Gopher hockey: What’s at stake at Penn State
The Gophers hockey team swept Ohio State over the weekend to improve to 7-4-3 in Big Ten play with five regular season series remaining (Brace Hemmelgarn/University of Minnesota Athletics)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota men’s hockey team closes out the regular season this weekend at No. 15-ranked Penn State, and Bob Motzko’s crew has a lot to play for.
A Big Ten regular season title, for starters.
What’s at stake
What we know:
The Gophers have a two-point lead on Michigan State with two games left. The Spartans are at Notre Dame this weekend. Minnesota swept Ohio State last weekend and now leads the Big Ten at 46 points. Michigan State lost in a shootout, and lost 3-2 to the Nittany Lions last weekend.
That allowed the Gophers to leapfrog the Spartans in the Big Ten standings. Minnesota controls its own destiny to win its seventh regular season title, which would be a program record. The Big Ten champion gets the No. 1 seed for the postseason tournament, and a first-round bye. The Gophers are also No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings, pivotal for getting one of the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Minnesota could clinch the title Friday night with a win, and a Spartans’ loss. They also can’t finish lower than second place. The No. 2 seed would host Notre Dame in a best-of-three series March 7-9.
History with Penn State
By the numbers:
Back in November, the Gophers opened Big Ten play with a sweep of the Nittany Lions at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Minnesota has won 10 of the last 11 meetings, and is 5-1 in its last six games at Penn State.
All-time, the Gophers are 31-18-1 against the Nittany Lions. Penn State started Big Ten play 0-8, but is 9-1-3 in its last 13 games.