“Now it’s the second season. It’s win or go home. You’ve got to play your best hockey.”
That’s how Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale described the Spartans’ task this weekend against Ohio State in Big Ten semifinal action, and it sums up nicely what’s at stake in the coming weeks.
Win or go home. Play your best hockey.
The Big Ten semifinal games are single elimination, and every coach knows that absolutely anything can happen – especially Nightingale, whose Spartans earned a first-round bye with their regular-season title.
Especially Nightingale, whose Spartans lost 6-2 to Ohio State at home Feb. 23.
“Ton of respect for their coaching staff,” said Nightingale. “I think they’ve done a heck of a job. I felt that way when we played them earlier in the year and obviously, the stretch they’ve had here has been really good.”
In last week’s best-of-three quarterfinal round, Ohio State traveled to Wisconsin and took two of three games from the Badgers, winning 2-1 Friday, losing 4-2 Saturday, and leaving no doubt in Sunday’s 3-1 win. In spite of being outshot 30-22 in the deciding game, the Buckeyes were 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off all four Wisconsin advantages, and the Buckeyes kept the Badgers off the scoreboard for the first 58 minutes of the game.
It was the first time a No. 7 seed had won a Big Ten championship playoff series – and Friday’s win was the first win ever by a No. 7 seed in the B1G tournament.
“I’m really excited for and proud of the guys,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik after Sunday’s win. “We’ve come a long way.”
The Buckeyes had four Big Ten wins during the regular season, and Rohlik credited the “hard work and belief” of his players. He added, “We get to live to fight another day.”
As lopsided as the match appears on paper, Nightingale is taking nothing for granted. “It says a lot about them to go into Wisconsin and do what they did. First time in the history of the Big Ten that that’s happened. It’s not a fluke. They’re a legit hockey team.”
“I’ve seen it over the years. Once you win a game – doesn’t matter if you’re on the road – you’re in a series, and anything can happen,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko, recapping the Golden Gophers’ sweep of Penn State with Minnesota play-by-play guy, Wally Shaver.
Motzko called the best-of-three series “its own entity” and said that he’s seen “so much craziness” in series because it’s so different from regular-season play and because there’s so much at stake.
“We easily could have lost that game Saturday and been back here Sunday, and we would have had to be good workers and punch the clock and come back to work,” said Motzko.
The Gophers got by the Nittany Lions easily Friday, scoring four unanswered goals following a tied first period to win 5-1.
Saturday’s game was very different. The Gophers took a 2-0 lead after one with Penn State answering with two of their own in the second. Aaron Huglen’s 12th goal of the season at 18:52 in the third won the game. Penn State outshot Minnesota 48-24 in the game. Justen Close made 46 saves in the win for the Gophers.
“It’s about just survival,” said Motzko. “Now you feel more like the playoffs. You survive the two out of three. Now we’ve got Michigan, and obviously we’ve got some history.”
History is an understatement. The Wolverines are the defending Big Ten playoff champs, having beaten the Gophers 4-3 in last year’s title game in Minneapolis.
That game was a repeat of the 2021-22 Big Ten championship game. Same teams. Same score. Same venue.
“They remember that,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato. “And they want to make a point that they’re not going to let it happen a third time.”
On his weekly radio show with play-by-play announcer Al Randall, Narauto said that the Wolverines are excited to play a team they split a road series with just two weeks ago. “I think it’s good when a team hasn’t seen your best and you feel really good about your team.”
Here’s a look at the head-to-head, single-elimination semifinal matches with overall stats. The winners will advance to the Big Ten championship game March 23 with the higher seed hosting.
No. 4 Ohio State (14-19-4) at No. 1 Michigan State (22-9-3)
The Buckeyes are 5-4-0 in their last nine games, which includes their last three regular-season series and last weekend against Wisconsin.
Previous to their first-round bye last week, the Spartans were 6-4-0 in their last five regular-season series. Michigan State was 3-1-0 against Ohio State during the B1G season, and that loss came Feb. 23 in East Lansing.
Scoring offense: Ohio State, 2.68 goals per game (45th); Michigan State, 3.91 (6th)
Scoring defense: Ohio State, 3.30 goals allowed per game (52nd); Michigan State, 3.03 (34th)
Power play: Ohio State, 22.2% (22nd); Michigan State, 27.0% (4th)
Penalty kill: Ohio State, 72.0% (62nd); Michigan State, 80.6% (27th)
Top scorer: Ohio State, Stephen Halliday (10-26—36); Michigan State, Artyom Levshunov (9-23—32)
Top goal scorer: Ohio State, Scooter Brickey (13); Michigan State, Joey Larson (15)
Goaltender: Ohio State, Logan Terness (3.14 GAA, .902 SV); Michigan State, Trey Augustine (2.92 GAA, .917 SV%)
Terness was in net for both of Ohio State’s wins last weekend, but Kristoffer Eberly (2.98 GAA, .911 SV%) has seen action in 14 games this season.
Neither the Buckeyes nor the Spartans has won the Big Ten playoff championship. Michigan State, in fact, has never made it to the title game. Ohio State has lost the championship game twice, to Wisconsin (2014) and Notre Dame (2018).
No. 3 Michigan (20-13-3) at No. 2 Minnesota (22-9-5)
Michigan is 6-4-0 in its last eight games, including last weekend’s sweep of Notre Dame. The Wolverines bring a three-game win streak into this semifinal game, a streak that began with a 6-5 win in overtime against the Golden Gophers in Mariucci Arena.
Including their sweep of Penn State last weekend, the Gophers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, with four (2-1-1) of those games going to overtime.
Scoring offense: Michigan, 4.28 goals per game (3rd); Minnesota, 3.56 (10th)
Scoring defense: Michigan, 3.06 goals allowed per game (t37th); Minnesota, 2.50 (t12th)
Power play: Michigan, 25.6% (1st); Minnesota, 23.6% (13th)
Penalty kill: Michigan, 78.0% (44th); Minnesota, 79.8% (36th)
Top scorer: Michigan, Gavin Brindley (23-27—50); Minnesota, Rhett Pitlick (19-16—35)
Top goal scorer: Michigan, Brindley (23); Minnesota, Jimmy Snuggerud (20)
Goaltender: Michigan, Jacob Barczewski (2.84 GAA, .908 SV%); Minnesota, Justen Close (2.33 GAA, .923 SV%)
The Gophers have won the Big Ten playoff championship twice, beating Michigan in 2015 and Wisconsin in 2021.
The Wolverines have won the B1G title three times, and all three titles were at the expense of the Gophers. In addition to the 2022 and 2023 championships, Michigan beat Minnesota in 2016.
