DETROIT — The Michigan hockey team lives to fight another day.
Entering Thursday’s game against Wisconsin in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines were faced with a do-or-die situation. And fortunately for Michigan, it prevailed against the Badgers for the fifth time this season, 5-1.
The Wolverines struck first, when senior forward Zach Hyman put home a puck that had just rung off the iron. Freshman forward Dylan Larkin started the play, firing the puck toward the net before the puck ricocheted off of a Wisconsin player’s skate to Hyman, who put it home.
Hyman’s tally was his 20th of the year, and the senior became the first Michigan hockey player to score 20 or more goals in a season since Louie Caporusso did the same in 2009-10. More notably, Hyman’s goal marked his 50th point of the season — the first Wolverine to accomplish such a feat since now-professional hockey player Carl Hagelin, who notched 50 points in 2009-10.
“I don’t think you can overestimate how important he’s been, especially in terms of goal scoring,” said junior forward Andrew Copp.
Jumping out to a quick lead is something Berenson has preached to his team all season, but it consistently failed to do so. So the Michigan coach put an even bigger emphasis on starting quickly this week, knowing that if his squad reverted back to its bad habits, there wouldn’t be another chance at redemption.
And right on cue, Michigan (13-8-0-0 Big Ten, 21-14-0-0 overall) took control of the game from the get-go, creating the majority of the game’s scoring opportunities, while also limiting the Badgers (4-26-5-2, 2-16-3-2) to just five shots on goal in the first frame.
“They’re an unbelievable team,” said Wisconsin netminder Joel Rumpel. “But our guys battled hard. If a few bounces went our way and not theirs, it would have been a closer game, but I give them a lot of credit. They’re a very talented team.”
The Wolverines wasted no time starting where they left off in the second frame. Senior defenseman Andrew Sinelli found twine for the first time this season, throwing what looked liked a pass toward Rumpel before the puck deflected off a Badger defenseman’s stick and into the net.
The goal was certainly uncharacteristic for the Wisconsin senior, who Michigan coach Red Berenson called “one of the best goalies in college hockey” earlier this week.
And it didn’t take long for the Wolverines to continue to make Rumpel look like just an average goalie. With just over 15 minutes remaining in the second frame, freshman defenseman Cutler Martin fired a shot from the slot that Hyman redirected for his second goal of the game.
Berenson opted to start junior goalie Steve Racine, continuing the revolving door that is the Michigan goaltending situation. Sophomore Zach Nagelvoort started the last two games for Michigan before losing the starting job Thursday.
Berenson looked smart after the game, as Racine — who looked comfortable playing in Joe Louis Arena earlier this season during the Great Lakes Invitational — looked like a bona fide starter, making 28 saves.
“It’s been back and forth all year between Steve Racine and Zach Nagelvoort,” Berenson said. “And I think Nagelvoort won a big game for us in East Lansing last week and then we lost the home game. I can’t tell you he lost it. But I just felt that Racine had probably the best part of his season at the GLI.
“And he came in and he gave us a life against Michigan Tech and then against Michigan State in the championship game. So I thought we would start with him. But we’re not through the weekend yet. But it’s a good start for Steve and a good start for our team.”
Wisconsin got on the board midway through the third period when the puck found its way through a massive net scramble, breathing life into the Badgers. Quickly after, Wisconsin had a 5-on-3 opportunity but came up empty, shifting the momentum back to Michigan.
Just two minutes after, Larkin — the Big Ten Freshman of the Year — found the back of the net after skating coast-to-coast and beat Rumpel.
Junior forward Justin Selman capped the game’s scoring, beating Rumpel on his stick side and sealing Michigan’s berth into a second-round matchup against Michigan State on Friday.
“There have been some games in the past where we think we should’ve beaten (Michigan State),” Copp said. “It’s do or die.”
Added Hyman: “Playing State, and what happened with us last week, we still have that bitter taste in our mouth. We’re going to be ready to play tomorrow. There’s no bigger game than that. We’re going to get up for that.”