Pride on Ice Preview: Gophers Back Home Against Michigan State

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Pride on Ice Preview: Gophers Back Home Against Michigan State
By Grant Erickson and Travis Erickson

http://www.gopherhole.com/news_article/show/599176?referrer_id=388419

Michigan State (5-15-2 overall, 1-5-0-0 Big Ten) at Minnesota (9-10-0 overall, 4-2-0-0 Big Ten)

Game 20: Gophers vs. Michigan State

Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.

Date: Friday, Jan. 15, 2016

Puck Drop: 8:05 p.m. CT

TV: FOX Sports North PLUS, FOX Sports Detroit

Stream: BTN2Go, FOX Sports Go

Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network



Game 21: Gophers vs. Michigan State

Location: Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn.

Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016

Puck Drop: 7:33 p.m. CT

TV: Big Ten Network

Stream: BTN2Go

Radio: 1500 ESPN, Gopher Radio Network

Inside the Matchup

The Gophers hold quite the commanding lead over the Spartans in the all-time series; 107-44-15.

Through the last 10 meetings, Minnesota has continued the trend of dominance, going 6-1-3.

Connor Reilly is Minnesota’s leading goal scorer against the Spartans with three. The redshirt junior has just one goal and seven points on the year, and could use this series to gain momentum going forward.

The Gophers hold a 5-3 National Championship advantage.

Storyline Central

It’s the article that has Gopher hockey fans buzzing, Cory Zurowski’s look at Minnesota’s recent hockey struggles.

Andrew Merkle of isportsweb discusses the Spartans’ poor start to the year and how head coach Tom Anastos may be on the hot seat.

Merkle also has a recap of the Spartans’ recent 9-2 loss against the rival Michigan Wolverines. Yikes.

Notes and Quotes

Michael Brodzinski

On solving goalie Jake Hildebrand:

“I think we just have to get shots to the net, get bodies to the net. I think if we have a big body in front of the net, it’s going to be hard to see for him. So we just have to get pucks and bodies to the net.”

On how playing well defensively against PSU will carry over to this weekend:

“We’re starting to get a lot of confidence in our squad. I think that’s huge for us. The confidence aspect of the game is really coming along really well and I think that’s big for us going against Michigan State.”

Justin Kloos

On how to get pucks past Hildebrand:

“We need to get pucks to the net. Obviously, he’s a really good goalie. Last year we struggled to score five-on-five against them so we need to get a lot of traffic to the net. Having a guy in front so we can start beating him from anywhere but a couple feet. We’ll probably just have to throw a lot at him. I don’t know if there will be many pretty ones this weekend because of the way Michigan State plays but I think if we get out chances, some will go in for us.”

On playing in his 100th game as a Gopher:

“I didn’t even know that, that’s wild. It feels like just a couple days ago I was on campus as a freshman so it’s pretty exciting.”
 

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_29385133/gophers-hockey-lettieri-feels-there-are-more-points

Vinni Lettieri switching sticks this weekend:

Vinni Lettieri found himself in a familiar position Friday night against Penn State: headed back to the bench without a stick in his hands.

By his own estimation, the Gophers junior forward has snapped at least 10 sticks on one-timers this season, causing potential scoring chances to go awry. The third-line center scored three points last weekend despite one break and is switching to a new stick, which could help the team get the secondary production it needs from its lineup.

"It was great to see Vinni get rewarded because I don't know if anybody's been more unlucky this year from an offensive standpoint than he has," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "How many times has he broken sticks when he's shooting the puck?"
 

The "arrogant little jerks" defeated Michigan State 5-2 tonight. There might have been more quality chances for the Gophers in this game than any other game all season; although MSU did kick in the fifth Minnesota goal.
 

The "arrogant little jerks" defeated Michigan State 5-2 tonight. There might have been more quality chances for the Gophers in this game than any other game all season; although MSU did kick in the fifth Minnesota goal.

We'd been crashing the net all night forcing the defense to collapse. Good things happen when you play a solid blue collar game like the Gophs did last night.
 




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