Around the Big Ten Hockey: Week of Oct. 12

The Big Ten hockey season is back and teams are already firing on all cylinders. There were some upsets and some outstanding performances that took the Big Ten hockey world by storm. What went on during this past week of action?

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The No. 2 Gophers opened up the 2023-24 season with an exhibition game against Bemidji State and took a 5-2 win. New freshman and 2023 first-round pick Oliver Moore looked impressive from the start, scoring a highlight reel goal and showing off his shot and speed. He scored twice.

Rhett Pitlick opened his campaign strong as well with a two-goal performance, Bryce Brodzinski had a goal of his own too. Minnesota looks to continue its success against the St. Thomas Tommies, who stole a game against No. 10 St. Cloud State.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan started the season with a ranked matchup against now No. 13 Providence. They dropped game one 4-2 against the Friars but responded in game two for the split with a 5-4 win. Michigan dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 as a result of this.

Rutger McGroarty had himself a weekend tallying five points. With the absence of Adam Fantilli, the Wolverines are looking for a player who will step up. McGroarty just put himself on the radar as a strong candidate for some hardware.

Michigan State Spartans

The new look No. 8 ranked Spartans faced off against Lake Superior State and showed off some new talent. They brought the brooms to the rink with a 5-2 and 4-2 win, starting on the right foot.

New defenseman Artyom Levshunov finished the series with a goal and an assist. Levshunov looks like a top-five pick in the upcoming NHL draft. Nicolas Muller tallied four points to start the year and Red Savage totaled three.

Goaltender Trey Augustine started his collegiate career the right way with wins in both games. He finished the weekend with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.

Penn State Nittany Lions

No. 18 Penn State began the season on the road against the Long Island Sharks. The Nittany Lions have a new offensive core with several players moving on to another school or professional hockey.

The Nittany Lions fell behind at one point in the game, but the new faces prevailed and helped get the program its first win of the season. Matt DiMarsico recorded his first collegiate goal, Aiden Fink got his first point with an assist while Dartmouth transfer defenseman Tanner Palocsik got a point.

Dylan Lugris recorded the game-winner and sealed the 3-2 win for the Nittany Lions.

Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers had a weekend where defense was the specialty against Augustana. Wisconsin outscored its opponent 7-0, firing 89 shots between the 4-0 and 3-0 game. William Whitelaw introduced himself by tallying two assists and 10 shots.

Goaltender Kyle McClellan was perfect between the pipes with 43 saves.

Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes traveled to Mercyhurst and came away with a close 4-3 win. The Lakers led 2-1 halfway through the game, but a third-period comeback lifted OSU to victory.

Davis Burnside took over the game in the third-period scoring 57 seconds in. He later scored another and pushed the Buckeyes over the top.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish were caught off guard by an aggressive Clarkson team and were upset in game one, falling 3-1. They did bounce back, however, and salvaged the series with a split. The defense responded and won 3-0 in front of the home crowd.

Landon Slaggert is off to a hot start scoring two goals over the weekend. Freshman Danny Nelson was more than happy to introduce himself to the college hockey world, peppering 11 shots one of which found the back of the net.

Anthony Desher is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acd5698@psu.edu.