Michigan
3-0-0
Boston University
2-1-0
Four-Goal First Period Leads Michigan to Blowout Win Over No. 9 Boston University
10/14/2022 11:00:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» Mackie Samoskevich and Seamus Casey each scored twice and added one assist.
» Gavin Brindley, TJ Hughes, and Rutger McGroarty all notched their first career goals.
» Adam Fantilli authored a three-assist performance to run his multi-point streak to three games.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There was no shortage of offensive firepower on display inside Yost Ice Arena on Friday night (Oct. 14), as the sixth-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team blitzed ninth-ranked Boston University en route to a 9-2 win.
The seven-goal differential ties the all-time program record for largest margin of victory over a top-10 team, with the last occurrence coming in 1996 against Michigan State. In addition, the nine-goal outburst was Michigan's first nine-spot since Jan. 8, 2021, when the team knocked off the Spartans by a 9-0 score.
Junior goaltender Erik Portillo was outstanding between the pipes for Michigan (3-0-0), earning his third straight win to open the season. Early on, it was Portillo standing tall to keep the Terriers off the scoreboard and allow the Wolverine offense to take charge.
Boston (1-1-0) flew out the gates in the first minute, creating a pair of excellent chances in a netfront scramble before Luke Hughes swooped in to knock the puck away from the goal line and out of trouble.
Michigan's power play was activated 3:39 into the game when a Terrier took an interference penalty in the neutral zone.
Moments after the advantage expired, an odd-man rush developed as a pair of Wolverines galloped into the zone. Gavin Brindley entered the play from the left wing, finding a rebound that popped out from the slot and immediately depositing it into the back of the net to open the scoring. Jacob Truscott earned the primary assist, while Rutger McGroarty collected the secondary.
After the Terriers took a pair of major penalties less than a minute apart, the Wolverines embarked on an extended, all-you-can-score 5-on-3 power play.
Weighing his options from the goal line to the left of BU's netminder, Dylan Duke threaded a pass to Mackie Samoskevich in the slot. Samoskevich buried his third goal of the season to double the Michigan lead, with assists going to Duke and Adam Fantilli.
In search of his first collegiate goal, TJ Hughes drove the net and cleaned up a loose puck in the blue paint with 9:43 on the clock to put U-M ahead 3-0. Samoskevich had taken the initial shot that lodged beneath the crowd in the crease before Hughes found paydirt. Fantilli collected the secondary assist to secure his third straight multi-point game to kick off his career.
Twenty-eight seconds later, the Wolverines converted one final time with the extended advantage to pull ahead 4-0. This time, it was freshman blueliner Seamus Casey who dented the twine, with assists going to McGroarty and Brindley.
After one period, the Wolverines carried a four-goal lead up the stairs into the dressing room.
Just under five minutes into the second period, Casey set up in the left circle and prepared to launch a one-timer as he received a feed from Steven Holtz. Casey's shot missed the net, wide left, but the puck bounced off the end wall and out the other side where Duke was crashing the net in anticipation of a rebound. Duke clapped home the rebound to make it 5-0 at 4:50.
Eleven seconds after assisting on Duke's goal to put the Wolverines up by five, Casey went right back to work. The newcomer picked up a pass from Brindley in Michigan's end before skating the length of the ice and wiring a laser of a goal at 5:01.
Less than a minute later, BU struck back with their first tally of the game to make it 6-1.
At 9:51, Fantilli was sprung for a near-breakaway by Samoskevich, but a nagging defender forced him to put a weak backhand shot on net. Fortunately for U-M, Samoskevich was driving down the ice in Fantilli's shadow to clean up the rebound and bury the puck to put U-M ahead 7-1.
The teams traded penalties early in the final frame, but neither side capitalized on the flurry of chances. After a Holtz penalty for interference at 5:15, the Terriers rang a shot off the post, but failed to score before taking a penalty of their own to even things up at 4-on-4.
Luke Hughes, last year's record-breaker for goal-scoring among freshman blueliners, netted his first goal of the season from the high slot 9:23 into the third period to make it 8-1, Michigan. Sophomore forward Mark Estapa assisted on Hughes' 18th career goal.
Later on in transition, McGroarty finished off a rush by ripping a shot past the Terriers' second-string netminder to secure his first-career goal and put Michigan ahead 9-1. Holtz earned the lone assist on Michigan's final goal of the evening with 4:42 left in regulation.
With time waning, Philippe Lapointe showed his frustration after taking a cross-check in front of the crease. While skating to the bench, the teams became mixed up and Lapointe was assessed a game disqualification and major penalty for headbutting after the whistle with 2:31 left to play.
Before the culmination of the contest, BU added one final goal to bump the final tally to 9-2 in Michigan's favor.
While statistics are unofficial due to a technological issue with the scorekeeping software, shots were approximated at 32-22 in Michigan's favor. With the man-advantage, Michigan ended the night at 3-for-8, while the Terriers finished up at 1-for-6.
On Sunday (Oct. 16), the Wolverines and Terriers return to Yost to finish off the two-game non-conference series. Puck drop for Sunday's contest is set for 5 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on B1G+.
