TAMPA, Fla. — Michigan built a season on improbable wins, coming from behind in spectacular fashion on several occasions.
Against Quinnipiac in Thursday’s Frozen Four semifinals, the Wolverines tried to play themselves out of a deficit once again but their season ended when they couldn’t catch the Bobcats in the third period.
“I think structurally, they have that 1-3-1 and it’s tough to get the pucks behind them,” Michigan defenseman Seamus Casey said after a 5-2 loss. “They’re technical. D retrieves make things tough. I thought we did a good job getting through and making plays. They play hard and stay above everybody.”
The Wolverines, 8-6-0 this season when opponents scored first, evened the game twice to tie the Bobcats 2-2 by the end of the second. Casey answered for Michigan at 6:49 in the first after Jacob Quillan opened the scoring at 5:18. Quillan scored again in the first to make it 2-1, but Hobey Baker Award finalist Adam Fantilli scored a beauty to tie up the game midway through the second.
And for a team that began the night averaging 4.21 goals per game, that was the final goal of the season.
In more than a few games this year, the Wolverines outscored their mistakes en route to victory. In the postseason alone, the Wolverines came from behind three times. Trailing 4-3 in their 5-4 overtime win in their first Big Ten semifinal game, the Wolverines knotted the game on Luke Hughes’ goal with 23 seconds remaining in regulation.
Down 1-0 to Minnesota after the first period of the Big Ten championship game, Michigan went on to win 4-3, and in the Allentown Regional final, Michigan was behind Penn State 1-0 until the middle of the third when Fantilli tied the game. Mackie Samoskevich had the game-winner that sent the Wolverines to the Frozen Four 52 seconds into overtime.
The Wolverines had a 31-30 edge in shots on goal Thursday, but they couldn’t get past Yaniv Perets, who stopped all 11 Michigan shots in the third.
“They’re a pretty rigid team,” said Casey. “They don’t really deter from their game plan and they’re a pretty good team, really defensive. I think at times we just didn’t execute what we were trying to do. Few costly mistakes, but it was a good game.”
“Quinnipiac is a great team and we have respect for them, and they did a great job tonight,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato. “But that could have went either way. Two goals from behind the net and one from the top of the circles on the board. It is what it is. That’s why it’s so hard to win a national championship. It’s one game.”
