Two games were played at Joe Louis Arena on Friday as part of the 2011 CCHA playoffs, and neither was even remotely close. The action began Friday afternoon with Miami thrashing Notre Dame for a 6-2 victory, and it came to a close with Western Michigan stunningly beating Michigan by a score of 5-2 last night.
The Michigan/Western Michigan game was actually close after one period, as the Broncos held just a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The floodgates opened up in the second period. WMU scored four goals to take a 5-1 lead into the third period. Michigan managed to cut into the lead by scoring a goal, but it wasn't even close to being enough. Western Michigan won, 5-2.
The first game of the day was never close. Miami led Notre Dame by a score of 4-0 after one period. Notre Dame scored twice in the second period, but Miami got one goal to make it 5-2 going into the third. The RedHawks would add one more goal to make the final 6-2 in their favor.
The results from Friday's games mean that Miami will take on Western Michigan for the CCHA playoffs title at 7:35 p.m. tonight. Michigan will play Notre Dame in the third-place game at 3:35 p.m. (Both games will once again be on FS Detroit Plus.) A No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA hockey tournament is out of the question now for the Wolverines, so they will look for a win to ensure a No. 2 seed.