As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., it’s a good time to take a look at something for which each Big Ten team may be grateful.
The Wolverines are road warriors with a power play that clicks
After sweeping Penn State in Pegula Arena last weekend, Michigan improves to 9-2-1 on the season with a 5-0-1 road record. The Wolverines earned a win and tie at Arizona State in mid-October, and Michigan swept Boston University in Agganis Arena Nov. 1-2.
The Wolverines scored 16 total goals against the Nittany Lions in two wild games. In Friday’s 6-5 win, Penn State scored two goals within the first five minutes of the third to tie the game before Michael Hage’s game-winner at 13:28.
In Saturday’s 10-6 win, the Wolverines trailed 3-0 by just past the midway point in the first and by the end of the game had gone 6-for-9 on the power play. Michigan scored a total of eight power-play goals in the series.
Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said that the Wolverines had been “a little snake bit” with the man advantage for parts of the season, but that players “stuck to the plan” to find success, something that will be “good for their confidence down the road.”
Michigan’s power play improves to 28.9 percent, sixth in the nation. The Wolverines are averaging four goals a game, tied with Dartmouth for third in the nation.
The Wolverines play a home-and-home series against Western Michigan Friday and Saturday.
Michigan State may owe Boston College a little gratitude – again
Michigan State’s only loss this season came at home to Boston College, a 3-0 blanking in their home opener Oct. 11.
The Spartans rebounded the following night with a 4-3 win against the Eagles and are now undefeated in six games and two exhibitions since that loss to Boston College.
During their current streak, the Spartans have scored fewer than four goals in exactly one game, a 3-0 road win over Canisius Oct. 25, averaging 4.5 goals per game in their last six.
Last season, Michigan State was swept on the road by Boston College, 6-4 and 5-1 losses Oct. 26-27. The Spartans followed that with a seven-game undefeated streak (5-0-2) and finished the remainder of the first half 8-3-1.
Michigan State wasn’t swept again for the entire 2023-24 season and lost consecutive games only once, to Minnesota Jan. 27 and Notre Dame Feb. 2.
That series against Boston College early last season taught the Spartans a few lessons. Coach Adam Nightingale brought it up after Michigan State beat Michigan in the Duel in the D Game at Little Caesar’s Arena Feb. 10, and he talked about it again late in February.
“It was like, it’s simple,” said Nightingale. “We’ve got to get better. They’re better than us.”
The Spartans went on to win the Big Ten regular season and playoff titles at the end of 2023-24.
There’s a lot of hockey left this season, but the Spartans are already impressing theUSCHO.com Poll voters. This week, Michigan State was voted No. 1 in the poll for the first time since 2007.
The Spartans host Lindenwood in a Friday-Sunday series this weekend.
Minnesota’s balance is impressive
The Golden Gophers improved to 12-2-0 on the season – and 6-0-0 in the Big Ten – after sweeping Notre Dame on the road last weekend, 6-3 and 5-3.
Minnesota’s two losses came a month apart, the 2-1 overtime loss to Omaha in the title game of the IceBreaker tournament Oct. 12 and a 3-1 road loss to Bemidji State Nov. 16.
After their loss to the Beavers, coach Bob Motzko said that the Gophers had done “everything but score a goal.” In most games this season, though, Minnesota has been able to do everything they should plus score, as their stats attest.
Averaging 4.29 goals per game, the Gophers are second nationally only to Denver in scoring and their power play is eighth in the nation (26.9 percent).
Minnesota spreads that scoring love around, with 16 different players contributing to the Gophers’ 60 total goals with just one skater still without a point.
Motzko said that he likes the “strength” and “resiliency” of the Gopher team. “Everyone’s playing,” said Motzko. “Everyone’s getting a chance to share in the success right now.”
The Gophers host Alaska Friday and Saturday.
The Irish may find some much-needed luck in Belfast
Notre Dame plays in the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland this weekend, facing Harvard Friday and either Boston University or Merrimack Saturday.
