Can the Gophers hang the first of a few banners this weekend?
The Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team heads into the final two games of the regular season with a chance to win their third Big Ten Regular Season Championship in the last four seasons. Minnesota currently leads second place Michigan State by two points entering this weekend’s action. But it will not be easy. While the Spartans finish with a series at last place Notre Dame, this Gophers will head to Penn State and face the hottest team in the country who has gone 9-1-2 over their last 12 games—including taking five of six points from the Spartans last weekend.
The Gophers leaped back into first place in the conference last weekend after a huge home sweep of Ohio State. Minnesota came into that weekend series tied with the Buckeyes in the conference standings, and after the sweep they clinched that they can finish no worse than second place in the conference. They got some help from their opponents this weekend who went into East Lansing and defeated Michigan State in overtime on Friday, and in regulation on Saturday to take five points and allow Minnesota to take a 46-44 point edge in the Big Ten Standings.
Minnesota was helped last weekend by the reemergence of Brody Lamb. Lamb who had a great first half of the season had only had a single assist since the holiday break. But he would break out in huge way with three goals and an assist against the Buckeyes to earn the Big Ten’s second Star of the Week last week. The Gophers are now 10-1-1 this season when Lamb lights the lamp/
Liam Souliere has taken over the #1 goalie spot for Minnesota starting the last six games. He has not lost a game in regulation in 10-straight starts since Dec. 14. Souliere has allowed 41 goals in 21 appearances this season for a 2.05 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage that rank 10th and 13th in the nation, respectively. He will make his first trip back to Happy Valley since transferring from Penn State at the end of last season. In his one game against his former team earlier this year he shut out the Nittany Lions 1-0.
But it is a much different Penn State team the Gophers will see. After Minnesota swept them in November, the Nittany Lions were 0-8 in conference play. Since then the team has been on a tear. The team is 9-1-3 in its last 13 outings and claimed 17 of a possible 18 points in the conference over the past three weeks. Minnesota will need to try and limit sophomore Aiden Fink who currently is tied for the national scoring lead at 45 points behind 23 goals and 22 assists, including 15 goals in 16 games since the calendar switched to 2025. In goal Arsenii Sergeev has been at the top of his game the last two months and been named B1G First Star of the Week three times in the past eight weeks. The junior owns a 2.50 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage and is unbeaten in his last six starts. Along with all that, Minnesota wll need to be very strong in the face-off circle. PSU is third in the NCAA at the faceoff dot, winning 55 percent of draws.
Minnesota leads Michigan State by two points in the conference standings, but does not hold the tie-breaker. Therefore if both teams end the regular season with the same number of points, they will be called Co-Champions, but the Spartans will receive the First Round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, and Minnesota will host Notre Dame in a best-of-three series next weekend.
A lot is on the line this weekend in a hostile environment. This weekend will be a true test to see how into the game the Gophers can be, as the Nittany Lions will come out hard in each game as they are playing for their NCAA Tournament lives. The Nittany Lions currently come into the weekend ranked #15 in the Pairwise rankings, which likely will not be good enough to earn an at-large bid. But at least one win over the Gophers, if not a sweep may be enough to jump the Nittany Lions up and into the field. They also trail Michigan by two points for the final home-ice spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Thus, the Nittany Lions have a ton to play for as well. It will be two teams battling it out to see who can take advantage.
HOW TO WATCH:
#2 Minnesota Golden Gophers @ #15 Penn State Nittany Lions
Where: Pegula Ice Arena, University Park, PA
When: 7:30 Friday; 7 :00 Saturday
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: Fox Sports App
Radio: 1130 AM/ 103.5 FM/ I Heart Radio