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Michigan hockey earns bounce-back win over Ohio State

After being embarrassed in game 1 of the Ohio State series, the Wolverines bounced-back with a two-goal victory in game 2.

Published

2 years ago

January 14, 2023

Blue by Ninety

© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK | Michigan goaltender Erik Portillo (1) makes a pass against Michigan State during the third period in the first game of Big Ten quarterfinal at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor on Friday, March 4, 2022. |

On Saturday, No. 6 Michigan hockey earned a bounce-back win over No. 8 Ohio State after being embarrassed in game one. This weekend marked the 100-year anniversary of hockey at the University of Michigan, and the Wolverines’ 1-1 split with Ohio State was relatively unexpected after the Buckeyes’ 7-2 win on Friday night.

After that embarrassing loss — arguably Michigan’s worst over the past few seasons — the Wolverines came back hot with a 4-2 win of their own.

Michigan hockey earns much-needed win

So far this season, U-M hockey has seen some ups and downs. The Wolverines have been short-handed for much of the 2022-23 schedule thus far due to the World Juniors Tournament and other events that have taken some of Michigan’s top players, yet U-M remains in the top-10 so far. On Friday night, Michigan’s first game back at full strength (and night one of the 100-year celebration at Yost), Ohio State shocked Michigan hockey with a 7-2 win.

So far this year, the Wolverines are 13-8-1 overall (5-7-0 in Big Ten play) and sit at No. 6 in the USCHO rankings. While it is looking unlikely that Michigan wins a regular season Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines will have another shot at the Big Ten tournament title, which U-M won last year, and making another run to the Frozen Four.

Beating Ohio State and getting back in the win column was essential for Michigan’s momentum this year. Now that U-M is back at full strength, the Wolverines need to start stringing together some wins in order to get a good seed in the tournament.

Michigan’s season is far from over, but it is looking tough

Although U-M is coming off of a top-10 win and ranked No. 6 in the nation, the Wolverines are only five games above .500 right now. As the season marches on, it will not get any easier for Michigan hockey to win games, especially in the Big Ten. Here are the Wolverines’ remaining games this year:

at No. 2 Minnesota (two-game series)
vs. No. 5 Penn State (two-game series)
vs. Wisconsin (two-game series)
at No. 17 Michigan State (two-game series)
at No. 8 Ohio State (two-game series)
vs. Notre Dame (two-game series)

While the Wolverines are more than capable of winning most of these games, eight of Michigan’s remaining 12 games come against ranked competition. Additionally, Penn State, Minnesota, and Ohio State will all be tough series for Michigan hockey seeing as they are all ranked in the top-10. For today, the Wolverines’ 4-2 win over No. 8 Ohio State was a step in the right direction, but the job is far from being finished.