luca fantilli

3/29/2024 – Michigan 4, North Dakota 3 – 22-14-3 

3/31/2024 – Michigan 5, Michigan State 2 – 23-14-3, Frozen Four 

Twice this Easter weekend Michigan Hockey plodded onto the ice, through the tunnel that led from the shanty locker rooms to the playing surface inside this bizarrely small NHL practice facility in suburban St. Louis, facing the biggest twenty minutes of their season. Make it or break it to continue playing hockey with this same group of 26 men. On Friday night, Michigan was down 2-1 entering the third period against a team that was 20-0-0 this season when leading after two. On Sunday night, Michigan was tied 1-1 against a team that had, consistently in the season series, closed games better than they had. 

In both cases, Michigan authored a final period for the ages. Friday night's dramatic eruption, three unanswered goals (two in the first three minutes) against North Dakota to wrestle control of the contest, seemed like it was going to be the third period of the season. The one we look back on years in the future and think, "that third period was the best they played all season". But then Sunday's may have been better. Save for a two minute stretch that saw Michigan commit a stupid penalty and then give up a tying goal on an even stupider penalty kill coverage breakdown, Michigan threw haymaker after haymaker and asserted themselves as the better team on that day. They scored four times on Michigan State's vaunted goalie, and all of them were tremendous high skill plays that left the goalie little chance. 

On both nights, Michigan seemed to find a fire. They flipped a seeming switch and after two even periods decided "no, we're the better team in this game". The manner in which the Wolverines throttled North Dakota was astonishing, especially after two iffy periods preceding it. They outshot the Fighting Hawks 14-1 at one point in the third period and put the three goals in the net to flip the score from 2-1 to 4-2. There were a few wobbly moments in the 6v5 play, but that dominance was enough to get it done. At 5v5, Michigan was head and shoulders better than NoDak on that night, after they hadn't been at all over the prior 40 minutes. It left a Dakota team, which was so accustomed to comfortably slamming the door on games they were leading, stunned over what had happened to them. 

[UMich Athletics]

In the Sunday game, the true "flip the switch" moment came after the Spartans tied it at 2. Michigan had been the better team in the first half of the third period, but it was only by a nose and I don't think it was too out of whack from the first 40 minutes. The opening two periods were pretty even, each team getting some looks, scoring a goal and having their goalies look sharp to keep the score deadlocked. Michigan began to inch ahead in the third and went up 2-1, but gave it back on the penalty and subsequent PK blunder. The score was tied 2-2 with time perilously slipping away, anyone's guess on what was going to happen next. 

If you were a Michigan partisan, you may have had that sinking feeling based on how previous meetings this season between Michigan-MSU went. MSU, generally, had closed out games better. They also had, generally, gotten the bounces. No better example of this than the game last weekend. It felt in that moment that perhaps Michigan had blown their chance to put the game away with the power play goal they'd ceded. But then came the flip the switch moment, when Michigan's highest skilled players decided "enough with this nonsense, we're winning this game". Dylan Duke, known primarily for greasy goals and who fell in the NHL Draft three years ago due to his subpar skating, decided to look like Connor McDavid with a rush down the wing, toasting the defensemen, deking Trey Augustine, and slipping the puck by him far side.

And then, before you could pick your jaw up off the floor, Michigan took advantage of a scattered Spartan neutral zone right off the ensuing center ice face off to spring Frank Nazar III with a rush down the wing. Nazar pulled off the Deke/Pass of the Century going between the legs and then snapping a pass across to Gavin Brindley, past the MSU defender, and right in Brindley's wheelhouse. Brindley made no mistake and rifled the puck by the sliding Augustine, who had very little chance to come up with this one. Two goals in 12 seconds, 2-2 to 4-2 just like that. A 50-50 game to a 90-10 win probability game in the blink of an eye. Michigan's punishing 5v5 defensive structure salted the game away, MSU took a late penalty that Michigan scored on, and that was that. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Michigan's 2024 turnaround]

CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan just bounced Michigan State in their first ever NCAA Tournament meeting, sealing the Wolverines THIRD STRAIGHT Frozen Four appearance. After an unlucky bounce in an evenly played first period, Ethan Edwards tied the game at one via an odd man rush in the second. Heading into the third period, all tied at one, Michigan re-upped their best third period of the season by beating Trey Augustine FOUR times in the final 14 minutes. Dylan Duke earned Most Outstanding Player of the Regional on the back of his game-winning and game-sealing goals to go with his earlier assist. Jake Barczewski was also absolutely nails once again. Oh, and Frank Nazar had the Assist of the Year. See below!

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan and Michigan State played a very even game through two periods with Michigan probably getting more dangerous chances overall. Michigan would get some looks with their top six, but Trey Augustine was there pretty much every time. Finally, the Wolverines started finished their chances in the third period. This is where it felt like Michigan just had better scorers and finishers. While State has depth and attacks in waves, it was once again Michigan’s individual efforts that sent them to St. Paul.

-Dylan Duke had himself a weekend. After tallying twice against North Dakota, Dylan added a couple more goals on Sunday night. He gave Michigan the lead on a phenomenal individual play flying down the boards, swooping above the crease, and beating Augustine to the far post. He later added to it with a power play deflection that put the cherry on top of the sundae for the Wolverines. He’s really starting to have a flair for the dramatic getting some really clutch goals in the career in Maize and Blue.

-Speaking of flair, Frank Nazar lead a 2v1 rush into the Spartan end, pulled the puck back between his legs, and hit Gavin Brindley on the tape to double Michigan’s lead to 4-2 with 7:06 to go in the game. Words do not do this pass justice. Go find it on Twitter (@Nastyisland, I posted it). I’ve seen goals scored this way (hello Kent Johnson and Brendan Brisson), but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an assist like that. He also had a double dangle going through two Spartans, but his chance was fired wide of Augustine in the second period.

-Gavin Brindley finished Nazar’s ridiculous pass and assisted on Dylan Duke’s tip. Brindley has had his lines jumbled, played up top on the power play, and was given a phantom penalty early in the game. It was a weird weekend for him, I thought. Regardless, he forechecked well and wreaked havoc in both games.

-Philippe Lapointe was having a nice game until he took maybe the worst penalty of the season. He was called for boarding in the offensive zone with 10:35 left in the game. That just cannot happen. He’s a fourth year player, wearing a letter. His team is up a goal, half a period from the Frozen Four. The PK breaks down, and MSU pulls even. Thankfully, his teammates bailed him out and scored three more times. If not, it could have been a long trip back to Ann Arbor.

Defense Notes.

-Seamus Casey was scratched for the biggest game of the season. That just sucks so bad for him. On the ice, though, Michigan did actually manage very well. The biggest thing is losing what he bring is a major loss. It also spreads around minutes and responsibilities. Steve Holtz and Luca Fantilli both had to take on more. For the second game in a row, they both did very well. Over the course of the season, they have been points of concern on Michigan’s blue line. They were not against North Dakota, and each backed up that performance with another solid one against Michigan State. Major props to each of them.

-With no Seamus Casey, Ethan Edwards put in a very Casey-esque performance. Another blueliner who has been up and down this season was very up again. He finished the 3v2 rush by getting into the slot and burying his chance, tying the game. Edwards also sprung Nazar on his 2v1 and eventual insane pass. Ethan was credited with an assist on Duke’s final goal of the evening, as well. That’s a 1-2-3. If you really squint, maybe you can kinda see 26 instead of 73.

-Marshall Warren might have been the best defenseman on the ice for the Wolverines…again. He’s really starting to stack games. Without Casey, he was another Wolverine that was going to be relied upon for more. Marshall was solid in his own zone, skating well, and moving the puck. He also used his size and thickness well again. It was very apropos for Jacob Truscott to find him for his goal, breaking the 1-1 deadlock with a tally from inside the dot. They’d struggled together throughout the season at times, but on a Sunday night outside of St. Louis, they combined for a crucial goal.

CLICK HERE for Game Recap from Kristy McNeil and other pertinent information and HERE for current Pairwise Rankings.

What just happened (TL;DR): Michigan and Michigan State played a back and forth game all evening, exchanging leads throughout. Michigan held leads of 1-0 and 3-2; MSU had leads of 2-1 and 4-3. While neither goalie was outstanding, Trey Augustine was better than Jacob Barczewski, and that proved to be the difference. There were a couple of controversial goal calls (or wave offs), making it a peak Big Ten game in the final Big Ten game of the season. Both teams were very good as it took almost 75 minutes to decide the final. I don’t hate either teams chances next weekend in NCAA Regionals.

FINAL CORSI NUMBERS (www.collegehockeynews.com)

Forward Notes.

-Michigan started the game with a bang, scoring a goal bright and early. They followed that up with another goal that was waved off goal goalie interference (a debatable decision). The Wolverines continued the onslaught peppering Spartan goalie Trey Augustine when not killing a penalty. Only getting that one goal to count early seemed to change the flow of the game, as MSU played better as the game moved along…with Michigan seemingly feeling a bit fortunate to get to overtime. Overtime was rather even with one goalie making one more save that the other. In the end, the game was about as close as it could be.

-Frank Nazar got his line on the scoresheet a couple of times at Munn on Saturday night. He finished off a very nice backhanded pass from Josh Eernisse from the boards. Nazar raced to the front of the net and elevated the centering pass over Trey Augustine to open the scoring. In the third, down a goal, Dylan Duke fired a shot from the point that Nazar was able to redirect into the net with his back skate. It was a bit of a fortunate bounce, but Frank had to get his foot in the right place originally. 

-The top line scored to make it 2-0, right after the first Nazar goal. Rutger McGroarty found and open Gavin Brindley in the slot who beat Trey Augustine. The goal was waved off due to Garrett Schifsky sending a defenseman into Augustine before the shot. It was reviewed and hotly debated if it was a shove or a position battle. Unfortunately for Michigan, it was ruled a shove and goaltender interference.

-More on this goal in the next section, but Philippe Lapointe made a very nice pass across the ice to Marshall Warren to set up his goal. Lapointe chipping in backs up the fourth line’s great offensive play last weekend in Minneapolis. He also had a very nice backhanded assist to Luca Fantilli on a goal that was waved off for offsides. Good to see Lapointe making a difference in the offensive zone down the stretch.

Defense Notes.

-Overall, I didn’t think the defense was bad at all. They faded a little bit in the third period and then in overtime, as the game kept going, forcing Barczewski to bail them out more than he had to in the first couple of periods. However, other than the first goal, it was hard to fault them for any of the goals. It would have been nice if someone had stepped out into Matt Basgall’s buzzer-beating rocket…but that seemed like a frustrated mental error after the absurdity of the third goal being reviewed and given. That’s slightly understandable.

-The one bad DZTO did come from Luca Fantilli. That was the first real scoring chance that MSU got all evening…over ten minutes into the game. He may have played after that, but I did not see him or notice him. (When college hockey has a naturalstattrick website that I can check TOI and shift times, let me know!) Luca has had an up and down season. He’s flashed some puck moving potential, but has also had his own gaffes in the defensive zone. He still seems a summer away from strong, consistent contributions.

-Marshall Warren had a Cale Makar-esque finish on the third Michigan goal. He reached out to catch the Lapointe pass. Then, he went forehand, backhand and ROOFED the shot over Augustine! Even Seamus Casey must have been like “Wha??” Warren has finally turned into the defenseman that Michigan had hoped he would be all season. He’s been very solid in his zone, on the puck, and is starting to finish some plays. That bodes really well going into Regionals.