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Gophers sit atop Big Ten men's hockey standings after sweeping Ohio State

With two games left in the regular season, Minnesota is on top of the Big Ten standings.

Will Ragatz

Minnesota celebrates during Saturday's win over Ohio State
Minnesota celebrates during Saturday's win over Ohio State / Matt Krohn, gophersports.com

The Gophers completed a sweep of No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday and now sit atop the Big Ten men's hockey standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

After a 4-1 win on Friday night, Minnesota (23-7-4) carried its momentum into Saturday's Senior Day game at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers took a 3-0 lead in the second period and held on from there. Ohio State (20-10-2) twice cut the deficit to one goal, but they were never able to find an equalizer. In the end, two empty-net tallies from Minnesota made it a 6-3 final score after a tense third period.

Connor Kurth scored twice for the Gophers, including a key goal in the third period that made it a 4-2 game. Matthew Wood had a goal and an assist in the second period, while Jimmy Clark recorded three assists. Minnesota out-shot Ohio State 40-19 on the day.

Goalie Liam Souliere (16 saves) and defenseman Aaron Huglen (two assists) were honored in the final home game of the season and their careers. It was also the final game at Mariucci for others like star junior Jimmy Snuggerud, the St. Louis Blues prospect who scored his 21st goal of the season on a late empty-netter.

With No. 1 Michigan State (22-6-4) losing to Penn State on both Friday and Saturday (the latter coming in regulation), the Gophers surpassed the Spartans for the top spot in the conference standings. Minnesota has a two-point lead with two games to play.

The Gophers will travel to play Penn State (17-11-4) twice next weekend. They swept the Nittany Lions in the first two meetings between these teams in Minneapolis back in early November, but Penn State has won six in a row and ten of its last 11 after a very slow start in conference play. The Gophers will have to earn it if they want to enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The Spartans have a more advantageous road matchup next weekend, facing lowly Notre Dame (10-21-1) twice in South Bend.

The No. 1 seed in the conference gets a bye in the seven-team tournament, which begins on March 7. If the Gophers can earn that seed, they won't play again until a semifinal game on March 15. The NCAA Tournament begins on March 27.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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