The Michigan hockey team makes it 37th NCAA Tournament appearance — tied for most in the country with Minnesota — today when it battles No. 3 seed Northeastern in Worcester, Mass. at 4:30 p.m.
The game will be televised on ESPN News.
The No. 2 seeded Wolverines (20-14-3) would face the winner of No. 1 seed Cornell and No. 4 seed Boston University on Sunday if they win today.
“[Northeastern] is as good as any hockey team in the country," U-M coach Mel Pearson said. "They remind a lot of Ohio State and Notre Dame. Maybe Ohio State more. Fabulous first line, two Hobey Baker finalists, on paper they have us in all the categories.”
Northeastern (23-9-5) is one of the best offensive teams in the country. It's led by not one, but two, Hobey Baker Award finalists in junior forward Adam Guadette and senior forward Dylan Sikura. They have combined to score 51 goals this season.
Guadette leads the nation in scoring with 60 points and leads the nation in goals with 30. Sikura has had back-to-back 50-point seasons.
Michigan sophomore goalie Hayden Lavigne will be counted on to make plays and keep the Wolverines in the game.
Northeastern counters with freshman goaltender Cayden Primeau, who went 19-7-5 this season with a goals against average of 1.88 (sixth best in the nation) and save percentage of .932 (sixth best in the country).
Lavigne also had 19 wins this season, but has a save percentage of .910 (38th) and goals against average of 2.79 (41st).
“If you want to win a national championship, you’re going to have to beat some very good teams," Michigan junior forward Cooper Marody said. "We’ve been fortunate enough to play great teams all year.”
Marody led the Big Ten in scoring this season with 46 points.
Northeastern in located about an hour from Worcester, making this essentially a road game for Michigan, despite being the higher seeded team. U-M players are aware of this, but say it shouldn't change anything.
“We feel like we’re on the road, especially for this first game," Pearson said. "We’re excited to be here and I know our guys are ready to go.”
Northeastern is dynamic and has the third best power-play in the country and fifth best total offense. Michigan has the No. 36 ranked power-play and No. 7 total offense.
For U-M senior captain Tony Calderone, the team just needs to play Michigan hockey.
“We’re fast, skilled, defensive," Calderone said. "I think when we say Michigan hockey, we want to focus on defense. When we are playing good defense, our offensive skills come out. I think Michigan hockey is being on the right side of the puck, eliminating turnovers.”
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