No. 13/14 Minnesota (13-12-1 overall, 4-9-1-1 B1G) vs Michigan State (9-14-1 overall, 3-10-1-1 B1G)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018
Location: Munn Ice Arena | East Lansing, Mich.
Puck Drop: 5:30 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK AM | 103.5 FM | Listen Online
Date: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018
Location: Madison Square Garden | New York, N.Y.
Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK AM | 103.5 FM | Listen Online
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
It’s quite an interesting series with the Gophers playing MSU in East Lansing on Thursday, then both teams traveling to NYC to play at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The series finale is part of Super Saturday College Hoops & Hockey Doubleheader where Gopher hoops takes on Ohio State at 11am at MSG.
Minnesota picked up a rare sweep when they faced Michigan State earlier this season at Mariucci. The Gophers won 3-1 and 4-0 back in early November.
Minnesota dominates the all-time series against MSU, 115-45-16. Leon Bristedt leads the Gophers against the Spartans with 11 points in 13 games. They need him to get hot if they want to see the NCAA Tournament.
This weekend will be a battle of struggling offenses. The Gopher offense is scoring just 2.62 goal per game while MSU is even worse at 2.38 per contest. Yikes.
The Maroon and Gold have been dreadful on the road this year, going 1-8-1. Let’s shrink the rink from Olympic size as soon as possible, please.
MSU is led by a freshman, Mitchell Lewandowski. The Michigan native has 14 goals and 27 points in 24 games this year.
STORYLINE CENTRAL
Eric Vegoe of The Athletic has a great feature on Minnesota defenseman Ryan Lindgren, and the incredible leadership the sophomore brings to the Gophers.
While both teams come into the game struggling, MSU has the advantage of not getting swept last weekend. Kara Keating of the State News recaps the Spartans’ recent split with Wisconsin.
Here’s highlights from Minnesota’s sweep of MSU earlier this season.
QUOTES
Don Lucia
“Their top line is very good. Their top line has 30 goals. They’ve settled on a goaltender. They’ve played better at home than they’ve done on the road. Certainly, they’re playing some young guys and just giving them the ice time for the future.”
Casey Mittelstadt
On Michigan State:
“We played them this fall, obviously. They got some good players that can go. I think they have a really good first line, a couple good D. We’re definitely going to have to go out there and try to play our game; dictate the pace, early, and try to score some goals for once, here.”
Steve Johnson
On if it’s tough not looking ahead to the MSG game:
“That’s a game, I think, we all had circled on our calendar at the beginning of the year. At the same time, we can’t really look past it. We play on Thursday, that’s something we have to keep our focus on. Once that game is over, then we can focus on MSG, but right now, we have to focus and prepare for Thursday.”