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.
"It definitely felt good to get those in the net," Pitlick said in a postgame Big Ten Network interview. "… Our team did amazing."
Twelve minutes into the second period, freshman Jimmy Snuggerud put the Gophers (9-4, 5-2 Big Ten) ahead to stay 3-2. He scored on a quick turnaround move in front of the net. It was his team-leading ninth goal.
The Gophers got two more goals in the third. Logan Cooley scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the first minute — the second penalty was for delay of game after Michigan came out of the locker room late after the intermission. Mittelstadt got his first goal of the season in the sixth minute.
Erik Portillo had 36 saves for Michigan (9-4, 2-3).
"I am extremely proud of how our guys responded," Naurato said. "It's difficult — we are not making excuses with the numbers.
"They wanted to play. They came out here and they worked their butts off."
"We're playing for those guys, and the guys who couldn't play tonight" Duke said. "They're in our prayers.
"We gave it our all. We came up short. We will watch video. We will get back at it and we will be ready for a strong effort [Friday]."
