Minnesota (14-13-0 overall, 9-3-0-0 Big Ten) at Ohio State (8-14-2 overall, 3-5-2-1 Big Ten)
Game 28: Gophers at Ohio State
Date: Friday, Feb. 12
Puck Drop: 5:31 pm CT
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: BTN2Go
Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network
Game 29: Gophers at Ohio State
Date: Saturday, Feb. 13
Puck Drop: 6:05 pm CT
TV: No TV
Stream: BTN PLUS
Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network
Inside the Matchup
The Gophers don’t really have any BAD records all-time against their opponents. However, the history with Ohio State is especially lopsided. Minnesota is an incredible 21-3-1 all-time against the Buckeyes.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be close. The Gophers squeaked out a sweep in early December with 3-2 and 5-4 overtime victories.
Despite their record, the Buckeyes have put on quality performances this year. They topped Boston College, Cornell, and Penn State, and beat Michigan in a shootout just a couple weeks ago.
Storyline Central
Ohio State enters the weekend coming off a bye, meaning they’re well-rested. Kevin Stankiewicz of The Lantern has the latest on the Buckeyes.
The folks at GopherSports have highlights from December’s sweep of OSU.
There’s not much time left in the Big Ten regular season. SBNation College Hockey’s Chris Dilks takes a look at who could win the conference title this season.
Notes and Quotes
Don Lucia
On Ohio State:
“Team speed, that’s the thing that really comes to mind with me. Their goaltender is playing really well. All of a sudden he has a 93-save percentage. They’ve been good the second half of the season. We had two overtime games with them, here, in December; fortunately we were able to win both of them. I really like the way their team is playing right now.”
Justin Kloos
On Ohio State:
“They’re an extremely dangerous team. In the Christmas tournament, they went down to Florida and beat two top-ten teams. They can score. They play fast. They have good forwards and they’re dangerous. We needed two overtime games to beat them here and Mariucci so obviously going to Columbus, it’s going to be a battle.”
On playing on the road in Columbus:
“You’re not sure what atmosphere you’re going to get there. It’s just going to be tough because when you get down to this point in the season, everyone’s systems get better. Everyone’s freshmen are older and make less mistakes. It becomes a little tighter game, a little harder to score. You see more one-goal games. I’m sure that’s what the games will be like this coming weekend and hopefully we’re on the good side.”