Around the Big Ten Men’s Hockey: March 2
The 2021-22 Big Ten regular hockey season is now in the books. Minnesota edged Michigan for the conference crown, while Michigan State finished last in the conference followed by Penn State and Wisconsin. Plenty of action took place in the last slate of the regular season, so let’s get into it.
Penn State Splits With Michigan State
Penn State and Michigan State settled for a series split at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, over the weekend.
The Nittany Lions took Game 1 in a comeback 5-3 win. Tyler Gratton opened the scoring in the first period for Penn State, but then the Spartans proceeded to score three unanswered goals.
Erik Middendorf picked up a goal and an assist, while Josh Nodler did the same thing for Michigan State. However, Penn State rallied back with four unanswered goals to cap off the comeback 5-3 victory.
Game 2, though, was less exciting. The matchup was back and forth, but neither team found the back of the net more than twice in a 2-1 Michigan State victory.
Josh Nodler scored his second goal of the series, and Michigan State’s second goal came from Adam Goodsir.
Penn State’s lone goal was scored by Kevin Wall. All goals were scored in the first period, with two of those goals being seconds apart.
No. 7 Notre Dame Sweeps No. 5 Michigan
No. 7 Notre Dame swept No. 5 Michigan at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana.
The Irish took Game 1 with ease in a 4-1 victory. Nick Blankenburg opened the scoring for the Wolverines, but a two-assist game from Trevor Janicke propelled Notre Dame to score four unanswered goals in a resounding victory.
Game 2 was closer and more exciting. It took until the second period to open the scoring, when Notre Dame’s Hunter Strand tapped in a goal.
Matty Beniers, the Seattle Kraken draft pick, equalized the game in the third period, but Trevor Janicke broke the tie roughly 10 minutes later in a 2-1 Notre Dame victory.
No. 2 Minnesota Manhandles Wisconsin
No. 2 Minnesota swept Wisconsin at 3M Arena at Mariucci over the weekend.
It was a great series for Minnesota but a terrible series for Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers scored a combined 13 goals in the series. Meanwhile, the Badgers didn’t manage to score a single goal in their final series of the regular season.
Things went as well as they could have for the Gophers. Minnesota not only swept convincingly, but Michigan got swept as well, which gave them the Big Ten title.
Game 1 was a 5-0 thumping. Ben Meyers collected a hat trick, while Mason Nevers tallied two assists in the game.
Game 2 was even worse for Wisconsin, as it lost 8-0. Meyers scored another goal roughly nine minutes into the game, and Tristan Broz made the game 2-0 a few seconds later.
Bryce Brodzinski scored the only goal of the second period, while the Golden Gophers proceeded to score five more goals in the third period in a memorable night for Minnesota.
Nolan Wick is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email nhw5046@psu.edu.
