Gophers men's hockey vs. Ohio State series preview: broadcast info and analysis

Home series vs. Ohio State: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 3M Arena at Mariucci

TV, radio: FOX 9 on Friday, BTN on Saturday; 100.3-FM both nights

For the fans: For the first time, the Dinkytown Athletes Ticket 2-Packs are now available. Upcoming Gophers men's and women's hockey and men's and women's basketball games as well as a three-month membership to the Dinkytown Athletes, the official NIL collective of Gophers Athletics, are on sale.

Opening bell: The Gophers (12-6-4, 5-4-3 Big Ten) completed nonconference play with a 4-2, 4-1 sweep of Robert Morris last weekend and now begin a stretch of six Big Ten series in seven weeks with the Buckeyes (9-9-4, 1-9-2). Ohio State split a series against Notre Dame last weekend and played Minnesota tough in a December series, falling 5-4 and earning a 1-1 tie in which it secured an extra standings point in a shootout. ... Gophers freshman defenseman Sam Rinzel was named the Big Ten's Third Star of the Week after collecting four assists against Robert Morris. ... Gophers coach Bob Motzko notched his 400th career victory in Friday's game. He is 401-258-65 in 19 seasons overall and 125-66-16 in six seasons at Minnesota.

Watch him: Gophers sophomore forward Jimmy Snuggerud is tied for second nationally with 17 goals. He has scored six goals in the past four games and had 20 shots on goal in the Robert Morris series, scoring his lone goal on his last shot.

Injuries: The Gophers have a healthy lineup.

Pregame reading: Sam Rinzel is making strides on the blue line as a freshman.

Forecast: The Gophers played what Motzko called their most complete game of the season in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Robert Morris, a team that is 62nd of 64 teams in the PairWise Ratings. The challenge now is to replicate that game in Big Ten play. Minnesota sits in fourth place in the Big Ten standings with 17 points because of its .472 points percentage in conference play. The Gophers also are No. 12 in the PairWise, and they will need to start sweeping Big Ten series to solidify their NCAA tournament argument. This weekend would be a good time to start.

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