The Michigan Wolverines (20-11-3) are entering the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed, but — as is tradition — struggled with Notre Dame at home.
In the first game, Michigan out-shot Notre Dame (35-29), dominated the faceoff circle (43-28), and was called for one less penalty. Knowing only that, you would have assumed the Wolverines cruised to victory. However, that was not the case on Friday.
The Irish did a great job of stifling Michigan’s offense, namely limiting Adam Fantilli’s chances to score or create for others. Despite the Wolverines’ shot advantage, most of the shots were low quality and had no chance at beating one of the nation’s top goaltenders in Ryan Bishcel.