Brother vs. brother. First-round draftee vs. the favorite to be the first overall pick.

Michigan’s annual exhibition game against the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) under-18 team was billed as a matchup between the Hughes brothers. Quinn Hughes, the seventh overall selection of the 2018 NHL draft and premier defenseman for Michigan, was matched against his brother, Jack, strongly favored to be the first overall selection in the 2019 NHL draft.

When the dust cleared, the U.S. U-18 squad had put another notch in their belt with a 6-3 victory over Michigan on the strength of Jack Hughes’ one-goal, three-point performance. The win for the national squad came only five days after they had dispatched highly ranked Notre Dame, 4-1, in South Bend.

“I know they were excited to play against each other,” Michigan head coach Mel Pearson said of the Hughes brothers. “It was interesting Quinn taking the one faceoff against Jack. It was obvious that they concocted that on their own. They’re a special family, a great hockey family. They love the game and they’re talented. I’m sure they’d rather be playing with each other than against each other.

“I will say this. I’ve seen that team [the U.S. NTDP U-18] for years and that’s one of the most talented. They play fast. They play strong. They play hard. They play the right way. You can tell they’ve been together for two years. They have five, six games under their belt already. I think that showed tonight.”

Michigan’s offense was sparked by sophomore Jack Becker’s two goals. Classmate Josh Norris added a short-handed marker for the Wolverines.

“We’re searching for that [offense]," Pearson said. “Tonight, I played Becker with [sophomore] Mike Pastujov and [junior] Nick Pastujov. I think that’s going to be a good line for us. I still like Norris and [junior Will] Lockwood. I think they were a little out of synch tonight.”

Michigan junior goaltender Hayden Lavigne allowed five goals on his first eight save attempts and Pearson replaced him early in the second period with freshman Strauss Mann, who played strongly for the final 38 minutes of the game. Mann allowed only one goal on 17 shots.

“I thought one bright spot for us tonight was Strauss Mann,” Pearson said. “Strauss came in and we didn’t give him much help.”

Of the only goal Mann allowed, Pearson added: “that was a tough one on him, a bang-bang play, but he knuckled down. I thought he did a really good job of finding the puck and making it look easy. I mean, the one time the guy came from behind the net, he [Mann] was there, post to post. He going to be good.”

First star – sophomore forward Jack Becker

Becker had his second straight exhibition game two-goal performance after potting two against Waterloo last Sunday.

Second star – freshman goaltender Strauss Mann

Mann settled things down defensively for Michigan, allowing only one goal in the 17 shots directed his way.

Third star – sophomore forward Josh Norris

Norris’ shorthanded goal early in the second period pulled Michigan within two goals of the U.S. U-18 team.

“He’s going to have some bumps along the way, but he’s going to be really good.” — Michigan head coach Mel Pearson on freshman goaltender Strauss Mann.

Michigan allowed five goals in just the first 22 minutes of play, putting themselves squarely behind the eight ball early in the contest.

• The Pastujov brothers, junior Nick and sophomore Mike, fit well on a line with Becker, setting him up for his two markers.

• Junior forward Jake Slaker was the only Wolverine skater with a plus performance of +1 in the plus/minus category.

Michigan hosts Western Michigan next Friday night at Yost before traveling down I-94 to visit the Broncos in Kalamazoo for their first road game next Saturday night.

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