{"id":142795,"date":"2023-10-18T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=142795"},"modified":"2023-10-17T21:23:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T02:23:35","slug":"this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-with-conference-play-starting-this-weekend-teams-moving-ahead-with-poise-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2023\/10\/18\/this-week-in-big-ten-hockey-with-conference-play-starting-this-weekend-teams-moving-ahead-with-poise-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Big Ten Hockey: With conference play starting this weekend, teams moving ahead with poise, confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Joey Larson recorded a hat trick in MSU’s game last Friday night against Air Force and had a five-point weekend in Colorado Springs (photo: TakeYourShotPhotography).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the second straight season, the Big Ten has put up good numbers in nonconference games before the start of league play.<\/p>\n

Through three weeks and 22 nonconference games, the Big Ten is collectively 16-6-1 and has outscored opponents 81-57. It\u2019s a solid beginning and a good omen.<\/p>\n

At roughly the same point last year \u2013 through four weeks and 27 games \u2013 Big Ten teams had gone 17-8-2, outscoring nonconference teams 94-68.<\/p>\n

Those are comparable win percentages and goal differentials. Why, then, does the start of the 2023-24 season feel only big-ish?<\/p>\n

Maybe it has something to do with a couple of those six losses. Some of the wins, too, perhaps?<\/p>\n

Michigan is 2-2-0 to start the year, with splits against Providence at home and Massachusetts on the road. Notre Dame is 1-2-0 after splitting at home against Clarkson and losing 3-0 to RIT on the road last weekend.<\/p>\n

Through three games, Ohio State is 2-0-1, having opened the season with a 4-3 come-from-behind road win against Mercyhurst, followed by a win and tie against visiting Lindenwood. The Buckeyes had all they could handle against Lions, as Lindenwood came from behind twice to tie in OSU\u2019s win and forced the 2-2 Saturday tie with two goals in the third period.<\/p>\n

On the brighter side of things, Penn State \u2013 the team picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches\u2019 poll \u2013 has a 3-0 record to start the season, with all three wins on the road.<\/p>\n

And the team at the top of the USCHO.com Men\u2019s Division I Poll, Minnesota, is 2-0 after sweeping St. Thomas 6-5 and 3-0. That 6-5 game was wild. Leading 2-0 after the first, the Gophers allowed four goals by the first minute of the third period \u2013 and then began their own comeback 20 seconds after the Tommies had made it a 4-2 game.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Minnesota let another lead slip away late in the third, when St. Thomas tied it up and sent it to OT.<\/p>\n

After the Gophers secured the sweep, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko put the weekend into perspective as only Bob Motzko can.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night, a lot of fun, obviously with the crowd and the goals, but we needed to tighten it up,” Motzko said. “A lot of the things we did wrong or stubbed our toe [with] last night, we were better tonight. Things we did that stubbed our toe tonight, we\u2019ll be better next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the start of the season, with growing pains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing pains. Maybe that\u2019s exactly what the start of the 2023-24 season feels like \u2013 especially given how the 2022-23 season ended for Big Ten Hockey.<\/p>\n

The two B1G teams likely to make the greatest strides this year, Michigan State and Wisconsin, have had steady, promising starts so far. Both teams are 3-1-0, each began the season with a series sweep, and each appears ready to learn from setbacks.<\/p>\n

On the road against Air Force last weekend, the Spartans bounced back from a 6-5 Thursday loss with a 5-3 Friday win, which coach Adam Nightingale called a \u201cgood response.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the loss, the Spartans were down 3-0 after the first. Nightingale said that the Spartans \u201ckept pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, you get down, and you\u2019re chasing the game and that makes it tough, but they stayed with it,\u201d said Nightingale. “At one point, we were down 5-1, we came back, made it 5-4. I think that showed a lot about the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then the next night, I thought we started really well and controlled large parts of the game. There was some poise on the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second-year head coach said that he\u2019s encouraged by what he\u2019s seen from Michigan State\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s early, but we\u2019ve shown that we\u2019ve got a group of guys that can score,” said Nightingale. “We\u2019ve put the puck in the net, and that\u2019s a really good sign. You can\u2019t rest on that, though, and score your way back into games. It\u2019s not a recipe for long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Badgers haven\u2019t put up the same kind of scoring that other Big Ten teams have, Wisconsin did begin the season with a definitive statement against Augustana, shutting out the Vikings 4-0 and 3-0, and outshooting Augustana 89-43 in the series.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin followed that with a 4-3 OT win over Bemidji State and a 2-0 loss to North Dakota in the Ice Breaker Tournament.<\/p>\n

Coach Mike Hastings, in his first year with Wisconsin, called North Dakota the \u201chardest team\u201d the Badgers have faced \u201cin terms of playing heavy,\u201d and said that Wisconsin was \u201cstressed\u201d and \u201cpushed\u201d \u2013 things that will help the Badgers improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding whatever standard of play is established,\u201d said Hastings, \u201cwe have to be able to execute. Small things matter when you have a team that can take a mistake and put it in the back of your net.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost teams in college hockey, when you give them repeated opportunities, they can make you pay for it. I thought that\u2019s what North Dakota did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hastings said there were some good take-aways from that loss, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positive there is that I didn\u2019t think we went away,” said Hastings. “Did we have some valleys in there? Yes. We had opportunities, close but not good enough. That\u2019s a learning experience for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cA young team, going through that in that environment, I know we didn\u2019t get the win. I thought that experience, I hope, is going to serve us well going forward. We learned a little bit about ourselves. We saw some things in the mirror that maybe we didn\u2019t like, and most times I think that\u2019s how you need to go through a process to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Big Ten season opens this week when No. 13 Ohio State travels to No. 7 Michigan, the only conference play until Nov. 3. B1G Hockey plays its first full weekend of league games Nov. 10-11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the second straight season, the Big Ten has put up good numbers in nonconference games before the start of league play. Through three weeks and 22 nonconference games, the Big Ten is collectively 16-6-1 and has outscored opponents 81-57. It\u2019s a solid beginning and a good omen. At roughly the same point last year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":142796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[802],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Week in Big Ten Hockey: With conference play starting this weekend, teams moving ahead with poise, confidence - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the second straight season, the Big Ten has put up good numbers in nonconference games before the start of league play. 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