Michigan State (5-15-2 overall, 1-5-0-0 Big Ten) at Minnesota (9-10-0 overall, 4-2-0-0 Big Ten)
Game 20: Gophers vs. Michigan State
Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.
Date: Friday, Jan. 15, 2016
Puck Drop: 8:05 p.m. CT
TV: FOX Sports North PLUS, FOX Sports Detroit
Stream: BTN2Go, FOX Sports Go
Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network
Game 21: Gophers vs. Michigan State
Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.
Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016
Puck Drop: 7:33 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network
Inside the Matchup
The Gophers hold quite the commanding lead over the Spartans in the all-time series; 107-44-15.
Through the last 10 meetings, Minnesota has continued the trend of dominance, going 6-1-3.
Connor Reilly is Minnesota’s leading goal scorer against the Spartans with three. The redshirt junior has just one goal and seven points on the year, and could use this series to gain momentum going forward.
The Gophers hold a 5-3 National Championship advantage.
Storyline Central
It’s the article that has Gopher hockey fans buzzing, Cory Zurowski’s look at Minnesota’s recent hockey struggles.
Andrew Merkle of isportsweb discusses the Spartans’ poor start to the year and how head coach Tom Anastos may be on the hot seat.
Merkle also has a recap of the Spartans’ recent 9-2 loss against the rival Michigan Wolverines. Yikes.
Notes and Quotes
Michael Brodzinski
On solving goalie Jake Hildebrand:
“I think we just have to get shots to the net, get bodies to the net. I think if we have a big body in front of the net, it’s going to be hard to see for him. So we just have to get pucks and bodies to the net.”
On how playing well defensively against PSU will carry over to this weekend:
“We’re starting to get a lot of confidence in our squad. I think that’s huge for us. The confidence aspect of the game is really coming along really well and I think that’s big for us going against Michigan State.”
Justin Kloos
On how to get pucks past Hildebrand:
“We need to get pucks to the net. Obviously, he’s a really good goalie. Last year we struggled to score five-on-five against them so we need to get a lot of traffic to the net. Having a guy in front so we can start beating him from anywhere but a couple feet. We’ll probably just have to throw a lot at him. I don’t know if there will be many pretty ones this weekend because of the way Michigan State plays but I think if we get out chances, some will go in for us.”
On playing in his 100th game as a Gopher:
“I didn’t even know that, that’s wild. It feels like just a couple days ago I was on campus as a freshman so it’s pretty exciting.”