Good afternoon from 3M Arena at Mariucci, where the No. 10 Gophers will try to complete a series sweep of No. 6 Ohio State on Senior Day. The game begins at 4 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU. The Gophers announced that the game is sold out. Friday night's attendance was announced as 9,704.
Coach Don Lucia is staying with the hot goalie. Sophomore Mat Robson will start for the seventh consecutive game. He is 5-1 in this stretch with one shutout and three games in which he allowed one goal. "When we've needed a big save, Mat's been there to make the save,'' Lucia said after Friday's game.
Senior winger Leon Bristedt will miss his second consecutive game because of an illness. The Gophers are going with 11 forwards today, with the fourth-line left wing spot vacant and Clayton Phillips drawing in as an extra defenseman.
It'll be interesting to see how the officials call the game today. