Hockey Wednesday: Ohio State, Season Recap, Big Ten Tournament

On this edition of Hockey Wednesday, we will discuss Penn State sweeping Ohio State, recapping an otherwise rough regular season for the Nittany Lions, and previewing Minnesota, Penn State's opponent in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

SWEEPING OHIO STATE

Penn State might not be ranked, they might not be on top of the Big Ten, but they do have one thing to hang their hat on this season: they swept their rival. The Nittany Lions opened up their Columbus campaign with a 5-2 win on Friday, with 5 different players scoring goals, as Jacques Bouquot got the party started with a power-play goal just 8 minutes into the game. On Saturday, Penn State clinched the sweep with a 2-1 win, thanks to 2 power-play goals by Dane Dowiak in the second period.

RECAPPING THE SEASON

The long regular season came to a close last Saturday, but it kicked off on a good note as the Nittany Lions went 5-2 in the first leg of non-conference play. Penn State started conference play with 3 straight shootout decisions, 2 against Notre Dame (1 SOW, 1 SOL), and 1 against Michigan State (SOW). Penn State went 15-16-3 overall in the regular season, 7-14-3 against Big Ten opponents, and 2-11-1 against ranked opponents.

PREVIEWING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS (BIG TEN TOURNAMENT - FIRST ROUND)

Record: 20-9-5 (13-7-5 Big Ten)

Home: 12-5-1

Season Series: Minnesota leads, 3-1 (2-0 Home)

Points Leader: Rhett Pitlick (33)

Goals Leader: Jimmy Snuggerud (19)

Goaltender: Justen Close (19-7-5 record, .923 spct)

COVERAGE INFO

Place: Minneapolis, MN (Minnesota Home)

Dates & Times (EST)

• March 8 (7:00 PM)

• March 9 (4:30 PM)

• March 10 (7:00 PM) [if necessary]

TV: FS2 (all games)

Radio (PSU): LionVision (remote), Learfield Affiliates (stereo)

Live Stats: Penn State StatBroadcast