MICHIGAN WOLVERINES WIN IRON D TROPHY IN FINAL “DUEL IN THE D” AT THE JOE

The Michigan Wolverines claimed the Iron D Trophy on Friday night in front of 17,720 fans in the final “Duel in the D” at Joe Louis Arena. The game ended in a 4-4 tie and the Wolverines picked up the additional point in the shootout in the final regular-season matchup between the two rivals held at The Joe.

Wolverines junior defenseman Sam Piazza scored the trophy-deciding goal in the shootout, beating MSU goalie John Lethemon to help avenge last year’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Spartans in the “Duel in the D.” A back-and-forth third period saw the Spartans force overtime with 4:58 to play, as freshman Sam Saliba scored his second of the game to knot the game at 4-4. Saliba’s goal came after Michigan senior defenseman Nolan De Jong tallied his second of the game with a wrist shot from the blue line early in the third period to give the Wolverines the lead.

The rivalry game saw the Spartans jump out to a quick start, scoring only 36 seconds into the first period, as freshman Taro Hirose fired a shot from the left circle over the glove of Michigan goalie Hayden Lavigne. Just over five minutes later, Michigan State pushed its lead to 2-0 when Saliba put one past Lavigne on the power play. Michigan closed the first period strong, as goals from Jake Slaker and Max Shuart tied the game at 2-2. The rivals traded goals in the second period, with Chris Knudson tallying his second of the season for Michigan State at 9:14 and De Jong scoring his first goal of the game on the power play with under three minutes to play. Lavigne made 15 saves for the Wolverines, while Lethemon, who replaced Ed Minney to begin the second period, stopped 22 shots for the Spartans.