Teammates celebrate Tristin Llewellyn's goal in the first period of the CCHA semi-finals against Miami. Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

DETROIT - A Michigan hockey team that once appeared to be on life support now appears on the verge of resuscitating its NCAA chances.

The Wolverines, who entered the CCHA Tournament semifinals as the lowest seed, advanced to their fourth straight championship game after stunning No. 1 Miami (Ohio) Friday night, 5-2, at Joe Louis Arena.

Michigan, which has toppled the tournament's two top seeds in consecutive weekends, will face No. 3 Northern Michigan in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. title game. The Wildcats knocked off Ferris State in Friday's other semifinal.

But after beating the nation's No. 2 team Friday night, exactly what can stop the Wolverines' late-season momentum remains to be seen.

Despite Friday night's victory, the Wolverines (24-17-1) likely still need a tournament title Saturday night to earn their 20th straight NCAA appearance.

"This was a game we had to have obviously," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "(Miami) is in the tournament and we're trying to earn our way in."

Like he did last week before facing No. 2 Michigan State, Berenson did not mention the Wolverines' NCAA tournament hopes. Instead, he focused on shutting down the RedHawks, who, Berenson said Friday night, couldn't be stopped if they were allowed to get off to a quick start.

Miami, the defending national runner-up, had soundly defeated Michigan twice earlier this season in Ann Arbor. Clearly, Michigan wasn't intimidated.

"We really didn't think about that," said goalie Shawn Hunwick, who improved to 6-1 as a starter after making 20 saves Friday night. "That was a long time ago and we're a different team now."

But it was Michigan that dominated the game's tempo, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by defensemen Tristin Llewellyn and Lee Moffie. 

Moffie scored on a perfectly-executed 4-on-1 scoring chance after a pair of crisp passes from Steve Kampfer and A.J. Treais set Moffie up on the edge of the crease.

Even after Miami (26-7-7) trimmed the deficit to 2-1 late in the second period, the Wolverines still felt in control,.

It wasn't long before the Wolverines broke the game open, opening the third period with a flurry of offense. Freshman Kevin Lynch scored a pair of goals to go along with a third by Brian Lebler, turning Michigan's one-goal lead into a suddenly comfortable 5-1 cushion.

"We talked about if we had to play the whole game with a one-goal lead, that's fine," Berenson said. "We were going out to win the period and as it turned out, we got the first goal, we got some momentum and we got another one. It turned out to be a good third period."

After Michigan's fifth goal, Miami coach Enrico Blasi pulled goalie Cody Reichard, who only a night before was named the league's Most Valuable Player. Facing a team that spent all season boasting the league's top defense giving up only 1.79 goals per game, Michigan - which has scored team 15 goals in its last three games, found a way to pick the RedHawks apart.

Blasi, who spent all week calling the Wolverines one of the country's most dangerous teams, admitted his Miami team was simply out-played from the start.

"One of the other was going to happen tonight - either we were going to play our game and dictate the way it's going to be played or Michigan was going to dictate the way we played," Blasi said. "Obviously, you know what happened."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him at Twitter @jeffreyparnold.