Most headlines from Sunday's hockey game between Michigan and Ohio State will focus on the fact that the game was played outdoors at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field. Beyond the spectacle of it being an outdoor hockey game, however, is the important fact that Michigan beat Ohio State 4-1 for a weekend series sweep of the Buckeyes. The Wolverines won 4-0 in Columbus on Friday, and now with a win on Sunday, they picked up two wins over the No. 2 team in the country.
Sunday's victory outdoors came thanks to a quick start and a strong second period. Michigan got the scoring started with goals from Chris Brown and Alex Guptill in the first period, taking a quick 2-0 lead in similar fashion to Friday's game.
Unlike on Friday, Ohio State did manage to put one shot past Shawn Hunwick. The Buckeyes' lone goal of the weekend came 50 seconds into the second period and cut Michigan's lead in half. Ohio State looked as though it was going to make a game of the Frozen Diamond Faceoff, but Michigan answered midway through the second with two goals in 28 seconds. Derek DeBlois scored the first on a redirect from David Wohlberg, and Wohlberg got the second by going hard to the net.
Neither team managed to score in the third period, meaning Michigan won 4-1. The Wolverines have now won two outdoor games, as this win improved their record outdoors to 2-1-1 all time. (The other win was last season in The Big Chill at the Big House against Michigan State; the loss was at the Camp Randall Classic to Wisconsin in 2010; the tie was against Michigan State in the Cold War back in 2001.)
A month ago, Michigan entered its series against Michigan State having just snapped a seven-game winless streak. The Wolverines went on to beat the Spartans in one game and tie them in the other. They did the same thing last week against Lake Superior State, which came after a pair of wins in the Great Lakes Invitational. Now with a pair of wins in Ohio against the Buckeyes, Michigan has gone nine games without a loss. The Wolverines have completely changed the outlook of their season in the last month, and now they sit in third place in the CCHA, only five points back of first-place Ohio State.