Womens' Hockey series of the week: Ohio State vs Minnesota

After splitting their last series, which saw each team score seven goals, the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes welcome the third-ranked Minnesota Gophers for a series with huge conference and national stakes.

The Buckeyes, who hold a 26-4 overall record (20-4 conference), just had their 11-game win streak ended by top-ranked Wisconsin. The Gophers sit one spot behind them in both national rankings and conference standings, with a 24-5-1 overall record (18-5-1 conference).

With a sweep, Minnesota would leapfrog OSU in both, but it will be tough for the Gophers, who are on the road without their best player: Abbey Murphy. Murphy, who leads the nation with an astonishing 62 points, is in Italy for the Winter Olympics.

In their previous series, Murphy was held to just one assist. Josefin Bouveng led the way with four points, and Nelli Laitinen added three. Look for them to pick up the slack in Murphy’s absence.

For OSU, the player to watch is Joy Dunne. The Buckeyes' scoring leader put up three points in the last series. She’s 8th in the nation in scoring with 44 points on the season. Tied with her is freshman star Hilda Svensson, who is more assist-focused compared to Dunne.

Minnesota enters the series with a red-hot power play, scoring on 31% of its chances. OSU has 407 total penalty minutes this season and 13.6 penalty minutes per game, both most in the nation. However, the Buckeyes kill 85% of their penalties. They gave up two goals on nine Minnesota power plays in the last series.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this matchup is the goaltenders. Both of these teams average about 40 shots per game, meaning whoever is in the net will be tested heavily.

Hannah Clark played both games for Minnesota in the last series, giving up six goals on 70 shots. She’s having a stellar season, with a 1.85 GAA and .928 SV%. expect her to start both games of this extremely important series.

The Buckeyes’ goalie situation is quite complicated. Hailey McLeod is having an even better season than Clark, with a 1.62 GAA and .927 SV%, but last time these teams played, she gave up four goals on five shots and was pulled.

The night before that, she allowed just one Minnesota goal on 28 shots. Freshman Taylor Kressin is shining in her first season as a Buckeye, with a 1.33 GAA and .920 SV% in nine appearances. She could be the answer to Minnesota's dangerous offense.

The key for Ohio State is to play possession. They lead the nation in faceoff percentage, winning 60% of draws. Keeping the puck away from Minnesota is the best way to remedy an uncertain situation in goal against a team with six point-per-game players (excluding Murphy).

Minnesota should have some extra fire, looking for an upset on the road, which would prove that they don't just rely on Abbey Murphy. They’ll need to keep the puck moving and wear down the defense and goaltender, while making sure to capitalize on power play chances.

Game one will take place on Friday, February 13th at 6:00 pm in Columbus, Ohio. Round two will be the following day at 3:00 pm. Both games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.

Gabe Eisenberg is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email gfe5080@psu.edu