Gophers men's hockey takes eight-game win streak into Saturday's Big Ten tournament semifinal
Minnesota faces a Penn State team that needs to win the conference tournament to make the 16-team NCAA field.
March 11, 2022 at 7:02PM
Gophers vs. Penn State, 8 p.m. Saturday, 3M Arena at Mariucci
TV: BTN. Radio: 103.5-FM, 1130-AM
Gophers at a glance: Regular-season champion Minnesota (23-11) earned a bye into the Big Ten tournament semifinals, while No. 5 seed Penn State eliminated No. 4 Ohio State in three games. The Gophers are on an eight-game winning streak that included a sweep of the Nittany Lions by scores of 3-1 and 6-4 on Feb. 18-19 in State College. C Ben Meyers leads the Gophers in scoring with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points, while F Blake McLaughlin (12-18-30) and F Matthew Knies (10-17-27) are close behind. G Justen Close is 11-3 with a 1.73 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
Nittany Lions at a glance: Penn State (17-19-1) needs to win the Big Ten tournament to earn an NCAA bid. The Nittany Lions stayed alive with a 2-1 win at Ohio State on Sunday as freshman F's Ryan Kirwan and Dylan Lugris scored and sophomore G Liam Souliere made 23 saves. Junior F Kevin Wall (16-13-29) leads Penn State in scoring. Souliere (7-6-1, 2.86, .906) has started the past five games, grabbing the job from senior Oskar Autio (10-13, 3.12, .893), who has entered his name in the transfer portal but still is with the team.
Gophers
Randy Johnson
Analysis: Early impressions of the highs and lows of the Big Ten’s new football quartet
Washington stumbled once. Oregon took a minute to find itself. USC will know a lot more Saturday. And UCLA? Woof.
