With one week of hockey for Big Ten teams before the holiday break, Minnesota tops the conference standings with 23 points, eight ahead of second-place Wisconsin.
Feeling a little déjà vu?
Maybe you’re flashing back to the middle of the 2022-23 season, when the Golden Gophers amassed 30 points in the first half, eight ahead of second-place Penn State and poised to outpace everyone for the remainder of that campaign.
By the end of 2022-23, Minnesota won the conference with 57 points, 19 ahead of Michigan, a team that pushed its way up to a second-place finish after ending the first half in fifth.
So where are the Wolverines now? Sharing fourth place with Ohio State, who swept Penn State at home.
To paraphrase Simon Pegg’s version of Montgomery Scott, I like this league. It’s exciting.
“Points are so hard to come by in this league,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik after Ohio State’s second win last weekend.
The Buckeyes began the weekend alone in fifth place with five points. The Nittany Lions were winless in six B1G games before dropping two more to Ohio State.
“We’re in the best league in the country,” said Rohlik. “Don’t let [Penn State’s] record fool you. That’s a really good hockey team. For us, it’s just one night at a time. Any time you can get two wins on a weekend in the Big Ten, you’ve got to be pretty pleased.”
Minnesota goaltender Liam Souliere had some similar thoughts after the Gophers’ win Saturday night.
“Sweeping in this conference is really hard, in the NCAA in general, too,” said Souliere. “The night before doesn’t mean anything.”
The Gophers didn’t just sweep the Wolverines. Minnesota shut out Michigan on consecutive nights, 6-0 Friday and 2-0 Saturday. The Wolverines had been averaging 4.00 goals per game coming into the series, and the consecutive shutout losses were the first for Michigan since the 1942-43 season.
Minnesota accomplished that impressive feat with two different starting goaltenders. Freshman Nathan Airey stopped 32 pucks in Friday’s game for his first collegiate shutout win. Souliere, a graduate transfer from Penn State, made 11 stops in the first nine minutes of his 2-0 shutout win Saturday and 11 more in the 51 minutes that followed that.
“He’s such an unbelievable partner,” said Souliere. “We’ve really gotten close. It’s been just so fun competing together every week. He’s such a great guy. We’re both learning from each other. We’re completely different, even though we’re playing the same position.
“I’m just so proud of him. He’s grown so much.”
That partnership between Airey and Souliere is one reason for Minnesota’s success this season. Airey’s numbers (1.99 GAA, .918 SV%) are good. Souliere’s are insanely good. The veteran goaltender is playing the best hockey of his collegiate career and leads the nation in goals-against (1.37) while sporting the third-best save percentage nationally (.943). Saturday’s shutout was the second of Souliere’s season, the fifth of his career.
Airey and Souliere have split series in net all season. After Saturday’s win, Gophers coach Bob Motzko said that someone commented in his post-game radio interview that the success of the two might be making it difficult to decide who to start. With typical Motzko wit, he shut that right down.
“My wife would hit me if I made a different move right now,” said Motzko, calling the decision to rotate goalies the easiest of his coaching career.
“They’re doing a great job [and] building confidence off each other, and they know it. They’ve got a good feel about how the team’s playing.”
As Airey was earning his first shutout in the opening game of Minnesota’s series against Michigan Friday, Ohio State’s Kristofer Eberly was following up a Thursday-night shutout 4-0 shutout of Penn State with a 27-save performance in Friday’s 4-2 win to secure the Buckeyes’ sweep. The games were the first back-to-back starts for the Ohio State sophomore, who had been splitting time in net with senior Logan Terness.
The Nittany Lions were more aggressive Friday after having been shut out Thursday, and Eberly survived a late push in Friday’s 4-2 penalty filled game.
“It’s obviously a little nerve-racking,” said Eberly, “but I think it’s my job to be the best guy out there during those kills.” He credited his performance to the trust he has in his teammates. “They did such a good job on the PK this weekend and I’m just super happy with them.”
Ohio State’s 19th-best (.833) penalty kill kept Penn State’s 13th-best (.245) power play to one goal for seven attempts in the series.
With the wins, the Buckeyes’ offense (3.31 goals per game) improves to 10th best nationally, tied with Massachusetts. Four different Buckeyes accounted for the eight goals against the Nittany Lions.
“I always say we have to win with our depth,” said Rohlik.
The first half of Big Ten conference play wraps up this weekend with three series played Dec. 13-14.
After splitting at home with Michigan State last weekend – and knocking the Spartans out of their first No. 1 spot in the USCHO.com Poll since 2007 – Wisconsin travels to Michigan. In second place, the Badgers are four points ahead of the Wolverines.
Ohio State hosts Notre Dame for two games. With three points in B1G play – two ahead of last-place Penn State – the Fighting Irish are looking for their second conference win of the season.
Minnesota, the team that replaces Michigan State in the top spot of this week’s poll, hosts the Spartans. Motzko said that the Gophers will be “tested” when they host Michigan State to finish the first half of the season because of injuries.
“We’ll be down a few people next week,” said Motzko.
