A week after dropping two games on the road to Ohio State, the now No. 19 Michigan hockey team split a pair of games at home against now No. 17 Wisconsin. (Michigan was No. 20 and Wisconsin No. 18 entering play)
In Friday night's game, the Wolverines came away with a 5-3 victory and had five different players light the lamp — freshman forward Jack Becker, junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi, junior forward Cooper Marody, sophomore forward Jake Slaker and freshman forward Dakota Raabe.
Michigan sophomore goalie Hayden Lavigne stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced to seal the win.
On Saturday, Michigan got off to a poor start — falling behind 4-0 before closing the gap but losing 4-2. Three of Wisconsin's goals came in the first period.
Slaker and Becker each scored again for U-M.
Lavigne started in net again for Michigan, but was pulled after allowing four goals in 23 and a half minutes of action. Sophomore Jack LaFontaine came in to replace him in net, and did not allow a goal the rest of the way.
LaFontaine lost the battle for the starting goaltending job several weeks ago, but may have opened the door back up with his strong finish. Lavigne, however, is still expected to start next week against Michigan State.
The loss snapped a three-game home winning streak for the Wolverines, who are 13-13-2 overall and 8-10-2 in the Big Ten.
Three Stars Of The Week
1st Star — Freshman forward Jack Becker
The strong play continued for Becker, who is on an absolute hot streak. He had two goals and two assists against Wisconsin, and is now up to six goals and three assists on the season. He's playing his best hockey of the year right now.
2nd Star — Sophomore forward Jake Slaker
Slaker had himself quite the weekend as well, also scoring twice and adding an assist. He's the team's third leading scorer, with 12 goals and nine assists. His 21 points trail only Marody (32 points) and senior forward Tony Calderone (27 points). His 12 goals are second on the team.
3rd Star — Senior defenseman Sam Piazza
It's difficult for defenseman to get recognized here given it's been mostly forwards scoring for the Wolverines this year, but Piazza has been solid all year long and was especially so against Wisconsin, notching two assists. He has one goal and 10 assists this season.
Stat Of The Week: 72
That's the number of face-offs Michigan won this weekend. It lost 58. The 41-27 advantage on Friday's game was led by Marody, who won 11 face-offs for U-M. Sophomore forward Nick Pastujov had the best percentage on Friday, winning nine of the 12 face-offs he took. On Saturday, the two teams tied with 31 face-offs won each. Michigan was paced by Slaker, who won nine of them. Wisconsin sophomore forward Trent Frederic won 31 of the 52 face-offs he took during the series — 18 of the wins coming on Saturday.
Up Next
Michigan takes on Michigan State (10-16-1, 4-12-1) Friday in East Lansing, Mich. and again on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Friday's game starts at 7 p.m., while Saturday's begins at 7:35 p.m. Friday's game will not be televised, but Saturday's game will be shown on Fox Sports Detroit.
Michigan is 2-1 already this season against the Spartans.
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