Around the Big Ten Hockey: Dec. 8

Story posted December 8, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Joshua Bartosik

Another week has come and gone in the Big Ten, and one of the best conferences in all of college hockey showed its strength once more.

Starting at the top, the then-ranked No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers took care of business against then-ranked No. 13 Michigan State.

Game one was domination from the top team in the conference, with a 5-0 shutout on the road in East Lansing. Third overall pick Logan Cooley showed why he was just that, with two goals and an assist.

The only positive in the second match for the Spartans was they found the back of the net three times. The issue is Minnesota scored double that, with another multi-point night to secure the series sweep.

No. 12 Michigan State will get a chance to try and bounce back, playing against in-state rival No. 6 Michigan in a home-and-home series, for one of the best match-ups of the week.

As for the Wolverines, they had a dissapointment of a series against a struggling Wisconsin squad.

The first contest was a shocker, with the Badgers pulling off the massive 6-3 upset to secure their first win in the Big Ten this season.

Four unanswered goals would be dagger in the Wolverines’ back, thanks to big games from Brock Caufield and Corson Ceulemans.

The next match was more of what was expected from the maize and yellow, with a 4-2 win to split the series.

Sitting sixth in the Big Ten, the Wolverines need a big series against the Spartans to try and climb their way back into the conference championship talk.

The Big Ten has been one of the more surpising conferences as the halfway mark on the season draws near, and a component of that has been the play of the No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions.

The blue and white went into last week’s series as the No. 6 team in the nation to face the No. 17 Ohio State Buckeyes at home.

The Nittany Lions did what they’ve done all season long by winning the first game 2-1 to move to 9-0-0 in series openers on the year.

With two of the top goaltenders in the nation with Liam Souliere and Jakub Dobes, a goaltending battle was expected. Yet game two was quite the opposite.

A five-goal first period opened up what would be a back-and-forth physical affair. In the end, Joe Dunlap would net the eventual game-winner, as the Buckeyes earned the split.

The Nittany Lions will travel to South Bend this weekend to take on a mightily struggling Notre Dame squad, while Ohio State will take a week off before taking on Bowling Green.

Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu