The Wolverines won with ease but not without penalties in the Upper Penninsula on Saturday night.
No. 5 Michigan hockey (5-1) breezed past unranked Lake Superior State (0-3-1) in a 5-1 Game 2 win, completing the sweep of the in-state Lakers.
After trailing 2-0 to Lindenwood in the first game of the season, the Wolverines took control of the game, winning 7-4, and are since outscoring teams 31-11 across six games.
U-M head coach Brandon Naurato is off to a hot start in his first year at the helm. A first-time head coach has to replace talents like Owen Power, Matty Beniers, Kent Johnson, and more, and naturally, there will be skeptics.
So far, so good.
At 5-1, Michigan has a statement 9-2 win over No. 9 Boston, and its only loss is to the same team, 3-2.
On the road in the U.P., Naurato's team picked up where it left off on Friday night, scoring the game's first three goals.
Sophomore forward Mackie Samoskevich started the scoring with usual suspects Luke Hughes & Adam Fantilli -- who posted a hat trick in Game 1 -- on the assist.
The red-hot freshmen class kept its pace, as forward T.J. Hughes netted two goals, and Fantilli followed up a hat trick with a four-point night (1 goal, 3 assists).
A season-high 10 penalties clouds over an otherwise impressive showing in the U.P., despite the goals & overall dominance imposed by the Wolverines.
Michigan hockey's Twitter account chimed in on the number of whistles heard in the rink on Saturday night.
Duke is called for something who knows, there's too many penalties.
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) October 22, 2022
Michigan allowed only one goal in the 10 penalty kills. U-M's power play scored once in five attempts, evening out the margin despite killing double the penalties.
The Wolverines return home on Sunday, October 23, and shift their focus to a more formidable in-state opponent, No. 17 Western Michigan (5-2), who just split a series with No. 13 Notre Dame (3-2-1).
Game 1 will be hosted in Ann Arbor at Yost Ice Arena for "Halloween at Hockey" night on Friday, October 28, at 7 PM.
Both teams will make a quick turnaround, playing Game 2 in Kalamazoo on Saturday at 6:00 PM.
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