A three-goal outburst in the second period by seventh-ranked Michigan was just what the Wolverines needed to defeat the second-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-1 Saturday and take back the Mariucci-Renfrew Coaches’ Trophy, which goes to the winner of the annual Michigan-Minnesota College Hockey Showcase game.
Leading the way offensively for the second consecutive game was sophomore Mike Cammalleri, who scored the first two goals for Michigan and then assisted on the third. He also scored three points against Wisconsin Nov. 23, giving him six points on seven Michigan goals this weekend. Also strong for the Wolverines was Josh Blackburn, who made 33 saves in front of 9,767 fans at Mariucci Arena for his ninth win of the season.
Down 1-0 on an Erik Westrum goal after the first period, the Wolverines responded with three goals in a seven-minute span in the second to take the lead for good. First, Cammalleri found the net on a one-timer from the left point. Mark Mink fed the puck to John Shouneyia, who then passed the puck from the goal line to a waiting Cammalleri.
Four minutes later, Cammalleri scored his third goal of the weekend after picking the puck away from Minnesota’s Paul Martin behind the net and working his way around before backhanding the puck through Adam Hauser’s five-hole.
Michigan closed out its second-period scoring with a shorthanded goal by Andy Hilbert just over two minutes later. On the play, Hilbert broke in one-on-one with Hauser and scored five-hole after being fed the puck at the blue line by Cammalleri.
The Wolverines closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal by Hilbert with just 37 seconds remaining in the game. It was Hilbert’s second goal of the game and third point of the weekend.
With a 3-2 victory at No. 12 Wisconsin on Thursday, Michigan earned a weekend sweep in the College Hockey Showcase for the third time in the eight-year history of the Showcase. The Wolverines now have the most wins (11) and the most sweeps of any team.
