGroarty found the back of the net for his second goal of the game, also securing Seamus Casey’s fourth assist of the game. For the rest of the period, Michigan smothered Notre Dame’s attack and held on to win, 5-4.
In game two, it was Deja Vu all over again. Again the Wolverines relented the first goal before bouncing back to take a 2-1 lead. Again, Notre Dame responded with a second-period flurry to regain the lead. Again, Michigan answered late in the second, iced it with one goal in the third, and used a smothering defensive attack to close the game.
In more detail, once again playing from behind 1-0, Michigan tied the game after Seamus Casey threw a shot on net from the point that was deflected in by Hughes. Late in the first, it was Hughes again batting in his second goal of the night to give Michigan its second 2-1 first-period lead of the weekend.
Unfortunately, the second period was eerily similar to night one when Notre Dame made a two-goal push in the middle of the period to take the lead, 3-2. However, this time, Michigan stopped the bleeding before the Irish could enjoy another two-goal lead when Dylan Duke swatted home a rebound to tie the game at three apiece.
In the final frame, Michigan broke the tie when Tyler Duke found Gavin Brindley at the backdoor to put the Wolverines up, 4-3. From this moment on, Michigan committed to the back check and playing team defense to help salt this one away. Notre Dame had one final chance with less than 15 seconds remaining, but goalie Jake Barzcewski’s skate just kept the puck out, and Michigan survived and advanced.
Michigan will face either Michigan State or Minnesota next weekend, depending on who wins the decisive game three tomorrow between Ohio State and Wisconsin. As of writing this, the Wolverines have moved up to firmly hold the No. 10 spot in the Pairwise rankings and should be a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens next weekend.