The Michigan hockey team will be back in action on Saturday night when it takes on Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
The No. 11 Wolverines (20-13-3) have played and lost all four times they have played the No. 6 Buckeyes (23-8-5) this season.
“They’ve whipped us,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said. “We’re a huge underdog, we just hope to go down there and keep it close.”
Luckily for Pearson’s squad, it’s single elimination. The winner would advance to the conference championship game against either No. 1 seed Notre Dame or No. 4 seed Penn State. Ohio State is the No. 2 seed, which is why it will host the game against the third seeded Wolverines.
“We don’t have to beat them twice, we just have to go down there and show up and have our best game for one day, one night,” Pearson said. “It’ll be a good old-fashioned Michigan-Ohio State game.”
Saturday’s game will take place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and start at 7:30 p.m. It will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
It will be the first time the two programs have met in the Big Ten Tournament. They have met in the CCHA Tournament, where Michigan holds a 10-2 advantage. U-M leads the all-time series, 81-42-13.
“They’ve got balance, they play well defensively, they play from the net out. They all buy into the system, they all play hard,” Pearson said. “That’s their game basically, play good defense, capitalize on turnovers and mistakes and beat you on special teams. It’s a simple formula, but they do it really well.”
In the four meetings this season, Ohio State outscored Michigan 17-6 — winning games 3-2 and 5-1 in November, and 4-0 and 5-3 in late January. Ohio State clearly played well, but Pearson says there are a number of things his team could’ve done better.
“We beat ourselves, they’re a good team, they made some good plays and have good players, but we put ourselves in a couple bad situations,” Pearson said.
He added that Michigan is a much better team since it last played the Buckeyes. It’s a good point, given the Wolverines are 8-1-1 in the 10 games since last playing OSU.
Ohio State is led by junior forward Mason Jobst and sophomore forward tanner Laczynski, who each have tallied 41 points this season. That’s good for a third-place tie in the Big Ten. Michigan junior forward Cooper Marody leads the league in scoring with 44 points.
“They both are a couple of the best players not only in our conference, but best players in college hockey,” Pearson said. “They’re going to get some looks, but you have to just try to limit them.”
Both Marody and Laczynski were named finalists for the 2017-18 Big Ten Player of the Year Award.
Michigan sophomore goalie Hayden Lavigne was named a finalist for Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, along with Ohio State redshirt junior Sean Romeo.
Notre Dame sophomore goalie Cale Morris was the third and last finalist for each award.
“It’s well deserved,” Pearson said. “Cooper’s been one of the best players in the league game in and game out. He’s been fairly consistent. Hayden has had an excellent second half.”
Michigan freshman defenseman Quinn Hughes was named a finalist for Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Pearson himself was named one of three finalists for Big Ten Coach of the Year after his dramatic turnaround of the Wolverines in his first season as U-M’s head coach.
“It’s nice, but it’s a reflection of your team and how they’ve done,” Pearson said. “It’s more of the players and assistant coaches, it’s a team effort. It’s flattering, but at the same time it’s more of a team award. It’s the players. The players have to go out and perform and get it done. They’ve done that and good for them.”
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