The Wolverines move on.
No. 1 Michigan Hockey (27-7-1) crushed Notre Dame (9-23-5), 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night at Yost Ice Arena, putting a stamp on the campaign of their heated rivals.
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Despite being ranked first in the nation, the second-seeded Wolverines had to play a first-round contest against the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish. But they took care of their business and can now look forward to hosting a semifinal matchup against No. 3 Penn State (Saturday, 5 p.m., BTN).
Michigan opened the scoring nearly 12 minutes into the first period when junior forward Jayden Perron entered the offensive zone alone, flew down the left wing and fired a shot past goalie Nicholas Kempf for the 1-0 lead.
You have to give Notre Dame credit, as they came into this tournament needing three miraculous wins to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and keep their season alive. That desperation was on display and from the beginning I felt that this one might be closer than anticipated.
The Wolverines played a good first 20, particularly limiting high-danger opportunities, although it wasn’t until later that the dam broke.
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Five minutes into the second, forward Josh Eernisse collected a rebound high off the board and used a nifty low-angle backhand shot to beat Kempf, making it 2-0.
About 100 seconds later, the frustration finally boiled over for the Fighting Irish. Forward Carter Slaggert ran into Michigan freshman goalie Jack Ivankovic after covering the puck; A mini donnybrook ensued and Slaggert was ejected from the contest.
The Wolverines were unable to capitalize on the main power play (which was shortened, as there were compensatory penalties after the Ivankovic incident), but Perron got back on the board late in the second on a separate power play.
Sophomore forward Michael Hage patiently scanned from his left circle, hit a cutting Perron on an inside shot/pass, and although Perron didn’t get a clean initial touch, he corralled his rebound to give Michigan a 3-0 lead at the second intermission.
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Ivankovic and his defense remained suffocating, and midway through the third, that tough Notre Dame style struck again. Hage skidded down the neutral zone wall when he took a shoulder to the head courtesy of forward Cole Brown. Brown met Slaggert in the dressing room.
This time, the Wolverines scored with the long man advantage, when sophomore forward Will Horcoff slid a shot through Kempf’s five-hole. Michigan’s vaunted unit went 2 for 5 and remains one of the deadliest groups in the country.
The Fighting Irish finally got on the board with about four minutes left and the goalie shot, as former Wolverine Evan Werner fired a wrist shot past Ivankovic. There was traffic, but it was a salvageable attempt by Ivankovic’s standards – his only blemish in an otherwise flawless start.
Senior defenseman Tyler Duke added an empty-net goal and freshman forward Aidan Park buried a garbage goal with less than a minute left. Michigan, as happy as it should be to eliminate Notre Dame, should be even happier to have emerged from this chippy contest unscathed, as neither Ivankovic nor Hage missed a beat.
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Meanwhile, No. 5 Ohio State will visit No. 1 Michigan State on the other side of the bracket. The Spartans are the two-time defending champions after the Wolverines met back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. That potential championship game would also likely decide the first overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, beyond giving fans another taste of this not-so-civil war.