Previewing Michigan hockey's Big Ten Championship game vs. Minnesota

The Michigan hockey team is set to take on Minnesota in a winner-take-all Big Ten Championship game Saturday night in Minneapolis. The puck is set to drop at 8 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

The two Big Ten powerhouses have previously met four times this season. The teams split a two-game series in Ann Arbor in December, and split another two-game series in Minneapolis in January.

The Gophers were selected as the favorites in the 2021-22 preseason poll. Minnesota posted a 18-6 record in the Big Ten, and the Gophers followed through with preseason expectations and won the conference with 54 points.

Led by junior forward Ben Meyers, the Gophers are riding a nine-game winning streak into the Big Ten championship game, and will look to make it 10 against the Wolverines.

Meyers is the Big Ten's second-leading points scorer with 37 points. The junior has 16 goals and 21 assists in 30 games played this season.

Despite Meyers' successful season, Michigan has four of the Big Ten's top five points leaders. Matty Beniers, Luke Hughes, Brendan Brisson and Kent Johnson all have at least 34 points scored this season.

The Wolverines are a near shoo-in to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, so the outcome of this game shouldn't have any effect on Michigan's seeding on Sunday.

Michigan is looking for its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 2016, when the Wolverines defeated, ironically, Minnesota.