The No. 6 men’s hockey Buckeyes close out their regular season this week against Wisconsin. Regardless of the series’ outcome the Bucks will finish second in the Big Ten. It is the best ever B1G finish for OSU and its 12 wins are new B1G best mark for program.
| Game Info | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 7pm ET | 7pm ET |
| Television | None | None |
| Local Radio | 1460 AM | 1460 AM |
| Online Video | BTN Plus ($) | BTN Plus ($) |
Second place means that, under the new Big Ten tournament format, the Bucks will host a first round best-of-three series against MSU next week (Mar 2-4). Tickets are already on sale for the series. But just because OSU has secured its spot, that doesn’t mean the Bucks have nothing to play for this week.
| Team Stats | Wisconsin | Ohio State |
|---|---|---|
| Records | 14-15-4, 8-11-3-1 B1G | 19-8-5, 12-8-2-1 B1G |
| Avg. Goals For / Against | 3.15 / 3.06 | 3.00 / 2.12 |
| Power Play / Penalty Kill | 18.8% / 81.2% | 90.7% / 22.5% |
| Points Leader | Ryan Wagner (29) | Tanner Laczynski (37) |
| Top Goaltender | Kyle Hayton (2.83/.898) | Sean Romeo (2.06/.927) |
Many Big Ten teams are playing well down the stretch. Minnesota is 6-1-1-1 in its last seven games. After sweeping Notre Dame, Michigan is undefeated in its last four outings. Michigan State is 2-3-1 in February with all three of its losses coming by a single goal. Notre Dame is on a three game skid but the Irish are a perpetual threat while skating in front of the NCAA’s save percentage leader, Cale Morris (.948).
| Big Ten Standings | Pts | Polls | PWR | This Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 50 | No. 5 | No. 2 | vs MSU |
| Ohio State | 39 | No. 6 | No. 6 | vs WIS |
| Michigan | 38 | No. 13 | No. 11 | vs ASU (nc) |
| Minnesota | 33 | No. 8 | No. 8 | at PSU |
| Penn State | 28 | No. 18 | No. 17 | vs MIN |
| Wisconsin | 28 | N/A | No. 23 | at OSU |
| Michigan State | 18 | N/A | No. 39 | at ND |
Facing such strong competition for the B1G tournament, the Bucks cannot afford to limp into the postseason. They will get ousted in a heartbeat. So a strong regular season finish against the Badgers gives the Buckeyes an important boost going into the conference tourney.
One area in need of boost-age is the OSU offense. Two of the team’s top scorers are mired in slumps. Tanner Laczynski hasn’t posted a point in five games. Matt Weis has just one goal in his last four outings. As a team the Bucks have recorded only a single goal in three of their last four games.
Fortunately, Ohio State’s defense remains stout. Backstopped by reigning Star of the Week Sean Romeo, the Bucks have surrendered two or fewer goals in 10 of their last 14 games. It also doesn’t hurt that, while the offense has struggled overall, the Buckeye power play is a spicy 7-for-its last 23 advantages (30.4%).
Now, about Wisconsin. The Badgers are one of the Big Ten’s cooler teams. They come into the regular season finale off a bye week. Prior to that they were swept by Minnesota, suffering 4-2 and 7-1 losses.
Head coach Tony Granato is in Pyeongchang with Team USA. Assistant Marks, Osiecki and Strobel, command the bench in his absence. You can bet those 11 goals-against haven’t been sitting well with Oz. Ordinarily I’d say you can expect a significantly improved defensive effort from Wisconsin this week, but, per Todd Milewski, the Badgers are down a top-4 defender. That could hamper their rebound efforts.
The Bucks could see both Kyle Hayton and Jack Berry in net this week. The unheralded sophomore and the super-hyped graduate transfer are both 2-3-1 in the second half. Berry has allowed 18 total goals and Hayton has surrendered 17. Ryan Wagner and Trent Frederic top Wisconsin’s scoring chart and are two of the Badgers’ hottest scorers.
Promo-Palooza
There are a butt load of events attached to this finale weekend. Friday’s game includes Script Ohio on Ice and the Great Clips Cut-a-Thon. It’s Senior weekend. The Buckeyes will honor Matt Joyaux, Christian Lampasso, Kevin Miller, Janik Moser, Luke Stork, and Matt Weis prior to Saturday’s contest.
Saturday’s game is also First Responders Appreciation Night. The festivities kick off at 3:30 p.m. with the third annual First Responder Faceoff, featuring teams from Columbus Fire and Police. A ticket to Friday’s Buckeye game gets you into the Faceoff free of charge.
