Buckeyes Look to Rebound in East Lansing

Hello again, hockey fans. The lady Bucks are off preparing for a big series next week at Minnesota but the men's team is in action this week at Michigan State. The series shapes up to be a showdown between Ohio State's offensive strength and MSU's defensive prowess. 

The Bucks have lit up the scoreboard since the break, averaging 4.00 goals per game. Ordinarily this stat would accompany a healthy win percentage. However, the team defense and goaltending have struggled mightily, allowing three or more goals in four of the new year's five games.  

The Spartans are at the other end of the spectrum. Though the lamp doesn't light often for Michigan State, the team is competitive night in and night out because of a solid defensive effort. MSU boasts one of the lowest goals-against-per-game averages of any Big Ten team. The Spartans are also a formidable penalty killing squad. They haven't allowed a power play goal in their last five contests. 

Junior Michael Ferrantino (9-6--15) leads Michigan State in scoring. A few points back of Ferrantino on the scoring chart is noted Buckeye nemesis Matt Berry (6-6--12 in 13 career games vs. Ohio State). MSU coach Tom Anastos reinstated Berry last week after a month long suspension. The senior did not play against Penn State but could be back in the lineup this week. Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand (2.60, .911) has manned the Spartan net in all 20 games this season. 

Both OSU and MSU come into this series off of disappointing games. Ohio State is still smarting from that 10-6 drubbing by Michigan. Sparty's last outing was a less than stellar 5-2 loss at Penn State.

The Buckeyes and Spartans split their series in Columbus last November. I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar result this time around. The Bucks seem to be good for one offensive outburst per weekend, but I'm not sure they have the juice to overcome the MSU defense twice.

The magic number for Ohio State is three. If the Bucks can manage to hold Michigan State to two or fewer goals they'll have a very good chance at victory. MSU is 1-10-1 this season when scoring less than three goals and 6-1-1 when notching three or more. 

OSU will be thin on the bench again this week. Steve Rohlik stated earlier this week that the team will be without Darik Angeli, Tyler Lundey, Chad Niddery, Matt Johnson, and Janik Moser "for sure" this weekend with other illness/injury scratches possible.

Both tonight's game and Saturday's are scheduled for 7pm starts. Fox Sports Detroit and SportsTime Ohio will air tonight's game live. BTN is covering tomorrow's contest. Both tilts are available online via BTN2Go and over the radio at 1460 AM. 

A few more notes...

• Tanner Fritz is a candidate for this year's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award which recognizes achievements in the community and the classroom as well as excellence in character and competition. 
• The Scarlet Liners are hosting a watch party for tonight's game at Land-Grant Brewing Co.

Conference Outlook

Wisconsin picked up its first conference points of the season in a shootout win over Minnesota last week. Michigan is trending upward, but overall the Big Ten seems to be headed for an underwhelming season. This could, weirdly, make the conference tournament that much more interesting. The tourney winner may well be the B1G's only representative at the big dance this year.