Winless in seven games, the Irish get the chance to get back on track during the trip of a lifetime. Hosted by the Belfast Giants, the tournament began in 2015 and arose from links between sister cities Belfast and Boston.
The tourney was last played in 2022, with Quinnipiac emerging as the winner. The championship team receives the Belpot Trophy.
“Our guys will have a little chance to do some sightseeing, a little touring of Ireland,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “It’s going to be a unique experience for all of us.”
One issue plaguing the 5-9-0 Fighting Irish is the number of penalties the team takes. In their two losses to Minnesota last weekend, the Irish had 11 penalties for 33 minutes.
“I’ll keep sitting guys out for taking bad penalties,” said Jackson. “It’s the only recourse I have.”
The Buckeyes may have a pair of aces in net
The goaltending tandem of sophomore Kristoffer Eberly and senior Logan Terness have paced Ohio State to a 9-2-1 start, a .792 win percentage – tied for sixth nationally with Colorado College and Michigan – and a No. 10 spot in the early Pairwise Rankings.
In five games, Eberly is tops in the nation for goals against (1.29) and is third (.946) in save percentage. He’s also undefeated. Terness (2.28 GAA, .917 SV%) is as steady as they come, with a record of 4-2-1.
The Buckeyes last played Nov. 15-16, a road sweep of Lindenwood in which Eberly and Terness each earned a win.
Toward the start of the season, coach Steve Rohlik said that the Ohio State goaltending “really started to improve” in the second half of the 2023-24, and that Eberly and Terness “push each other.”
Rohlik said he’s open to one or the other emerging as starter but is satisfied with how things are now.
The Buckeyes travel to Princeton for a Friday-Saturday series.
Penn State breaks a bad streak
The Nittany Lions headed into Tuesday’s game against Colgate looking to snap a six-game losing streak, and the Nittany Lions did just that, beating Colgate at home 3-2, improving to 5-7-0 overall.
The six losses in that skid were all to Big Ten opponents, but the Nittany Lions are 5-1-0 in nonconference play, three shy of Penn State’s eight nonconference wins from a season ago.
Bright spots for Penn State include its 13th-best power play (23.4%) and 16th-best goals scored per game (3.27).
Against Colgate, the Nittany Lions were 1-for-3 on the power play, outshooting the Raiders 42-27 in the game.
One player fueling that offense is sophomore Aiden Fink (8-11-19), who extended his career-best goal-scoring streak to five against Colgate. Fink is third nationally in points per game (1.64), and he’s contributed three power-play goals this season.
The Nittany Lions face finish their series with the Raiders Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Wisconsin has an opportunity to get its home groove back
In Mike Hastings’ first season behind the Wisconsin bench, he displayed an impressive awareness of how important it was to give home fans a reason to keep coming back to the Kohl Center. The Badgers finished the 2023-24 season with a 26-12-2 overall record with 14 of those wins coming at home.
This season, Wisconsin has won at home just once, a 3-2 win over Lindenwood Oct. 12. This weekend, the Badgers host Alaska Anchorage for two games, and Hastings sees this series as an opportunity to give the Wisconsin hockey faithful what they need.
“We’re in the Midwest,” said Hastings at this week’s press conference. “If you go out and compete and control what you get to control, there’s a respect for that. At the end of the day, you want the results to match up. We haven’t done that in our own building until this opportunity that we have on Friday.”
Wisconsin improved to 4-8-0 on the season after a road sweep of Penn State Nov. 15-16. Those wins came at the end of a string of eight games during which Wisconsin went 1-7-0 against ranked opponents – with five of those losses in conference play.
The Badgers are 34-9-3 all-time on their own ice against the Seawolves. Alaska Anchorage is 2-9-1 on the season but 1-2-1 in their last four games.
“We need to execute a little bit better at home than we have up until this point,” said Hastings, “until we get the result we need to get.”
