Ohio State senior defenseman Grant Gabriele (61) moves down the ice towards the puck during the Ohio State-Wisconsin game on Dec. 4. Ohio State lost the game 1-3. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
In a clash of defense versus offense, Ohio State men’s hockey squares off with its strategic opposite in Minnesota.
Ohio State (5-10-1) looks to continue its defensive success behind senior goaltender Tommy Nappier to upset the surging No. 4 Minnesota (13-3-0), who is coming off a series against Arizona State in which they scored 10 goals in each game.
Ohio State dropped both games to Minnesota earlier this season on Nov. 23-24, losing 4-1 and 2-0.
“This league, especially the Big Ten, every weekend, every game you can’t predict anything, every team in this league has a lot of skill all the way around,” senior defenseman Grant Gabriele said. “This weekend we’re hoping to get two wins but we’re not going to change the way we’ve been playing.”
The Buckeyes split last weekend’s series vs Michigan State, first beating the Spartans 5-1 behind a season-high 56 shots and then dropping the series finale 2-0.
Ohio State played strong defense all weekend only allowing three goals in two games. They will look to keep that up to slow down Minnesota and pull off the upset.
“We only won one but I thought overall it was one of the better weekends we played all year,” Gabriele said. “Our defensive game was our strongest point; coach said all year that the better we play in our defensive end will lead to better offense.”
Ohio State’s offense is led by freshman forward Travis Treloar who leads the team with 15 points — off of a team-high six goals.
“Travis is a phenomenal player, he works hard and is eager to win, he’s a big part of our team.” junior forward Gustaf Westlund said.
Treloar will be relied on by Ohio State to produce points this weekend, but they will need everyone involved to put up goals to keep pace with Minnesota.
Minnesota’s offense leads the Big Ten in offense with 4.12 goals per contest behind Colorado Avalanche prospect and junior forward Sampo Ranta, who leads the Big Ten in goals scored at 10.
Minnesota’s point and assist leaders are senior forward Scott Reedy and sophomore forward Ben Meyers, who each have 17 points and 10 assists.
“Minnesota likes to get all five guys on the ice involved, everywhere on the ice, so that puts more attention to being in position and knowing where to be,” Gabriele said.
The Ohio State defense is anchored by senior goaltender Tommy Nappier who is four saves shy of 2,000 in his career.
“I think the core of our team is to build from the defensive zone and up, behind the goaltender who is the best defender on the ice,” Westlund said “Napes has been that for us.”
Nappier has been Ohio State’s brick wall, starting all 16 games for the Buckeyes — he has a .917 save percentage so far this year and a 2.82 goals against average.
“We have one of the best goalies, if not the best goalie, in college hockey,” Gabriele said. “I think he will be a big part of this weekend.”
The opposing goaltender, Jack LaFontaine for Minnesota, has also turned in a good season so far. He is 11-3-0 with a 1.37 GAA and a .949 save percentage.
The senior LaFontaine leads Minnesota’s top-ranked scoring defense to 1.62 goals allowed per game and their penalty kill to a 89.5-percent success rate. The Buckeyes’ 81.5 percent is good for fourth in the Big Ten.
Both teams are solid on the power play too, each ranking top 20. Ohio State has a 22.2 power-play percentage and Minnesota has a 23.6 percent.
“Going off of special teams, if you drop a good job on special teams then you put yourself in a better spot to win games,” Westlund said. “On the power play hopefully you score but you can also build momentum into the 5v5.”
The series this weekend starts a four-game home stand for the Buckeyes.
“There’s just something about playing in your home rink, some sort of comfortability whether there’s fans or not,“ Gabriele said.
The two teams square off this weekend in a two-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. and wrapping it up Saturday at 5.p.m.
