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This past weekend, the Michigan Wolverines’ men’s hockey team responded from a disappointing series last weekend against Notre Dame by winning 6-1 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday over the Niagara Purple Eagles.
Friday night saw Michigan take the opening lead after Ethan Edwards threw a puck on net from a bad angle that ricocheted off a Niagara player’s skate in front and slide into the back of the net. The Wolverines completely took over in the 3rd period after being up just 2-1. Mackie Samosokovich got his fourth goal of the year to start the onslaught, and Thomas Bordeleau and Michael Pastujov finished an incredible passing sequence that we’ve become accustomed to seeing from their power play.
Luke Hughes, Brendan Brisson and Nick Blankenburg also scored on Friday.
Saturday saw the Wolverines get off to a slow start, but eventually turn it on scoring four unanswered goals. Niagara went into the opening period up 1-0 but periods 2 and 3 saw Michigan get goals from Kent Johnson, Mackie Samosokovich, Dylan Duke and Matty Beniers. Nick Blankenburg finished the weekend with five points (2 G, 3 A) as the Michigan saw it’s top producers control the series.
If there is one flaw Michigan had this week it was the amount of penalties it took — nine between the two games. But when you have a power play that’s clicking on all cylinder right now, they are not really out of any game. Niagara let Michigan go 3-for-6 on the power-play this weekend, and many teams moving forward will probably see they can fall behind in a hurry if they take more than two penalties a game.
Owen Power added to his team leading 23 points with three assists on the weekend. Erik Portillo played both games this weekend stopping 11-of-12 shots on Friday and 22-of-23 on Saturday.
They will want to limit the amount of infractions they take heading into next weekend’s series against No. 11 Minnesota, which has the nations seventh-best power play. Puck drop for Friday night’s game is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s contest begins at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.