Over the weekend, the Michigan Wolverines took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for a pair of games in Ann Arbor. Neither game went their way as they lost each in overtime to a good arch rival.
Perhaps the highlight of the series was during the first game. A 3-2 overtime loss to Notre Dame. It was created by Matty Beniers. A gifted center who the expansion Seattle Kraken selected second in the 2021 NHL Draft, the 19-year old sophomore used his remarkable speed to set up a beautiful goal from Vegas prospect Brendan Brisson that put the Wolverines ahead 1-0. Beniers would add a power play goal for a 2-0 lead from Brisson and Owen Power.
On it, the highly regarded American prospect put it into a different gear when he turned the jets on to get around a Notre Dame defender and put on a series of moves that allowed Brisson to get the easy finish. He made a beautiful power move to the front which left a rebound for Brisson to put home.
The goal was his 10th in 14 games. That matched his output last season when as a freshman, he had 10 goals with 14 assists for 24 points in 24 games. Beniers already has 17 points (10-7-17) this year. In fact, seven of his 10 goals have come on the power play.
Given his game-breaking speed, that isn’t a surprise. Even better, he can again represent Team USA this winter at the U20 World Junior Championships. Last year, he was part of the gold medal winning team that beat Canada. In that tournament, he played on the second line where he finished with a goal and two assists in seven games.
An exciting player who one day will be a big part of the Kraken’s future, the 6-2, 175 pound center from Hingham, Massachusetts has the skating and instincts to become another promising young American star. Perhaps he can follow in the footsteps of WJC hero Trevor Zegras, who is starting to turn heads in Anaheim after a brilliant WJC where he had 18 points (7-11-18).
There’s a lot of excitement surrounding Beniers, who Seattle was happy to take second behind defenseman Power, who Buffalo selected with the top pick. The irony being they play for Michigan along with Kent Johnson (Columbus), Luke Hughes (Devils) Mackie Samoskevich (Panthers), Erik Portillo (Sabres), Brendan Brisson (Vegas) and Thomas Bordeleau (Sharks).
That’s a lot of talent who could one day be making headlines in the NHL. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good weekend for Michigan. They entered the two-game series with Notre Dame ranked number 1 in the nation. But the Fighting Irish spoiled that. They fell to 10-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big 10 Conference. They’ll drop in the rankings.
Their next two games come against Niagara on Black Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27. Both also will be on campus. You can bet Beniers and the bevy of recent draft picks will want to put this weekend behind them.
Hockey Prospects Plus 