Top of the Mountain: Minnesota vs. Michigan State hockey preview

After taking a moment on Thursday to cover a variety of things surrounding Michigan State hockey — an injury to Red Savage, a PairWise explanation, upcoming schedule, recruiting and postseason awards — today we can move on to focusing on an upcoming series that likely will define the Big Ten Championship race.

The No. 2 -ranked Spartans will welcome No. 4 Minnesota to Munn Ice Arena this weekend, while just one (1) point separates the teams in the league standings. This is the middle of a stretch of top-10 opponents for MSU, and while it may not have the same heat as last weekend's series against in-state rival Michigan, this is one of the two defining series in all of college hockey this weekend (with No. 1 Boston College facing its own bitter rival No. 8 Boston University).

A series split would allow for a dramatic chase to the end, but a sweep for either team puts a strangle hold on the conference standings, meaning the tenseness that comes into the second game on Saturday will be palpable. With the table set, let's dive deeper into the Spartans hosting the Golden Gophers.

What Happened Last Time?

These teams last met on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, and at the time, the Gophers were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country and undefeated in Big Ten play. The Gophers were looking to get the puck in deep, play physical and lean on the Spartans making a mistake.

It started about as poorly as it could for Michigan State with Minnesota scoring just 23 seconds into the game. The MSU misfortune came off a heavy forecheck that led to a Spartan turnover and a Gopher goal on a rebound shot with a man left wide open in front.

The second period featured the teams trading goals back and forth, with the Spartans adding three goals to lead 3-2 at the second intermission. A great solo play for a second goal by Minnesota freshman Brodie Ziemer that MSU goaltender Trey Augustine would like back tied the game midway through the third period with the game going through an exciting three-on-three overtime period before MSU won in a shootout. In that game the Gophers were missing four forwards: Matthew Wood (Canada WJC Camp), Mason Nevers (injury), August Falloon (injury) and Erik Påhlsson (injury).

The Saturday game of the last series saw Wood return to the lineup after he was cut in the last round of roster trimming for Team Canada. Ziemer would add a third goal for the weekend to get the Gophers on the board in the second period, 1:40 after MSU had opened the scoring on an Isaac Howard power-play goal.

Minnesota would add two more goals between the last five minutes of the middle frame and the first 3:21 of the third period to be sitting with a 3-1 lead with under 17 minutes to play. It was a great individual play by Howard, waiting on two defensemen and the goaltender on a three-on-two rush to put the Spartans back within a goal with 8:52 left to play.

Just under two minutes later, Maxim Štrbák tied the game on a point shot with a tremendous screen from Tanner Kelly. The Spartans rode the wave of momentum and capitalized, regaining the lead 53 seconds later when Charlie Stramel pounded home a free puck in the slot off a great effort by Daniel Russell and Savage below the hash marks for the game-winning goal. An empty net goal would be added, leading to the 5-3 final score.

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Keys to the Weekend

1. Don't String Penalties Together- This will without a doubt be games that feature swings in momentum. No roster is supremely talented over the other to just throttle a game, if each team shows up to their potential. Last Saturday, the Spartans survived four penalty kills against Michigan by being aggressive on the PK, and out-playing a team in a little bit of a step-back season. They cannot rely on that this weekend, as the Gophers will be full strength with their roster, and also playing with the looseness of being the road team. The Spartans struggled at times last season in these big games at home, such as in the Minnesota series and the first Michigan game, coming out of the gate too fired up and losing their heads. Michigan State has to stay centered this weekend to ride the inevitable waves that will be coming.

2. Win below the hash marks- Multiple goals in the previous series by each team were scored off of the hard and dirty work in the corners and along the boards in tight spaces. With two even teams, it shouldn't turn into a wide open track meet of odd man rushes and breakaways. The team that wins puck battles in their defensive zone and offensive zone will have the best chance for success.

3. Close the game out- Closing out a lead has become a concern for MSU over the last few weeks. The Spartans led games late against Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin in the last three weeks, where they surrendered a goal with under sx minutes to play, leading to three overtimes games and one OT win, one OT loss and a shootout loss. Two of the goals came with the opponent playing with an extra player as the goaltender is pulled. Three weekends in a row is a definite trend, and if in a one-goal lead with under eight minutes to play this weekend, I can say fans will be anxious of the game actually being closed out. The Spartans closed the game that Saturday in Minneapolis in December beautifully, limiting opportunities and adding an empty-net goal. It is vital they get back to that this weekend, winning those puck battles, winning a defensive zone faceoff to control possession (the Wisconsin and Penn State goals were close after lost faceoffs), and looking to counter attack still to push the lead to 2twogoals.