Michigan hockey falls in OT to Denver, 3-2, in Frozen Four semi: Game thread replay
NCAA hockey tournament Frozen Four: No. 1-seed Michigan (31-9-1) vs. No. 1-seed Denver (29-9-1)
What: National semifinal.
Faceoff: 5 p.m. Thursday
Where: TD Garden in Boston.
TV: ESPN2 (ESPNU for OT).
At stake: Winner faces winner of Thursday’s late semifinal between No. 1-seed Minnesota State and No. 2-seed Minnesota at 8 p.m. Saturday in Boston.
THE FROZEN FOE: Michigan returns to Frozen Four with a familiar foe waiting: Denver
THE REGIONAL FINAL: Michigan headed to Frozen Four for 1st time since 2018 with 7-4 win vs. Quinnipiac
Game notes: The Wolverines are looking for their first NCAA hockey title since winning it all — in BAWH-STUN — in 1998. That team had several players go on to lengthy NHL careers; this one probably will, too, with an NCAA-record seven first-round draft picks, and 14 NHL picks overall.
The list of first-rounders, in case you were wondering: 2019 — Johnny Beecher (No. 30 overall, Boston Bruins); 2020 — Brendan Brisson (No. 29, Vegas Golden Knights); 2021 — Owen Power (No. 1, Buffalo Sabres); Matty Beniers (No. 2, Seattle Kraken); Luke Hughes (No. 4, New Jersey Devils); Kent Johnson (No. 5, Columbus Blue Jackets); Mackie Samoskevich (No. 24, Florida Panthers).
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But it’s not all about the freshmen and sophomores; the Wolverines’ vets are pretty talented in their own right, scoring four of U-M’s seven goals in the regional final against Quinnipiac. That included a goal by Michael Pastujov, who is the lone Wolverine to have played in the Frozen Four; he scored U-M’s final goal in a last-minute loss to Notre Dame in the 2018 national semifinals.
Michigan’s path to the final, set for Saturday night — in BAWH-STUN — won’t be easy, though, as the Pioneers led the NCAA in scoring this season (at 4.28 goals per game, nearly two-tenths more than No. 2 Minnesota State) behind top-three Hobey Baker finalist Bobby Brink. Denver also features a pair of talented Detroit Red Wings picks in defenseman Shai Buium (No. 36 overall in 2021), Jackson forward Carter Mazur (No. 70 overall in 2021) and defenseman Antti Tuomisto (No. 35 overall in 2019). That trio combined for 18 goals and 44 assists in 119 games.
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The Pioneers’ title drought is slightly shorter; Denver won it all in 2017, then returned to the Frozen Four in 2019. The Pioneers have eight NCAA titles in school history; two wins this weekend and they’ll tie for the most hockey titles all time – with Michigan.
Ryan Ford’s picks
Semifinal 1: The Pioneers definitely have the talent to keep up with the Wolverines’ bevy of future NHLers on offense and defense. The difference in this one will be goalie Erik Portillo, the Big Ten tourney Most Outstanding Player, who stopped 90 of 95 shots in that tournament last month. The pick: U-M 4, Denver 2.
Semifinal 2: In the battle for the soul of the State of Hockey, you have to give the edge to the player named for one of the greatest goalies of all time. Dryden McKay, one of the top three in Hobey Baker voting, stopped 93.4% of the shots he faced this season, with a 1.28 goals-against average. He’ll come close to that against the Golden Gophers. The pick: Minnesota State 5, Minnesota 1.
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan hockey loses to Denver, 3-2 (OT): Game thread replay
