The Michigan Men’s hockey team closes out the regular home season at the Red Berenson Rink Yost Ice Arena against for Ohio State this Friday and Saturday. Michigan is in a battle to retain a 4th place or better position to have home ice for the first round of the Big Ten tournament in two weeks. Currently, the Wolverines have 30 points however only 5 points separate 4th place to 7th place so all points this weekend count for Mel Pearson’s team.
Ohio State is looking to win the Big Ten title this weekend for the regular season and with a win or a combined two points over the weekend. The Buckeyes are coming off a weekend series sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Gophers. Ohio State has split the first two games in Columbus with Michigan winning 2-1 and OSU defeating Michigan 4-2 in January. Michigan has played well against Ohio State but Michigan has not put together a winning streak of more than two with the first sweep coming two weeks ago against Michigan State.
Michigan’s offense has been a key factor as they have outshot opponents over the season but cannot get the puck into the net. Quinn Hughes leads the Wolverines in scoring with 29 points and Will Lockwood has been a steady scorer along with Jake Slaker. Look for Hayden Lavigne to be in the nets Friday night with Straus Mann in goal Saturday as Mann performs well on Saturday and coach Pearson seems to like the new format.
On a positive note for Michigan also this is senior weekend so the Wolverines will be looking to send the seniors out on a winning note and with the team knowing that the only way to the NCAA is to win the tournament they plan to give the hated rivals from Columbus a tough time. Both games will be at 6;30 est.