Michigan falls 

to Denver in Frozen 

Four overtime thriller

SPORTSWEDNESDAY

B

OSTON — As the Michigan 
hockey team’s skaters lined up 
along the goal line prior to the 

game, each one exuded a calm about 
themselves. Standing side by side, their 

relaxed auras made 

it seem as though 

they were about 
to 
play 
any 

other 
game. 

And just as 
throughout 
the 
season, 

one-by-one, the 
starters 
were 

called 
to 
skate 

forward. 
But 
this 
time, 

they were being called to 

something 
greater. 
Called 

to compete for a spot in the 
National 
Championship. 

Called for a chance to write 
their names into the history 
books. 

Upon hearing their names 

called, each skater sprinted 
to the blue line before lifting 
up the front end of a skate, 
slowly bringing them to 

a stop — hoping their 

season 
wouldn’t 

come to a halt as 
well.

Already 
lined 

up on the other blue 
line, Denver heard 
a 
similar 
— 
but 

opposite 
— 
call. 

Called to thwart 
Michigan’s season. 
Called to propel 
themselves 
into 
the 

championship. 
Called to send 
the Wolverines’ 
stars into the 
NHL empty-
handed in the 
process. 

And 
it 

was 
the 

Pioneers 

who answered the call. 

In the Frozen Four, the Wolverines 

(31-10-1 overall) fell to Denver (30-9-1), 
3-2, in a down-to-the-wire overtime bout, 
ending their Big Ten and NCAA Regional 
Championship season short of their 
ultimate goal. Michigan failed to reach 
a National Title, and was left standing in 
TD Garden able to do nothing but look up 
towards the summit of college hockey.

“(Denver’s) just structurally really 

good defensively,” Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson said. “Everybody thought that 
this might be a high-scoring game, but 
both teams played solid defensively. … 
They really made it difficult on us.”

That defense kept the game tight, 

forcing an overtime session to decide the 
victor. Overtime transitioned from tactful 
neutral zone battles to track-style high-
speed chases down the ice that created 
multiple grade-A chances. 

With six minutes left in overtime, 

the Wolverines got their best chance to 
send the Pioneers packing. Freshman 
defenseman Luke Hughes used his 

signature speed to create a 2-on-1 attempt, 
but was rejected by goaltender Magnus 
Chrona from point-blank range. 

Only a minute later, that missed 

opportunity 
came 
back 
to 
haunt 

Michigan. 
Senior 
forward 
Jimmy 

Lambert and sophomore defenseman 
Jacob Truscott both went for the puck 
near their own blue line to try and spark 
yet another breakaway off a blocked 
Denver shot. They hesitated slightly — 
unsure which one would take the puck — 
leading them both to miss it and allow the 
Pioneers to regain possession. 

From there, the puck ended up in the 

corner, where a pass into the slot found 
forward Carter Savoie. Savoie launched 
the puck at sophomore goaltender Erik 
Portillo, who slid to his right to make the 
initial season-saving stop.

But it didn’t matter. 
The 
save 
depositioned 
Portillo, 

allowing Savoie to secure his own 
rebound and pop the game-winning goal 
into the net, beating Portillo and his last 

ditch effort to get back in the crease from 
the splits. 

“(Michigan) had a couple really good 

shifts there in that overtime,” Savoie said. 
“I think our whole group did a really good 
job weathering it, not giving up that next 
goal. And then we found a way to put that 
one in.” 

Just as the goal finalized Denver’s 

control, it was the Pioneers who took early 
control of the high-stakes affair, striking 
first and holding the Wolverines without 
a shot on net throughout the first 16-plus 
minutes. Michigan, though, got itself 
settled in as the second period began. 

And four minutes into the second, the 

Wolverines broke even. Although the 
Pioneers’ effective net-out poke checking 
continued to give Michigan fits, Chrona’s 
poke check on a Wolverines attack ended 
up back in Michigan’s control, setting up a 
Lambert goal. 

The game-tying goal quickened the 

game’s pace, and as Denver continued on 
its first-period offensive aggression, the 
Wolverines followed suit. 

The 
Wolverines’ 
bounce-back 

response from the first period to the 
second was reciprocated in the third. 
Just as the Pioneers looked like they’d 
skate towards victory with a redirect 
goal by forward Cameron Wright six 
minutes into the third period, Michigan 
responded only four minutes later with 
sophomore forward Thomas Bordeleau’s 
goal setting the scene for the dramatic 
overtime ending. 

“You have to be good, and you need a 

little bit of luck,” Pearson said, reflecting 
on his past postseason runs. “We just 
didn’t seem to have any lady luck on our 
side tonight.”

No matter how talented a team is, the 

Frozen Four brings out the best of the best. 
Each team is good enough to win it all, but 
only one can. Michigan made mistakes, 
and so did Denver. The Pioneers were 
lucky enough to make one less mistake in 
a game with no margin for error. 

So on Thursday, the Wolverines ran 

out of luck. And on Saturday, while the 
Pioneers take the ice, Michigan will 
watch the National Championship from 
home.

FROZE

PAUL NASR

Daily Sports Writer

UP

No matter how talented a 
team is, the Frozen Four 
brings out the best of the best. 

Tess Crowley/Daily
Design by Lys Goldman

