Minnesota beats Michigan in Big Ten title game at The Joe (with photos)
Photos by Michael Caples/MiHockey
By Nick Barnowski –
DETROIT – In a game featuring two of the nation’s three best power plays, playing with the man advantage was bound to be a difference maker.
With four of the five goals in Saturday’s Big Ten tournament championship game coming on the power play, it turned out to be true.
Justin Kloos’ power-play goal at 9:29 of the third period gave Minnesota its first Big Ten tournament title, as the Golden Gophers defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 4-2, at Joe Louis Arena. The win qualified Minnesota for next week’s NCAA tournament, while bringing Michigan’s season to a close.
“It was a great college hockey game,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “We gave up a power-play goal that decided the game. I was proud of our team. They played well, just not well enough.”
Kloos’ diving shot from the slot beat Racine low on the glove side, and Minnesota’s defense, behind goaltender Adam Wilcox, withstood a furious Michigan attack in the game’s final minutes for the win.
Michigan’s 22-14-0 record will not be enough to earn a wildcard berth to the NCAA tournament.
“I’m upset my career’s over here, I’m not upset with the way we played,” Michigan senior Zach Hyman said. “We laid it all on the line and that’s why you don’t want to leave your season on one game.”
Michigan finished the game 2-4 on the power play with six shots, while Minnesota went 2-5 and put eight on net. Berenson said he wasn’t sure if his team took “good” penalties or not, and added that Minnesota’s speed was a factor in drawing penalties.
“We weren’t trying to take penalties, believe me,” he said. “We were trying to play a five-on-five game.”
Minnesota came out flying and outshot Michigan 20-7 in the opening period. With the Wolverines struggling to clear their own zone, goalie Steve Racine was tested early on. The junior was up to the task, making five of his 20 first period stops on a pair of Minnesota power plays.
“Minnesota jumped us in the first period,” Berenson said.
Michigan’s best scoring opportunity of the period came just before the buzzer. Hyman, the Big Ten scoring champion, grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and came bursting down the sideboards. The Florida Panthers draft pick made a strong cut to the front of the net missed sliding the puck behind Wilcox by inches.
“We knew they’re a fast team,” Hyman said. “We ended the period well and we thought we’d come into the second period and take it to them and use our speed.”
Just 58 seconds into the second, though, Michigan’s Justin Selman took a boarding penalty that put the Gophers on the power play. Minnesota went to work, moving the puck down low to Kyle Rau, who made a cross ice pass to Travis Boyd. With Racine unable to slide across the net quick enough, Boyd chipped the puck in to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Almost immediately after Boyd’s goal, the Golden Gophers took a penalty themselves, and Michigan’s power play made them pay. Hyman took the puck near the outside hashmarks and worked his way to the front of the net, cutting around a Minnesota defender and beat Wilcox along the ice to tie the game. The goal was Hyman’s third of the Big Ten tournament.
Just over two minutes later, Alex Kile scored his 13th goal of the season on another Michigan power play to make it 2-1. The sophomore from Troy parked himself at the side of the net and tipped in a pass from Boo Nieves.
The best of Racine’s 28 saves came with 11:35 left in the second to preserve Michigan’s one-goal lead. Minnesota’s Sam Warning came racing down the ice and tossed a pass over to Boyd, but Racine slid from right to left and robbed Boyd with his glove.
Racine was unable to stop Minnesota’s next scoring chance, as the Gophers tied it following a give-and-go between Rau and Hudson Fasching that resulted in Rau tapping in his 20th of the season.
Nearly 10 minutes after Kloos’ go-ahead goal, Boyd added an empty netter with 22 seconds left to seal the victory.
The No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, Michigan had to play three games in three nights just to have a shot at continuing its season. But Berenson said he wouldn’t let that be an excuse.
“I thought our team played hard and played well,” Berenson said. “There’s enough emotion and they had enough left in the tank. These guys have been terrific.”
While the pain of missing out on the NCAA tournament will be felt for quite some time in Ann Arbor, Berenson was proud of the way his team rallied after an unpromising start to the season.
“Sure, it stings,” the 31-year Wolverines’ bench boss said. “We put ourselves in this spot and we couldn’t dig out of it.
“One thing that makes coaching worthwhile is when everyone really buys in to the team and how they have to play and how they have to work. When these guys really make up their mind and do it the right way, it makes you proud.”