Michigan Wolverines Hockey Heads To Minnesota For Weekend Series
A win in Big Ten conference play is worth three points in the standings, and only five points separate second and seventh place in the hockey grid.
That makes every game crucial as fourth-place Michigan attempts to position itself to host a first-round home series in the Big Ten Hockey championships.
Teams finishing in second through fourth places win the opportunity to host a best two-of-three first-round series against the fifth through seventh place teams, the winners of which will join the overall conference leader in single elimination semifinals and final.
Michigan’s challenge this weekend is to face Minnesota at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis on the Olympic-sized Gopher home rink.
The Gophers have had a similar season to their Wolverines visitors, sitting one game under .500 overall in 2018-19. Third-place Minnesota leads Michigan by three points going into the two-game weekend series.
Both weekend games will be viewable in Southeast Michigan, Friday on Fox Sports Detroit Plus and Saturday on Fox Sports Detroit at 8 p.m. ET each night.
Michigan Player To Watch
Junior forward Will Lockwood has taken over for injured sophomore forward Josh Norris as the Wolverine’s top offensive threat. Lockwood is tied with Norris, forward Nick Pastujov and junior forward Jake Slaker with 10 goals to lead the Michigan offense.
Minnesota Player To Watch
Junior forward Rem Pitlick's 15 goals and 13 assists lead the Gopher attack. A third-round choice of the Nashville Predators (NHL), Pitlick has been a steady scoring source for Minnesota, posting double-digit goal totals in each of his three years.
Other Big Ten Weekend Hockey Action
Wisconsin at Michigan State (Fri./Sat.)
No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 4 Ohio State (Fri./Sat.)
Penn State — idle
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