Michigan Set for Rivalry Weekend Series with Michigan State

Friday, February 8

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:30 PM

Michigan

Michigan State

Tickets

Nick Pastujov

Michigan Set for Rivalry Weekend Series with Michigan State

2/5/2019 6:12:00 PM | Ice Hockey

By: TJ Garske

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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The University of Michigan ice hockey team (10-11-6, 6-7-4-2 Big Ten) will continue conference play this weekend (Feb. 8-9) when it takes on in-state rival Michigan State at home, then travels to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit for the annual Duel in the D game against the Spartans.

Michigan encourages fans to be in their seats Friday night (Feb. 1) by 7:15 p.m. for the crowd-led national anthem. Additionally, in correlation with 2000s night, the first 2,500 fans will receive a 2000s-themed Michigan hockey poster, while the first 750 students will receive a 2000s-themed T-shirt. Fans will also be able to enjoy the marching band performing live on the ice during the first intermission.

The Michigan State Series

Michigan and Michigan State will meet for the 318th time, with U-M holding a 159-134-24 record over MSU in the all-time series. The two teams first met on Jan. 24, 1925, when the Wolverines defeated the Spartans, 6-3. Michigan holds a 74-44-5 record against MSU at Yost, with a 36-21-8 edge in neutral sites.

Earlier this season, Michigan fell to MSU, 4-3, in East Lansing, then settled for a 1-1 tie the following night in Ann Arbor, with the Spartans claiming the shootout win for the extra conference point.

The teams last met Dec. 31, 2018, at Little Caesars Arena in the Great Lakes Invitational tournament. That game ended in a 2-2 tie, during which the Wolverines outshot the Spartans, 47-26.

Scouting the Spartans

The Spartans are led by head coach Danton Cole, who is in his second season behind the bench for Michigan State. From 2010-17, he coached for the U.S. National Team Development Program with the U-17 and U-18 teams. Prior to that, Cole spent three seasons in the NCAA as the head coach of Alabama-Huntsville, where he went 23-59-12.

Michigan State comes into this rivalry series following a weekend series with Wisconsin when they earned a 4-1 win on Friday (Feb. 1) and a 2-2 tie Saturday (Feb. 2), in which the Spartans lost the extra conference point in a shootout. The Spartans are 10-13-5 (6-8-4-0 Big Ten) on the season and are tied with Michigan for fourth place in the Big Ten standings.

Leading Michigan State

Michigan State's offense is led by its "KHL" line of Taro Hirose, Mitchell Lewandowski and Patrick Khodorenko. Hirose leads the team with 15 goals and 31 assists for a total of 46 points. Hirose has the highest point total in the NCAA and the most assists. Forwards Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski follow in total points with 33 (16G, 17A) and 31 (13G, 18A), respectively.

In net, the Spartans have two goaltenders who have each started 14 games. Freshman Drew DeRidder is 3-5-5 as the starter and posts a .914 save percentage and 2.99 goals-against average. Junior netminder John Lethemon is 7-8-0 with a .896 save percentage and a 3.51 goals-against average.

U-M in the 313

Michigan is 115-65-7 (.634 win percentage) all-time in the city of Detroit, dating back to the 1922-23 season (first year of varsity competition) when U-M was defeated by Assumption, 4-1, on Belle Isle. Little Caesars Arena is the fifth rink that the Wolverines have played at in Detroit (Belle Isle, Olympia Stadium, Joe Louis Arena and Comerica Park).

#Hughes43Hobey

Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes is among the initial nominees for the Hobey Baker Award. The first round consists of fan voting, which will run through March 10. Classmate Josh Norris was among the nominees before suffering a season-ending injury. » Vote

Minnesota Recap

Michigan is coming off a weekend split in Minnesota. Michigan overcame an early Minnesota goal by scoring three unanswered and started the weekend strong on Friday (Feb.1) with a 4-2 victory. On Saturday (Feb.2), Minnesota took an early 3-0 lead into the first intermission before Michigan battled back once again rattling off three unanswered goals. Minnesota scored a power-play goal in the third period to earn the weekend split, 4-3.

Quinn-tesential Blue-Liner

Hughes has tallied 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) this season which is seventh-highest point total of any defenseman in the NCAA. He is third amongst all blue-liners in assists, ranks seventh amongst all skaters in the country and is tied for third in the Big Ten.

Locked In

Junior forward Will Lockwood had a five-game goal streak that came to an end on Saturday (Feb. 2). Lockwood has 11 goals on the season which is tied for most on the team, while his 21 pts (11 goals 10 assist) are the second most on the team behind Quinn Hughes and tied for 19th in the Big Ten.

Slake and Bake

Junior forward Jake Slaker tallied an assist on each of Michigan's three goals on Saturday. Those assists added to his season points total which now stands at 20 on the season (10 goals, 10 assists), which includes five goals on the power play. He is tied for seventh in the Big Ten in scoring on the man-advantage and contributes to Michigan's 20 power play goals.

Pasta Time

Sophomore forward Michael Pastujov scored three goals over the weekend, one on Friday (Feb. 1) and two on Saturday (Feb. 2). Pastujov entered the weekend with only three goals on the season and doubled that total scoring Michigan's third goal on Friday, and the second and third on Saturday.

Offensive Defensemen

The defensive duo of Quinn Hughes and senior Joseph Cecconi have a combined 42 points, the fourth-highest point total of any defensive pairing in the country behind Quinnipiac's Chase Priskie and Brandon Fortunato (61), Ferris State's Cooper Zech and Nate Kallen (46), and Mercyhurst's Joseph Duszak and Josh McDougall (50).

Winning the Draw

The Wolverines have won 51.6 percent of their draws, going 894-840 in the circle. Juniors Adam Winborg and Nick Pastujov lead the team with 55 percent and 56 percent rates, respectively.

Creating Chances

Michigan has taken 1,004 shots on goal, which is the second most in the country behind Penn State (1,021). U-M ranks second behind the Nittany Lions (39.27) with 37.19 shots on goal per game. The Maize and Blue has outshot its opponents by an average of 9.37 shots per game and has taken 253 more shots than they have allowed this year, the fifth-best margin in the country.

Finishing Strong

Michigan has scored the last goal of a game in 58 percent of its contests (15 of 26); the 15 goals are tied for most in the Big Ten and tied for 17th in the NCAA.

Up Ahead

Friday, Feb. 12 -- at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), 7 p.m.