Miami downs No. 4 W. Michigan in OT

OXFORD, Ohio — David Deputy more than made up for his 10-minute misconduct penalty.

The Miami forward was called for shooting the puck out of play in frustration after a whistle, then returned to score the tying and game-winning goals as the RedHawks edged No. 4 Western Michigan, 3-2 at Cady Arena on Friday.

MU extended its winning streak to five and is now 5-0 in overtime this season.

The teams wrap up their weekend and season series at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday.

RECAP: Western Michigan (19-8) took the lead 8:08 into the first period, as Zach Bade took a feed at the blue line, skated in on the left wing around a defender and slid a short pass into the slot for Garrett Sydlowski, who rammed it in than a second before the net was dislodged.

Miami (17-8-2) tied it at the 1:53 mark of the middle frame when Max Helgeson skated the puck from his own zone across the WMU blue line for a 2-on-1 and flipped a pass through the slot to Kocha Delic, who controlled it before whipping a wrister past goalie Hampton Slukynsky, glove side from the inside edge of the left faceoff circle.

Samuel Sjolund put the Broncos ahead again, 2-1 when he fired a shot from the high slot that hit Miami goalie Matteo Drobac, rolled over his shoulder and trickled into the net 1:57 into the third period.

But Miami rallied once again, as Shaun McEwen’s laser pass from the left point found Deputy, who redirected the puck just inside the near post from the right side of the net with 8:55 left in regulation.

And Deputy lifted the RedHawks to the win 1:40 into overtime, intercepting a pass in his own zone, skating the length of the ice and firing a shot past Slukynsky on the glove side on a 2-on-1.

STATS: The only Miami skater to record multiple points, Deputy’s two goals gave him 11 tallies in his last 11 games.

His 13 markers this season are the most by a RedHawk since Gordie Green notched 14 in 2019-20. Deputy is only the sixth MU player to score at least 13 times in a season since Miami’s last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015.

Delic netted his ninth goal of the campaign, and he leads the team with 22 points.

Helgeson’s assist gives him five points in five games and 18 on the season, tied for third on the RedHawks.

McEwen picked up an assist, the defenseman’s first point since Dec. 6 at Denver.

Ilia Morozov also notched a helper, his first point since Dec. 12.

— Drobac won his 16th game of the season, tying him with Chuck Thuss for ninth on Miami’s all-time single-season leaderboard. His save percentage is .960 in seven games since the start of 2026.

— With the win, the RedHawks clinched their first non-losing record since 2015.

— This was MU’s first February win since Feb. 25, 2023 at Minn.-Duluth. The RedHawks’ hadn’t won at home in February since Feb. 26, 2022 vs. — you guessed it — UMD.

— Miami snapped a six-game losing streak against Western Michigan. The RedHawks were 1-20-1 in their previous 22 meetings with the Broncos.

ANALYSIS: Miami was sluggish in the first period and WMU wasn’t.

The shots were 11-1 before the Broncos finally, inevitably, broke through, though there was a question as to whether the net was knocked off its mooring prior to the puck crossing the goal line, and also Miami coach Anthony Noreen challenged for a potential major earlier that was ultimately denied.

The Broncos led, 16-5 in SOG after 20 minutes.

Then Miami returned to the Miami we’ve seen the first two-thirds of this season. Physical. Constantly threading passes from short and long distance. Tough to generate slot shots against, and with a shut-down goalie in net for those few high-percentage chances against.

The final couple minutes of regulation, the RedHawks dominated play, controlling the puck long enough to change personnel while pinning WMU’s skaters in their own zone.

It felt like a college hockey version of Rocky, with the Broncos continuing to pepper Miami with offensive chances until the RedHawks finally fought back, and after trailing, 27-8 in SOG after 40 minutes, they somehow managed to win in overtime.

— Unfortunately, Miami lost two key players in this game, as Vladislav Lukashevich was apparently injured late in the second period, and Ethan Hay left in the opening stanza.

Neither returned, and Lukashevich’s injury appeared to be a UBI and Hay’s an LBI.

Defenseman Owen Lalonde was listed as injured on Miami’s lineup sheet, and Nicholas Mikan is out with an apparent LBI.

— The hockey gods favored (or, in this era, did they gamble on?) Miami, as Western Michigan hit multiple posts and fanned on a wide-open net in the second period, to which the Cady faithful chanted: Air ball.

— In the postgame presser, multiple pool reporters mentioned McEwen’s play. Noreen said this was “his best game by far”.

— Bradley Walker continued to lay out big-time hits, especially early.

— One negative (and not a new one): Miami continued to struggle mightily on the power play, generating just two shots on goal on four chances. The RedHawks are just 5-for-49 (10.2 percent) on the man-advantage since returning from Belfast.

But Miami was 4 of 4 on the penalty kill, although WMU did score seconds after of those power play opportunities expired.

— Credit to Western Michigan: This is an outstanding team, well coached, with tons of offensive weapons and shut-down defensemen as well. The Broncos doubled up Miami in shots, 32-16.

— Finally, how about the crowd. It was listed as 3,642, which is the rink’s SRO capacity, although with the concourse lined with people standing two and three deep all the way around the bowl, the real figure was probably close to 4,000. And they were treated to an incredible hockey game.

LINEUP CHANGES: Miami returned to its seven-defensemen lineup, as Kyle Aucoin was back on the ice after a one-game absence. He replaced forward Justin Stupka, who was scratched for just the third time this season.

STANDINGS: As of way too late Friday night…or way too early Saturday…Miami was ranked No. 18 in the NPI, which determines who earns at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Typically the top 14-15 earn spots in the national championship.

The RedHawks earned their 23rd and 24th points, improving to 8-7-2 in the NCHC. Don’t look now, but Miami has a winning record in a league many gave it no chance to succeed in.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Forgive us if we told this story before, but some of the most entertaining games ever played at Cady Arena were in the winter of 2015, especially a 4-4 tie vs. Duluth that was possibly the greatest contest ever played in this rink.

This game rivaled it. It was string tight for nearly 62 minutes, and it always had a close feel, even when WMU was dominating early.

In the 11 years since its last NCAA Tournament run, Miami has played in very few meaningful games in February, and thanks to a winning league record of 8-7-1, the RedHawks will have that chance.

It was one of the best hockey games ever played in Cady Arena’s 20-year history.