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Dylan Duke and Connor Kurth Punch Their Tickets to the Tampa Frozen Four

By Stephen Parrino

DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 11: Cole Krygier #8 of the Michigan State Spartans looks at Dylan Duke #25 of the Michigan Wolverines jumping out of the way on a shot on Dylan St. Cyr #37 during the third period of an NCAA Mens college hockey Dual in the D game at Little Caesars Arena on February 11, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. The Wolverines defeated the Spartans 4-3 in O.T. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 11: Cole Krygier #8 of the Michigan State Spartans looks at Dylan Duke #25 of the Michigan Wolverines jumping out of the way on a shot on Dylan St. Cyr #37 during the third period of an NCAA Mens college hockey Dual in the D game at Little Caesars Arena on February 11, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. The Wolverines defeated the Spartans 4-3 in O.T. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /
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Tampa Bay Lightning prospects Dylan Duke and Connor Kurth are heading to Tampa with their teams to compete in the Frozen Four in hopes of winning the NCAA Championship.

Kurth and Minnesota secured their spot by winning both of their games in the Fargo Regional. Kurth had the game-winner and an assist in their first game with 9-2 win over Canisius but did not play in the 4-1 regional final win against St. Cloud State due to injury. There was no readily available information concerning his status, but he will hope to be good to go after two weeks of rest.

Minnesota will face off against Boston University in their semifinal. The Terriers are led by freshman defense phenom Lane Hutson (MTL), who had 15 goals and 48 points in 38 games entering the tournament.

Duke and Michigan clinched the school’s 27th Frozen Four appearance in program history after beating Colgate 11-2 in their first game and mounting a 2-1 comeback win against Penn State in overtime of the regional final. Duke had a goal and an assist in their opening game and recorded the secondary assist on the game-winner in the Penn State game.

With their regional win, Michigan added to their current record of Frozen Four appearances and will have the opportunity to retake sole ownership of the most championship titles from Denver after Denver evened up with them at nine apiece in last year’s tournament.

Michigan will see Quinnipiac in their semifinal. The game will feature a clash of styles as Michigan enters the game as the country’s top scoring offense, and Quinnipiac as the top scoring defense allowing the fewest number of goals against per game.

Unfortunately, it was not triumph for all of the Lightning’s prospects in the tournament regionals as McKade Webster and Denver were handed a surprise exit in a shutout loss to Cornell in their first game. Webster left the game early with an apparent leg injury.

The puck will drop for the semifinals at Amalie Arena on April 6, with the winners moving onto the championship game on the 8th. With Michigan and Minnesota on opposite sides of the tournament bracket, Duke and Kurth could potentially meet in the Final.

For both, they will hope this is only the beginning of their playing careers at Amalie Arena.

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