Wisconsin stands between Gophers and Big Ten men's hockey title

The Gophers departed Munn Ice Arena last Saturday without scoring a goal in the second game there and digesting an all-too familiar feeling of disappointment.

They were shut out by lowly Michigan State 5-0 while showing no signs of a first-place team on the verge of five consecutive regular-season conference championships.

The Gophers' yo-yo season is why coach Don Lucia won't assume his program's championship winning streak is safe, even with seven-win Wisconsin the final obstacle this weekend at Mariucci Arena.

"I don't see how we can be overconfident about anything," Lucia said. "We've proven we can beat anybody, but we've also proven anybody can beat us. We certainly are a team with plenty of flaws. But when we are on, we play a pretty good brand of hockey.

"We take a couple steps forward and take a step back. That's kind of how it's been throughout the season."

The Gophers hold a four-point lead over second-place Michigan in the Big Ten standings. The Wolverines lost both games against Ohio State last weekend and host No. 14 Penn State in its final series. The Gophers can clinch the title with a victory or a Michigan loss.

Two months ago, the Gophers were sub-.500 with the short-term goal of becoming a winning team. Defending their Big Ten dominance was an afterthought until conference play helped change the course of the season. The Gophers stumbled badly in late January in the North Star College Cup against in-state competition but otherwise used the first two months of 2016 to complete a climb into first place, winning six consecutive Big Ten games at one point.

"We put ourselves in a good spot," Lucia said. "We have a chance to win five [titles] in a row. I don't know when the last time that happened. We talk about every year the goal is try and hang a banner … the more you can do that, you reward yourself.

"To be able to look up after [it's all over] and say 'I was a part of that' is special."

However, the Gophers are 5-5 in their last 10 games, and despite being ranked 19th in the USCHO top-20 poll, they are on the bubble for an at-large NCAA tournament bid. If they win the Big Ten tournament in nine days at the Xcel Energy Center, they won't have to worry about their at-large positioning. But until they have that crown and automatic bid in hand, they have little room for error.

"It's a unique situation, but we can't focus on too much stuff like that," Gophers junior forward Connor Reilly said. "We just have to focus on the day-to-day processes."

Junior forward Hudson Fasching said the team has moved on from last Saturday's letdown.

"Definitely not what you want, but we put it behind us," Fasching said. "We're looking at Wisconsin this weekend and trying to win a Big Ten championship.

"No doubt we can't be overconfident, but I feel like we believe in ourselves as a team and we can win and we can make a run here."