Michigan
12-11-6, 8-7-4-2
Michigan State
10-15-5, 6-10-4-2
Michigan Outduels, Sweeps MSU to Secure 'Iron D' Trophy
2/9/2019 11:36:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Quinn Hughes collected three helpers to run his team lead in assists to 25.
» Nolan Moyle scored two goals and added an assist for his first multi-point game.
» Michigan earned its first sweep over Michigan State since the 2015-16 season.
Site: Detroit, Mich. (Little Caesars Arena)
Score: Michigan 5, Michigan State 2
Records: U-M (12-11-6, 8-7-4-2 B1G), MSU (10-15-5, 6-10-4-2 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Feb. 12 -- at Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), 7 p.m.
DETROIT, Mich. -- For the first time since Jan. 9, 2016, the University of Michigan ice hockey team sang "The Victors" in celebration of a sweep over in-state rival Michigan State after a 5-2 victory over the Spartans on Saturday night (Feb. 9) at Little Caesars Arena. The win also allowed the Wolverines to capture the "Iron D" trophy for the third consecutive season.
Michigan opened up the scoring for the second consecutive night after a workmanlike effort from the Wolverine fourth line. Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes picked up a deflected pass from freshman forward Nolan Moyle at the blue line before feeding sophomore forward Dakota Raabe in front of the net. He tapped it home and put the Wolverines up, 1-0, just 5:31 into the rivalry's 319th rendition.
After a Spartan boarding penalty at the 8:17 mark of the first period, it took the Wolverine power-play unit 14 seconds to cash in when junior forward Will Lockwood scored his eighth goal in the last 10 games to give U-M a 2-0 lead. Lockwood's tally from Hughes and junior forward Nick Pastujov was Michigan's first power-play tally in five games.
Michigan State was unable to solve freshman goaltender Strauss Mann, and the Wolverines took their 2-0 advantage into the first intermission.
Early in the second period, Michigan incurred a goaltender interference call after it appeared the Wolverines had scored their third goal of the game. But instead of U-M being shorthanded with a two-goal lead, Michigan State was whistled for a coincidental penalty for too many men on the ice.
Neither team could put the puck into the back of the net, so after two periods, Michigan maintained its 2-0 lead and held an 18-14 shot advantage.
Minutes into the final frame, Moyle poked the puck away from an MSU player at the Michigan blue line and created an open-ice breakaway. Moyle dashed toward the opposing end before coolly depositing a backhand over the blocker of MSU goalie Drew DeRidder to put Michigan up, 3-0, at the 2:36 mark.
Mann was sharp in his 12th start of the season, maintaining a shutout deep into the contest. With just under seven minutes remaining, MSU finally put one past him when Mitch Lewandowski was able to tap in a rebound from the crease on the power play to cut the deficit to two. Just two and a half minutes later, it was Lewandowski scoring once again to bring the Michigan lead to one goal, 3-2, with 4:25 left.
The Spartans pulled DeRidder for an extra attacker, but redshirt sophomore Luke Morgan picked up the puck in the neutral zone before skating in to notch an empty-net goal that restored the Wolverines' two-goal cushion, 4-2, at 18:25. Less than a minute later, Moyle finished off the scoring with U-M's second empty-net goal of the evening with 38 seconds remaining. Moyle corralled a deflected pass from Hughes before sliding the puck into the open cage. Hughes' third helper of the contest on the empty-netter was his team-leading 25th of the season.
Mann stopped 21 of the 23 Spartan shots he faced to earn his fifth win of the season.
"I can't say enough about our goaltender, Strauss Mann," head coach Mel Pearson said. "I thought he stood tall tonight. Maybe he didn't have that many saves, but he had some great saves on some of their top players, and I think he was the real difference in the hockey game."
The victory secured Michigan's first conference sweep of the season and the team's first consecutive wins since November.
"We've been getting a lot of Friday wins but to finally get over that hump, it's great for our team," said Lockwood. "I think it was well deserved."
"Putting together a weekend here late in the year is huge for our team and it's huge for the locker room, and it's obviously great to sing that song," Moyle added.
U-M now sits alone in second place in the Big Ten standings with 30 points, 11 behind conference-leading Ohio State.
The Wolverines next will travel to South Bend, Indiana, on Tuesday (Feb. 12) to take on Notre Dame. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Compton Family Ice Arena.
