BIG TEN HOCKEY
• Just three weeks remain in the regular season for Big Ten Hockey teams jockeying for positions in the standings. No. 2/2 Michigan State is off this week, having secured home ice for the Big Ten Tournament, which begins the weekend of March 7-9. No. 4/3 Minnesota, five points behind in second, travels to No. 12/12 Michigan this weekend. The Gophers recorded consecutive road shutout wins against the Wolverines in December. Michigan, which owns the best power play (26.8%) in the Big Ten, currently holds the last home playoff slot. Saturday’s game is the first of a hockey doubleheader on the Big Ten Network. No. 8/8 Ohio State will go for a season series sweep when it hosts rv/rv Wisconsin. The Buckeyes won a pair of one-goal games in Madison to kick start the Big Ten season in October while the Badgers look to end a five-game winless skid (0-4-1). Saturday’s tilt will be the second game of BTN’s doubleheader and is also available on the FOX Sports App. No. 18/18 Penn State has re-entered the Top 20 for the first time since November, matching the team’s highest ranking of the season. PSU will host Notre Dame in a series the Fighting Irish lead, 18-7-5, dating back to the start of Big Ten play in 2013-14.
• The Duel in the D clash between Michigan State and Michigan drew a sold-out audience of 19,515 to Little Caesars Arena. The Big Ten has now produced the top four attended games in the NCAA this season and seven of the top 10 crowds. Saturday’s game in Detroit was surpassed only by the three games played at the Frozen Confines on Jan. 3-4 that attracted crowds of 25,000-plus to Wrigley Field.
• A late-season surge by Penn State has resulted in a 6-1-3 record since January 11. In net, goaltender Arsenii Sergeev — this week’s Big Ten No. 1 Star — has set a program record with four shutouts on the season and with one more will become the school’s career shutout leader. PSU is especially effective when scoring first, generating a 11-4-1 record when doing so.
• Minnesota forward Jimmy Snuggerud was one of three student-athletes named National Player of the Month for January by the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) on Feb. 6. Snuggerud compiled 11 goals and six assist for 17 points in nine games to start the new year. His selection marked the fourth-straight month a Big Ten player has received an HCA Award. Notre Dame’s Owen Say was co-Goaltender of the Month in October, Michigan’s Michael Hage the Rookie of the Month for November and Ohio State’s Kristoffer Eberly the Goaltender of the Month for December.
• The 4 Nations Face-Off, an international tournament featuring the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden, will feature five Big Ten alumni. F Kyle Connor (Michigan), D Brock Faber (Minnesota), F Dylan Larkin (Michigan) and D Zach Werenski (Michigan) will represent the United States while F Erik Haula (Minnesota) skates for Finland. 4 Nations will be the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 and takes place Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.
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