The Buckeyes will try and keep a four-game winning streak going after sweeping Wisconsin in Columbus last weekend.
Ohio State’s men’s hockey team had another successful weekend, sweeping Wisconsin in Columbus on Friday and Saturday. With the victories, the Buckeyes ran their winning streak to four-straight games, solidifying their spot as a Top 10 team in the country.
Now Ohio State will close out their regular season schedule with two massive series. The first is this weekend on the road against Minnesota, followed by a series on Thursday and Friday with hated rival Michigan in Columbus ahead of the NHL’s Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium that will see the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Detroit Red Wings.
Even though the Buckeyes won both games against Wisconsin last weekend, Ohio State faced some early adversity in the series. For the third-straight game the Buckeyes surrendered the first goal, as the Badgers scored at the 17:10 mark of the first period. Ohio State would even the score with just over five minutes to go in the second period when Riley Thompson found the back of the net.
Then just 32 seconds before the second intermission, Joe Dunlap would score what would turn out to be the game-winning goal. Gunnerwolfe Fontaine would add to the lead 1:40 into the third period, and Thompson would cap off the scoring with an empty net goal with 10 seconds left in the game.
Saturday night was a different story for Ohio State, at least early on. Patrick Guzzo scored with just under two minutes left in the first period to give the Buckeyes the lead. Unfortunately Ohio State couldn’t make the lead stick for very long, as Wisconsin scored two goals in the first 1:35 of the second period.
At least the lead for the Badgers wouldn’t hold the lead for too long. Max Montes scored just over four minutes later to tie the score. The game would remain deadlocked until Damien Carfagna netted the game-winner with three minutes to go in the game, followed by Davis Burnside icing the series with an empty net goal with 11 seconds left.
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There were a number of interesting tidbits from the two games with Wisconsin last weekend. Junior defenseman Damien Carfagna had a tremendous series, totaling three points over the two games against the Badgers. Not only is Carfagna on a five-game points streak, he now has six goals and 16 assists on the season.
While Carfagna has been racking up the points, freshman forward Dylan Godbout recorded his first collegiate point on Max Montes’ goal on Saturday evening. Now just 99 more points to go to catch Aiden Hansen-Bukata, who assisted on both empty net goals over the weekend, with the assist on Saturday being the graduate student’s 100th career point.
This weekend will see a step up in competition for the Buckeyes. While Wisconsin is struggling this season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers are 21-7-4 on the season and ranked even higher than Ohio State in the most recent rankings.
Ohio State could be catching Minnesota at the right time, as the Golden Gophers are coming off a two-game series at Michigan that saw the first game end with the Wolverines winning in overtime, followed by a tie between the teams on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Minnesota tightens up at home, posting a 12-2-2 record in Minneapolis.
Ohio State and Minnesota met last month in Columbus, with each team winning a game in the weekend series. The Buckeyes kicked off the two games with a 5-1 win. Max Montes opened up the scoring 11:36 into the first period and Ohio State didn’t look back, scoring the first four goals of the game. Jake Rozzi, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Nathan McBrayer, and Davis Burnside joined Montes in the goal column.
Saturday’s game was wildly different, with Minnesota scoring three goals in the first period, and six goals overall in the game. With the score 6-0 in the third period, Fontaine ruined the shutout with a power play goal with under three minutes left on the clock. The six goals by the Golden Gophers marked the first time this season the Buckeyes allowed more than four goals in a game.
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Last weekend goaltenders Logan Terness and Kirstoffer Eberly split the duties, with Terness starting on Friday and Eberly closing out the series on Saturday. The duo have very similar numbers this year. Terness has played 892 minutes, while Eberly has seen 856 minutes of action. Terness has posted a 2.15 goals against average and a .928 save percentage, and Eberly has a 2.17 GAA and .917 goals against average. One thing Eberly does have that Terness doesn’t is two shutouts so far this season.
Terness and Eberly will definitely be tested by a potent Minnesota offense. Jimmy Snuggerud leads the Golden Gophers with 20 goals and 22 assists. Connor Kurth and Matthew Wood are tied for second on the team with 31 points. Joining Snuggerud, Kurth, and Wood as double-digit goal scorers for Minnesota this year are Brody Lamb and Brodie Ziemer.
On the other end of the ice, Liam Souliere and Nathan Airey have been tough to crack between the pipes. Both goalies have saved at least 90 percent of the shots they have faced this year.
Ohio State and Minnesota kick off the two-game series at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night, followed by a 6 p.m. ET contest on Saturday. Both games can be seen on B1G+.