No. 10 Ohio State (8-1-4 overall, 0-0-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 11 Minnesota (6-4-2 overall, 0-0-0 Big Ten)
Date: Friday, Dec. 2, 2016
Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.
Puck Drop: 8:03 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network
Stream: BTN2Go
Date: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016
Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.
Puck Drop: 7:05 p.m. CT
TV: FOX Sports North PLUS
Radio: MyTalk 107.1 FM, Gopher Radio Network
Stream: BTN2Go, FOX Sports Go
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Minnesota has completely dominated the series against Ohio State, posting a whopping 24-3-1 all-time record. The Gophers won all five meetings last season.
The Buckeyes are second in the country in scoring offense, averaging 4.38 goals per game. The potent offense has netted at least four in seven of its last 10 games.
Keep an eye on fantastic freshman Tanner Laczynski who leads the team with 13 assists and 18 points.
Senior Nick Schilkey is tied for second in the NCAA with 12 goals this season.
QUOTES
Don Lucia
On Ohio State:
“They’re a veteran team. I voted for them to win the league. Two senior goaltenders, veteran D, all their guys returning up front. Freshmen coming in and have done a really nice job. You look at how that team matured last year and really had a good end of the season. Their ability to create offense and score. I think that is one of the things I felt that could really push them over the top. They’re obviously off to a great start. The offense is scoring a lot of goals and their goaltending has been pretty good. They’re kind of where I thought they would be this year.”
On if special teams will play a factor this weekend:
“I think special teams are always a big factor. In this sport, goaltending and specialty teams determine a lot of who wins and loses games so we’re going to have to be disciplined. We don’t want to give them too many power plays because they’re skilled. They have a lot of returning guys so they’re comfortable in their spots. On our penalty kill, faceoffs become important because you start with everything and then make good clears.”
Jake Bischoff
On what challenges OSU presents:
“They’re always a fast team. They have quick forwards that put pressure on us defensemen back there. We need to be sharp, have to make strong plays with the puck, otherwise they’re going to create offense from our mistakes. We have to be sharp and brake pucks out of our own zone quickly.”
On Schierhorn’s struggles this season and how the team handles that:
“Just stick with him. We know he’s a great goalie. We need to keep supporting him as a group and has defenseman know that he’s going to bail us out a lot so we need to get down and block some shots for him. It’s a team game. We all have to be there. We just have to stick together and keep supporting him.”