ANN ARBOR, MICH. – Sophomore forward Rhett Pitlick scored two goals and freshman defenseman Luke Mittelstadt had a goal and two assists as the No. 2-ranked Gophers defeated No. 3 Michigan 5-2 on Friday night at the Yost Ice Arena.
Owen Bartoszkiewicz, the Gophers' backup goalie from Northville, Mich., made 29 saves for his first Big Ten victory.
It came against a shorthanded Michigan team, which had six players out because of an illness, including the nation's leading scorer, Adam Fantilli (23 points). One of the sick players was hospitalized Wednesday and put on a ventilator.
Two Gophers also were out ill, including Justen Close, the starting goalie.
"It has been an extremely emotional week," Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. "We didn't talk about hockey too much this week. It has been nothing but worrying and thinking about our teammates and their mental health and physical health.
"We have a great group of kids and guys are still fighting the fight."
Assessing the game, Gophers coach Bob Motzko said, "We did a lot of good things tonight. But again, for as good as we were at times, we let them off the mat. … I liked us in the third period and our maturity stuck with it. Started the game well and ended it well, with a little craziness in the middle."
Pitlick scored his first goal at 5 minutes, 41 seconds of the opening period, his second at 7:17 of the middle period. Each time Dylan Duke of the Wolverines answered with a power-play goal.
