The opening weekend of the Big Ten playoffs did not disappoint.
Two series went to three games, one road team won, and the series that took two games to complete almost needed three.
Michigan, the second seed in the tournament, came from behind Friday and Saturday to sweep Wisconsin, 6-5 and 7-4. The Friday game was decided in overtime, and Michigan’s final three goals in Saturday’s contest came with 2:20 remaining in regulation.
“That’s who we are,” said Michigan coach Brandon Naurato. “It is what it is.”
Trailing 5-4 to the Badgers Friday, Rutger McGroarty tied it for the Wolverines at 19:37 in the third. Then at 9:06 in overtime, junior defenseman Steven Holtz scored the game-winning goal, the first goal of his collegiate career.
Holtz spent time in an induced coma with adenovirus in November, when five additional players were also hospitalized as the virus swept through the team.
Holtz himself called the goal “unbelievable.” Naurato said, “It’s crazy. You can’t make this up.”
In Saturday’s game, captain Nolan Moyle scored the game winner for the Wolverines at 17:40 and Michigan rolled from there.
“Wisconsin’s got good players and they’re a good team,” said Naurato. “We played really good hockey at the end. Honestly, it was Nolan Moyle stepping up. I felt like the roof was going to fall off.
“Saturday’s going to be wild with Ohio State.”
The Wolverines host the Buckeyes for a single-elimination quarterfinal game on Saturday. Ohio State, the third seed in this weekend’s field, were taken to three games by Penn State in the first round of the semifinals last weekend. After a 5-1 win Friday, the Buckeyes lost in overtime 2-1 Saturday and gritted out Sunday’s 3-1 win to advance.
The series was a reversal of fortune from the 2022 Big Ten semifinals, when Penn State traveled to Columbus and beat Ohio State in three games. Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik said that the Buckeyes were “relentless” against the Nittany Lions.
“They weren’t going to be denied,” said Rohlik. “Lots of the guys had that experience in the past, and they just weren’t going to let it happen again. Disappointing on Saturday. I thought we played one of our best games of the year but we kind of fought through it on Sunday to get the result we needed.”
In four games this season, the Buckeyes went 2-1-1 against the Wolverines, including a split in Ann Arbor.
“We know Michigan very well, said Rohlik. “They know us very well. They’re very talented. We’ve just got to stick with our structure, and I think if we do that, that helps. We’ve got to be good at what we do.”
Rohlik said the Buckeyes have a healthy respect for Michigan’s offense. “We know they’re going to get their opportunities and we’ve just got to limit them to one, not two and three at a time.”
“Ohio State’s a really good team,” said Naurato. “They’re hard and they’ve got guys that can score. They’ve got guys that can defend. They have four good lines, six good D, and a really good goalie.
“I believe in our team. I’m good with where we’re at. When you don’t play the right way for a full game, good teams beat you. I’m optimistic that our guys will stick to the plan and go do what we need to do. How we execute will dictate the outcome.”
In the third B1G semifinal series, fifth-seed Michigan State traveled to fourth-seed Notre Dame and beat the Fighting Irish in three games. After losing 1-0 Friday, the Spartans won by a score of 4-2 both Saturday and Sunday nights.
Saturday’s game was the first-ever Big Ten playoff win for the Spartans. Coming into the weekend, Michigan State had gone 0-13 in B1G playoffs since the league began play in 2013-14.
“I was just happy for the guys,” said MSU coach Adam Nightingale. “The fans and everyone get to watch them on the weekend. We watch them during the week. We ask a lot of our guys. In order to be great, it’s not easy. I don’t think there’s a secret recipe. There’s a lot of sweat that needs to happen. To see the guys do everything that we’re asking, that’s a great feeling as a coach. I have a lot of respect for the guys. We ask a lot of them, and they give us a lot.”
The Spartans will play Minnesota Saturday. In addition to being the top team in the Big Ten and the PairWise Rankings, the Golden Gophers have had Michigan State’s number for more than just a little bit. Minnesota swept Michigan State in four regular-season games this year, shutting out the Spartans twice – once each at home and on the road – and outsourcing the Spartans 25-6 in those four wins.
Additionally, the Gophers are 10-2-0 against the Spartans for the past three seasons. The last time Michigan State beat Minnesota was Feb. 8, 2020. Calling the Gophers “the class in our league” Nightingale said the Spartans will focus on their own game when they travel to Minneapolis.
“I can tell you that we’re going to go out there and we’re going to play our best,” said Nightingale. “We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play team hockey and we’re excited about the opportunity.
“There are stretches when we played really good against them, so we’ve got to figure out a way to do that for 60 minutes. They’re a team that with the skill they have up front, they don’t need many chances to make you pay, and they have some guys that can really finish.”
As regular-season champions, Minnesota earned a bye for the Big Ten quarterfinals. Talking to Jim Rich this week on “The Gopher Coaches Show,” Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said that he hopes that the time away from play gave a few Gophers time to rest up and heal. He also said that his team knows how hard they’ll have to play to beat a very motivated Michigan State team that’s been building momentum all season.
“They’re right there at 16th in the Pairwise,” said Motzko, “so this team’s got everything to play for.” In describing the Spartans, Motzko invoked beloved former Golden Gophers coach Doug Woog. “As old Doug Woog would say, their elevator’s going up. They’re playing their best hockey right now. We’ve got our hands full.”
Motzko said that while the Gophers are preparing for the Spartans, most of the team’s focus will be on their own game.
“Eighty, ninety percent is going to be about how we play,” said Motzko. “We’re coming off a bye. Last time we did that, it didn’t go well.”
In an attempt to counter the post-bye week doldrums, Motzko brought the Gophers to Graham Arena in Rochester, Minn. – about 90 miles southeast of Mariucci Arena – for an intrasquad scrimmage in front of 1,000 fans.
“We needed some intensity,” said Motzko. “It was a very successful trip for us. It broke up the time that we had off and hopefully is a springboard for us to move into this week.”
The semifinal field by the numbers
Here’s a look at each team by the overall numbers. For team statistics, where each team is among all D-I programs nationally is listed in the parentheses following the stat. The teams are ordered by semifinal seeding.
No. 1 Minnesota
- Record in last 10 games: 8-2-0
- Scoring offense: 4.09 goals per game (first)
- Scoring defense: 2.32 goals allowed per game (seventh)
- Power play: 25.0% (seventh)
- Penalty kill: 83.3% (13th)
- Top scorer: Freshmen Logan Cooley (16-32–48)
- Top goal scorer: Sophomore Matthew Knies (21)
- Goaltender: Senior Justen Close (.928 SV%, 1.99 GAA)
No. 2 Michigan
- Record in last 10 games: 6-2-2
- Scoring offense: 4.03 goals per game (second)
- Scoring defense: 3.19 goals allowed per game (44th)
- Power play: 23.6% (14th)
- Penalty kill: 77.4% (48th)
- Top scorer: Freshman Adam Fantilli (25-31—56)
- Top goal scorer: Fantilli (25)
- Goaltender: Junior Erik Portillo (.907 SV%, 3.09 GAA)
No. 3 Ohio State
- Record in last 10 games:
- Scoring offense: 3.22 goals per game (17th)
- Scoring defense: 2.41 goals allowed per game (12th)
- Power play: 21.6% (21st)
- Penalty kill: 89.3% (first)
- Top scorer: freshman Stephen Halliday (8-26—34)
- Top goal scorer: freshman David Burnside (13)
- Goaltender: sophomore Jakub Dobes (.916 SV%, 2.35 GAA)
No. 4 Michigan State
- Record in last 10 games:
- Scoring offense: 2.86 goals per game (31st)
- Scoring defense: 2.97 (37th)
- Power play: 19.5% (34th)
- Penalty kill: 79.0% (39th)
- Top scorer: senior Nicolas Muller (7-22—29)
- Top goal scorer: senior Jagger Joshua (13)
- Goaltender: Dylan St. Cyr (.914 SV%, 2.83 GAA)
The Buckeyes and Wolverines have twice in Big Ten playoff action, an Ohio State 3-2 OT semifinal win in 2018 and a 4-0 Michigan win in a single-game quarterfinal match in 2020.
Saturday’s game is the second Big Ten playoff match for the Spartans and Golden Gophers. The first was a single-elimination quarterfinal game in 2021, a 2-1 OT win for Minnesota.
No. 3 Ohio State (20-14-3) plays No. 2 Michigan (22-11-3) at 6:30 p.m. EST in Ann Arbor. No. 4 Michigan State and No. 1 Minnesota face off at 9:00 p.m. EST in Minneapolis. Both games will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
