A three-goal first period allowed Michigan to set the tone and two late goals from Brendan Warren sealed the Wolverines’ second conference road win of the season.
“Guys were jumping from the start and we got the goal early,” said Cooper Marody, who had the Wolverines’ final goal of the first period. “We continued to have good shifts after that, and we had a pretty good result after the first period. We were just ready to play.”
Despite being outshot 27-19, a third of Michigan’s first-period shots found the net against goalie Mat Robson, who wound up getting benched following the first intermission. Dexter Dancs scored 14 seconds in on the game’s first shot on goal, and Michigan responded following a goal by Minnesota’s Casey Mittelstadt at 2:21 with tallies from Michael Pastujov at 8:13 and Maroody at 18:10.
“We knew these guys were ahead of us in the standings, and we wanted to come out strong,” Warren said. “Everyone did a good job preparing and getting ready for this game.”
The win jumped Michigan over Minnesota and Wisconsin into fourth place in the standings. Of Michigan’s four conference wins this season, two have come over a top-10 Gophers team.
“Bad start and it kind of went downhill from there,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “They were the team that deserved to win the game. … We chased the game, didn’t do enough.”
