U-M Scores Five Unanswered Goals to Win B1G Championship on Home Ice

» T.J. Hughes wrapped up a magical four-year run at Yost with a goal and three points and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

» U-M scored five unanswered goals, including four in the third period, to come back and win.

» Michigan improves to 13-0 all-time as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, including its four tournament championships.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Trailing by a goal as time ticked down in the second period, the top-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team scored five straight goals and soared past No. 19 Ohio State 7-3 to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship game on Saturday evening (March 21) inside Yost Ice Arena.

Michigan has now won six straight games over the Buckeyes, and the program’s postseason record against Ohio State improves to 14-3. In the Big Ten tournament, U-M is 3-1 against OSU.

Saturday’s contest was the first postseason conference championship to be held in Ann Arbor. Michigan continued its success as the league’s second seed, improving its record to a perfect 13-0 — including all four of its tournament titles.

Freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic was named to the All-Tournament team for going 3-0 while backstopping the team to its fourth Big Ten Tournament championship. The netminder made 25 saves on 28 shots he faced to lead the team to victory.

Ohio State (14-21-2) received the first power play of the night at 6:23 when Michigan was whistled for tripping while defending against a rush. The penalty killers had just about dismissed the chance when the Buckeyes won an offensive-zone faceoff and slammed home a shot with five seconds left on the advantage to claim a 1-0 lead at 8:18. The tally went down as the first power-play goal allowed by U-M over the course of the three-game tournament.

Michigan (29-7-1) struck back late in the period when Garrett Schifsky emerged through a wall of defenders at the blue line to find space to release a wrist shot from above the hash marks that found twine to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:11 left in the first. Defensemen Ben Robertson and Drew Schock collected the assists on the junior’s 12th goal of the season.

After one period, the teams headed to their locker rooms with the score knotted up at 1-1. OSU had built up a 9-7 lead in shots on goal, while the Wolverines carved out a narrow 9-8 edge in the faceoff dot.

U-M capped off a successful transition play to take a 2-1 lead 1:50 into the second period after a nifty shot from Michael Hage caromed off the end wall and out the other side of the net for Will Horcoff to whack into a yawning cage for his 24th goal of the season. Freshman forward Malcolm Spence notched the secondary helper on Horcoff’s marker.

The Buckeyes tied it up at 9:12 with a low shot from the right circle after Michigan failed to clear the zone when they had a chance along the boards near the half wall.

Michigan embarked on its first power play of the evening at 11:32. The group spent nearly the entire two-minute segment in Ohio State’s zone, but a number of saves by the visiting netminder kept the game tied at 2-2.

OSU was sent back to the power play at 15:12. Over halfway through the advantage, it buried a second-chance opportunity to reclaim a 3-2 lead at 16:31.

The nation’s top-ranked power-play unit was reactivated at 17:29 as U-M searched for an equalizer. With T.J. Hughes operating from a spot near the crease, Spence drove the center lane to provide an additional option for the captain, who quickly spun and passed the puck to the top of the blue paint for the freshman to blast home with a one-timer at 19:18 for his 10th goal as a Wolverine. Sophomore Dakoda Rhéaume-Mullen recorded the second assist for his tape-to-tape feed from the point down to Hughes on the goal line.

Through 40 minutes, the game was tied 3-3. Michigan extended its advantage in the faceoff dot to 26-15, while OSU maintained a 19-17 edge in shots with one period left to determine the conference champion.

U-M was assessed a minor penalty for interference just 14 seconds into the final frame to give the Buckeyes a golden opportunity, but the penalty killers were up to the task and killed off the two minutes to return to full strength.

The comeback continued when Hughes pulled Michigan ahead at 8:19 to make it a 4-3 game from the top of the crease to cap off an individual effort by Jayden Perron to retrieve a loose puck behind the net before making a power move to the front to put an initial shot on goal. When the attempt was pushed to the goalie’s left, Hughes was in the perfect position to bury the loose puck and secure the eventual game-winning goal.

Shortly thereafter, U-M began its third power play of the night at 9:38, and it took just six seconds to capitalize. Hughes won the initial draw back to Perron at the point, and the junior collected the puck and scored a highlight-reel goal to double the lead to 5-3. Perron stickhandled through nearly the entire OSU penalty kill unit before shifting the puck back to his forehand at the last second to beat the goaltender.

Senior defenseman Luca Fantilli finished off a high-pressure sequence as the goaltender was working to slide back into position with 7:17 left. Kienan Draper started the play by moving the puck to Schifsky in the middle of the zone, and the junior put a shot on goal from the middle of the ice before it skittered out to Fantilli’s blade on the left flank to blow it open and make it a 6-3 game.

With OSU’s goaltender pulled in favor of an extra attacker, junior forward Nick Moldenhauer picked the pocket of the last Buckeye back in the OSU zone to create a free chance at the empty net. He slid the puck into the undefended cage to make it a 7-3 game with 2:02 left.

U-M ended the night as Big Ten Tournament champions, thanks in part to being on the better end of a 29-28 count in shots on goal as well as a 47-22 gulf in the faceoff dot.

Following the game, Hughes was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He is now tied with Mike Knuble for 20th all-time in scoring with 175 points. He joins Kyle Connor (2016), Erik Portillo (2022) and Adam Fantilli (2023) as the lone Wolverines to receive the MOP honor. Hughes, Ivankovic, Perron, and Fantilli joined two Buckeyes in filling out the 2026 All-Tournament team; Michigan leads the way with 22 all-time honorees.

On Sunday afternoon (March 22), the Wolverines will learn their fate for next weekend’s regionals during the NCAA Hockey Selection Show at 3 p.m. on ESPNU. Making its NCAA-record 42nd tournament appearance, Michigan will be the top overall seed for the first time since 2022.