Week 8 Hockey Release

Photo courtesy of Michigan Athletics

• With a quarter of the college hockey season completed, Big Ten Hockey continues this week with four teams engaged in conference play. No. 4/4 Minnesota looks to start a new winning streak when it heads to rv/rv Notre Dame, which returns to Compton Family Ice Arena after two weeks on the road. Coming off a bye week, No. 5/5 Michigan travels to rv/rv Penn State to face a Nittany Lions squad searching for its first conference win. No. 2/2 Michigan State takes a break from conference action to take on the U.S. National Team Development Program in an exhibition game to be held in Plymouth, Mich. No. 14/12 Ohio State and rv/rv Wisconsin are idle this week after sweeping road games on Friday and Saturday.

• Seven of the eight conference series (including the last five) contested this season have resulted in two-game sweeps. Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin have swept as road teams.

• Michigan State moved up to No. 2 in national polls released on Monday. The 9-1-0 Spartans have won seven-straight games, the program’s longest streak since 2007-08. MSU is also 4-0-0 in Big Ten play for the first time. Michigan State is chasing Minnesota for the longest win streak this season in the Big Ten. The Gophers saw their nine-game win streak snapped Saturday against in-state rival Bemidji State. Minnesota is 4-0-0 at home, and after this weekend, will have played 10 games away from home. Junior forward Jimmy Snuggerud is on the cusp of two career milestones, needing one point to reach 100 and three goals to hit 50 (a feat accomplished by three active players).

• Goaltending depth has propelled Ohio State to nine wins in 12 games as Kristoffer Eberly and Logan Terness split time between the pipes. Eberly, who is unbeaten at 5-0-0, leads the nation with a 1.29 goals-against average and stands third with a .946 save percentage while Terness ranks sixth in the Big Ten with a 2.28 goals-against and .917 save percentage. The duo has combined to give OSU the 11th-best scoring defense (2.08) in the country. Against Lindenwood last week, Ohio State received a boost offensively from sophomore forward Riley Thompson, who was named Big Ten First Star of the Week. Thompson collected five points (two goals, three assists) and scored the game-winning goal in the series opener.

• After dropping two games to Minnesota in the Border Battle, Wisconsin rebounded with a pair of wins at No. 18/18 Penn State over the weekend, extending their win streak in the series to seven games, including five-straight at Pegula Ice Arena. The Badgers exploded for 11 goals after tallying eight goals in four previous contests. The wins moved Wisconsin into a second-place tie with Minnesota in the Big Ten standings, a point behind front-runner Michigan State.

• Tickets for the Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series, taking place Jan. 3-4, 2025 at Wrigley Field, are on sale at Cubs.com/BigTenHockey. Tickets start at $15.