ANN ARBOR – The first meeting between Michigan and Michigan State’s hockey teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 turned out to be an all-time classic.

The top-ranked Wolverines scored twice in the third period to tie the game at three and won on a power-play goal from Jayden Perron in overtime. Their comeback victory gives them a three-point lead in the Big Ten over MSU entering Saturday’s annual “Duel in the D” matchup at Little Caesars Arena.

Special teams ended up winning the game for Michigan (23-4, 14-4). Its first power play came during three-on-three overtime, and it capitalized. Sophomore Michael Hage set up Perron for the one-timer, and it snuck past MSU goalie Trey Augustine short-side.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines, who have won seven straight, tied the game shorthanded. Adam Valenti was called for boarding at the 12:11 mark of the third, and Wolverines head coach Brandon Naurato was vehemently disagreeing with the referee about the call. His team responded. Senior forward Kienan Draper scored on a two-on-one rush, sending the sold-out crowd into a frenzy.

The drama didn’t end there. Prior to Draper’s goal, MSU (21-6, 12-5) drilled the post at the other end, and the Spartans challenged for a potential goal, which would have negated Draper’s. But the puck never crossed the goal line.

Earlier in the period, Michigan defenseman Asher Barnett joined the rush and beat Augustine to pull the Wolverines to within one with 9:33 remaining.  

Friday was the 350^th meeting between the two rivals, and the Spartans appeared to be on their way to a seventh straight victory of their own.

They scored twice in the final five minutes of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Sophomore forward Shane Vansaghi broke the tie with a power move to the net and a quick shot into the top corner. The team followed with extended offensive zone time and scored again 2:37 later. Defenseman Owen West walked in from the point and wired wrist shot past goalie Stephen Peck with traffic in front.

The Wolverines weathered a slow start and tied the game at one with 2:56 remaining in the first period. T.J. Hughes won an offensive zone draw back to defenseman Drew Shock, whose shot was redirected by Nick Moldenhauer for his ninth goal of the season.

The first 15 minutes was controlled by MSU outside of one shift. All four of the Wolverines’ shots to that point came during a 52-second span when they hemmed in the Spartans in their own zone.

Otherwise, MSU generated the majority of chances and capitalized at the 15:14 mark. Senior Charlie Stramel, a first-round pick of the Wild, redirected a Porter Martone feed in front for his fourth goal in the past two games.   

Michigan is 6-3 in the Duel in the D, but MSU has won the past two. It is the final regular season matchup between the two programs.

SAGINAW COUNTY, MI – Saginaw County saw nearly $112 million in Michigan Lottery game sales in 2025 and ranks among the top 10 counties in the state for per-resident sales.

Across all Michigan counties, $4.4 billion was spent on lottery games last year, which is equal to $4.3 million per 10,000 residents. The state had an estimated population of 10.1 million in 2024.

Saginaw County ranks ninth in the state for lottery game sales with $5,960,488 spent per 10,000 residents in 2025, topping neighboring Genesee and Bay counties. The county had a population of 187,714 in 2024.

Many of the counties that saw the most money spent on lottery games per resident are on the east side of the state.

County rankings are based on Michigan Lottery data and do not take into account whether sales were made to out-of-county visitors or residents. The rankings do not reflect sales totals.

Saginaw County’s lottery sales per 10,000 residents were about $45,000 lower than those of Wayne County, which saw the most overall lottery sales in the state in 2025 for a total of more than $1 billion, or $6,005,756 per 10,000 residents.

Ranking at No. 1 in the state was Montmorency County, with $9.1 million spent on lottery games per 10,000 residents in 2025.

Leelanau County ranks last, seeing about $1.5 million in lottery sales per 10,000 residents.

At the bottom of the list for overall lottery sales is Keweenaw County with $423,594 spent on games last year. An estimated 2,161 people resided in the county in 2024.

A quarter of all Michigan Lottery sales from the last fiscal year is given to the Michigan Schools Aid Fund, which supports public education across the state, while the majority of sales go toward prizes. Lottery sales account for more than 4% of the Michigan Schools Aid Fund.