No. 6 Ohio State wrapped up its regular season last week with a solid sweep of Wisconsin. Christian Lampasso (3-1--4) and Mason Jobst (2-2--4) led the Buckeye offense. Goaltenders Sean Romeo and Tommy Nappier split the starts and each picked up a win. Nappier’s shutout effort brought the rookie netminder his first career Big Ten honor.
| Game Info | Friday | Saturday | Sunday (If nec.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 7pm ET | 7pm ET | 7pm ET |
| Television | None | None | None |
| Local Radio | 1460 AM | 1460 AM | 1460 AM |
| Online Stream | BTN Plus ($) | BTN Plus ($) | BTN Plus ($) |
Now the Bucks turn their attention to the postseason. The B1G tournament is their first stop. Under the new format, second seed OSU begins its tourney campaign by hosting seventh seed Michigan State in a best-of-three series.
| Team Stats | Michigan State | Ohio State |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 12-20-2 | 21-8-5 |
| Avg. Goals For / Against | 2.53 / 3.15 | 3.12 / 2.06 |
| Power Play / Penalty Kill | 18.9% / 76.3% | 21.9% / 91.1% |
| Points Leader | Taro Hirose (40) | Tanner Laczynski (39) |
| Top Goaltender | John Lethemon (2.79/.904) | Sean Romeo (2.06/.928) |
Despite their last place standing, the Spartans are not a team anyone would choose to play right now. They are 3-3-1-0 in their last seven games with road wins over Ohio State and Notre Dame and a draw with red-hot Michigan. Two of MSU’s three losses were single-goal decisions.
Ohio State isn’t exactly slumping into the series. The Bucks are 3-2-1-1 in their last six outings, a stretch which included an outright win over then-No. 1 Notre Dame and a tightly contested series against then-No. 10 Minnesota. In those six games, they allowed a total of eight goals against. OSU is playing some of its best hockey at precisely the right time.
But Michigan State has given the Scarlet and Gray fits this season. Although Ohio State defeated MSU three times, two of those contests weren’t decided until the third period. The Buckeyes have surrendered three or more goals on only four occasions in 2018, but half of those 3+ games came against the Spartans. Michigan State claimed a big 6-3 win in the teams’ most recent meeting, on the Bucks’ home ice.
Coach Rohlik talked about the No. 6 Buckeyes as they open postseason play this weekend.
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) March 1, 2018
The Buckeyes face MSU in a Big Ten Tournament best-of-three quarterfinal series Friday-Sunday in @TheSchott. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/sDxRbEMYVF
I’ll take the Buckeyes, but I'll take them in three games. And I’d be surprised not to see a least a little overtime. This series should be worth the price of admission.
The Rest of the Bracket
Top seed Notre Dame get a free pass to the semifinals (where I think they might be ripe for an upset). In the quarterfinals, third seed Michigan hosts sixth seed Wisconsin. Fourth seed Penn State welcomes fifth seed Minnesota.
The Badgers edged the Wolverines 2-1-1-0 in their regular season series. But Michigan is 6-1-1 in its last eight games, including a sweep of then-No. 1 Notre Dame. I could be wrong, but I don’t see Wisconsin getting two wins at Yost against a hot Wolverines squad.
The Nittany Lions pulled out of a long slide late in the year and swept Minnesota in their regular season finale. The Gophers have not been good on the road (4-10-1) and they haven’t been good against Penn State (1-3-0-0 with a 4.00 GAA). PSU isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, but the numbers do not add up well for Goldy.
NCAA Tournament Outlook
The unofficial but highly accurate PairWise rankings have five Big Ten teams currently in the 16 team field, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 9 (tie) Minnesota and Michigan, and No. 13 Penn State. Things will change some over the next few weeks but those are pretty strong positions going into the conference tournament. Come selection Sunday, at least a quarter of the NCAA field should hail from the B1G.
