Spartans enter Saturday with chance to make history
Saturday at 7:30pm the puck will drop at Munn for the B1G Tournament Championship as the number 1 ranked Spartans take on the Buckeyes. OSU arrives after two battle tested series against Wisconsin and the streaky Penn State. MSU had a first-round bye and then took a 1-0 victory over Notre Dame to get their seat at the championship table. Both teams are well acquainted with each other having faced off four times already this past season with MSU holding a 3-1 record including the sweep at Munn. The Spartans look to be the first team in league history to earn back-to-back league and tournament titles.
The Buckeye’s head coach, Steve Rohlik, was just names B1G Coach of the Year this week. this was the third time Rohlik has won the award but this season may be a bit more special. OSU was picked to finish last in the conference in preseason coaches poll. Instead he has the ninth ranked Buckeyes, who finished third in the league playing the top ranked Spartans in the title game. The Buckeyes have obviously played above their potential and have been in the thick of things all season and are poised to make their fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament under Rohlik’s helm.
OSU’s line to watch will be the Davis Burnside, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine and Riley Thompson one. They’ve played on a line together nearly all season and have combined for 47 goals, 57 assists and 104 points including 16 power play goals. All three are posting career bests this season and will be a focal point for Spartan defenders to shut down. The Buckeye goaltender, Logan Terness, was a finalist for Big Ten Goalie of the Year and ultimately lost it to our very own Trey Augustine. Terness has been the hot hand as of late, especially shutting down the Nittany Lions.
The Spartans enter the match with a lot at stake. Not just the history making possibility of back to backs but also the shot at the overall one seed in the NCAA Tournament. With BC and Minnesota not playing for league titles, it is definitely in the Spartan’s reach. Nightingale may have lost Coach of the Year to Rohlik, but he’s got a slew of players pulling in accolades of their own. The Spartans will be relying on the Ice Man, Isaac Howard, B1G Player of the Year and Hobey Baker Finalist, to continue his career best season. Howard has been a mainstay in the box scores all season and will likely keep that streak alive on Saturday.
A big key to this game will be the power play. Can the Spartans stay out of the box and if they can’t can they kill off the penalties? I think the answer is yes to both. The Spartans have proved this year that they can play a clean and tight game but also have a strong PK unit in the three T’s line of Tommi, Tiernan and Tanner. Face-offs could be another important area that the Spartans can try to get the edge. The two teams were near equal in games against each other this season with OSU getting the slight advantage. MSU also has a strong advantage in shot attempts and obviously, the more you throw at the net, the more likely something gets in. This has benefitted the Spartans all year.
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Saturday nights have been good to MSU this season as the post an 11-1 record with a shootout win and loss not added into that. I like the Spartans to come away as champs edging out the bucks 3-2 with the go ahead coming in the last 8 minutes. Remember, there’s room for two more trophies on the shelf this year. Go Green!