No. 1 Gophers men's hockey opens Big Ten schedule at Ohio State
The Gophers split their past two series — against Minnesota State Mankato and North Dakota — and now begin their conference slate with a road series.
October 28, 2022 at 12:09PM
Friday: 5:30 p.m. at Ohio State. TV, radio: BTN, 1130-AM, 103.5-FM
Saturday: 4 p.m. at Ohio State. TV, radio: BTN-Plus, 1130-AM, 103.5-FM
Gophers update: The top-ranked Gophers (4-2) open Big Ten Conference play against the Buckeyes, who have played one conference series. ... The Gophers are coming off a split with North Dakota in Minneapolis — winning the series opener on Friday 3-2 in overtime before the Fighting Hawks won 5-4 in overtime the next night. ... The Gophers have won nine of the past 10 meetings with the Buckeyes. The Gophers won three of four from the Buckeyes last season, with the Buckeyes winning once in Minneapolis. ... Defenseman Jackson LaCombe leads the Gophers with seven points — a goal and six assists. Forwards Jimmy Snuggerud (five goals) and Matthew Knies (fou) lead the team in goals. Goalie Justen Close has a 1.58 GAA.
Ohio State update: The Buckeyes (6-1-1, 2-0 Big Ten) moved up five spots to No. 11 in this week's USCHO.com Top 25 after last weekend's sweep of Bentley (9-2 and 3-1) at home. ... The Buckeyes swept a conference series from Wisconsin (3-1 and 4-3) in Columbus earlier this month. Ohio State's loss and tie came two weeks ago to UConn in Hartford. ... Senior defenseman James Marooney, from Chaska, leads the Buckeyes with nine blocks. Freshman forward Stephen Halliday leads the team in scoring (two goals, seven assists).
The Gophers men’s hockey team can trace Sam Rinzel’s improvement this past offseason down to the second, and he’ll be a focal point in this weekend’s series against No. 3 Michigan State.
