Around the Big Ten: Week 10 (Hockey)
This weekend sees much less college hockey being played in the Big Ten than we’re used to seeing. The Penn State Nittany Lions were supposed to take on the Michigan Wolverines, but that series was postponed as part of the temporary shutdown of all Michigan athletics.
Penn State will be given the week off after recording a split against Notre Dame. Wisconsin and Michigan State will also not play this weekend, as they just played last weekend.
One of the two series taking place sees two red hot teams facing off, with the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Wisconsin Badgers. Minnesota jumped up two more spots in the polls, as it is now ranked the second-best team in the country.
The Golden Gophers followed up a 20-goal series against Arizona State with another impressive sweep over Ohio State.
Instead of scoring 20 goals in two games, the Golden Gophers scored 10 goals while only giving up three goals. Sampo Ranta, Jackson LaCombe and Sammy Walker each scored two goals in the series.
While Minnesota is on a four-game winning streak, Wisconsin has won five of their last six and are coming off a sweep of their own. The Badgers moved up two spots in the polls and are now just outside the top ten sitting at the No. 11 spot.
Like Minnesota, the Badgers put up ten goals while only allowing one in their series against Michigan State.
In game one, half of Wisconsin’s six goals were scored by the Caulfield brothers with Cole scoring twice and Brock getting one of his own. Cole scored another two goals late in the third period of game two to put an end to a dominant series.
The other series taking place sees the Notre Dame Fighting Irish traveling to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Notre Dame is coming off a series against Penn State that saw both games go to overtime.
In game one, Alex Steeves scored the first goal in the second period for the Irish, that would be the only goal they would get as Penn State scored two unanswered to win it. The second of which being the game winner by Alex Limoges to win it.
Game two was a different story, as the game would still go to overtime. But this time, it was Notre Dame that scored two unanswered goals. including a Spencer Stastney overtime winner.
Ohio State, meanwhile, is coming off an embarrassing series against Minnesota which has added onto an all-around disappointing season. The Buckeyes went from just three points of first place last season, to now being just one point away from last place in the conference.
While the defense failed to produce against Minnesota, the offense wasn’t much better. The Buckeyes scored three goals in the series with two of them coming in the third period of play.
Logan Bourandas is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
