Michigan
26-7-1
Simon Fraser (ex)
0-0-0
Michigan Controls Action in Exhibition Win Over Simon Fraser
3/5/2026 10:46:00 PM | Ice Hockey
» T.J. Hughes put on a show with two goals and three assists for a five-point performance.
» Jayden Perron had a hand in four straight goals, scoring one and assisting on three.
» In total, 12 Wolverines recorded at least one point, while five finished the night with multiple points.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The top-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team knocked off Simon Fraser 8-1 on Thursday (March 5) at Yost Ice Arena in an exhibition contest ahead of next week's postseason opener.
Michigan (26-7-1) rotated its netminders for the exhibition, with each receiving one period of action. Freshman Jack Ivankovic earned the start and stopped all 10 shots he faced before exiting the game at the first intermission to make way for Stephen Peck. In his lone period of action, Peck stopped both shots sent his way before passing the baton to Julian Molinaro, who saw action for the first time as a Wolverine. The sophomore stopped 10 of 11 shots while ceding SFU's lone goal.
Simon Fraser started the night with intensity and had an early 6-2 lead in shots on goal at the first media timeout.
Michigan opened the scoring on the ensuing shift at 9:24 when T.J. Hughes laid a pass for Garrett Schifsky to bury the puck from below the hash marks in the slot. Senior defenseman Tyler Duke recorded the secondary assist for his role in cycling the puck around the offensive zone while maintaining possession.
Aidan Park doubled the lead for the Wolverines at 11:01, waiting for an opening as the goaltender sprawled back toward the post with Park gearing up to shoot. Michael Hage and sophomore defenseman Hunter Hady assisted on Park's tally to make it 2-0.
The first power play of the night was awarded to Michigan at 14:19 when a Wolverine defenseman was boarded into the end wall while retrieving a puck. Exactly halfway through the opportunity, the Red Leafs were whistled for a second minor penalty while disrupting a grade-A chance to give U-M one minute with a two-man advantage. Despite the 5-on-3 advantage, the Wolverines were unable to score.
As the final seconds of the first period ticked off the clock, Michigan nearly added a third marker when Ben Robertson's point shot leaked through the goaltender's pads before settling next to the post. Just before the buzzer sounded, a defender for Simon Fraser swooped in to clear the puck away from the line.
Michigan carried a two-goal lead to the dressing room along with a 12-10 advantage in shots on goal, while the Wolverines led 16-2 in the faceoff dot.
Junior forward Jayden Perron continued the scoring to bump the lead to 3-0 at 5:43 when he carved into the offensive zone on the right flank before cutting in and firing a low shot from the right dot that found a hole. Freshman blueliner Asher Barnett joined the veteran Hughes in notching the assists on Perron's strike.
With Michigan on the power play, Hughes walked in from the left dot before lifting a shot into the top-left corner of the net to bump the lead to 4-0 at 8:51. Hage and Perron secured the assists on the captain's power-play goal in close quarters.
The home team went up 5-0 at 13:33 when freshman forward Malcolm Spence sent a seeing-eye shot through traffic from atop the SFU zone that stayed less than a foot off the ice to sneak past the goalie into the bottom part of the cage. Senior defenseman Luca Fantilli and Perron each assisted on the tally.
Will Horcoff finished off a cross-crease feed to bury a top-shelf goal at 17:14, making it a 6-0 game. Perron and Hughes each picked up their fourth point of the contest with an assist. By recording the primary assist, Perron factored into four consecutive Wolverine goals.
Through 40 minutes of play, Michigan held a commanding lead on the scoreboard and in shots on goal (31-12), faceoffs (35-8) and power-play chances (1-for-3).
The Red Leafs embarked on a second power-play opportunity at 8:37 of the final frame when Perron was banished for roughing.
Fresh off a successful penalty kill, Hughes broke up a Red Leafs rush in the neutral zone before forging ahead on an odd-man rush of his own. He stickhandled until reaching the left circle, at which point he picked his corner and buried the puck to put Michigan up 7-0 with nine minutes remaining. A fracas after the goal resulted in one SFU skater being sent to the visitor's room to give Michigan another power play.
Simon Fraser knocked the puck across the goal line with 3:49 left to spoil the combined shutout effort and make the score 7-1 following a crafty play near the blue paint.
Hady earned it right back for Michigan with a goal just over one minute later to reestablish the seven-goal lead with the score at 8-1. The defender picked his spot from the right point to go bar-down for his second point of the exhibition. Freshman Cole McKinney and Schifsky assisted on Hady's snipe off the iron to close out the scoring.
Michigan's seven-goal victory was fueled by a 43-23 advantage in shots on goal, and the team's constant pressure paid off in the comfortable exhibition win. The Wolverines also ended the night with a 45-16 lead in the faceoff dot.
With the regular season concluded, Michigan awaits the specifics of its Big Ten Tournament journey. The league's single-elimination quarterfinal game will be played on Wednesday (March 11). If Michigan finishes in second place in the final Big Ten standings, it will host Notre Dame at Yost and the game will be streamed live on B1G+.
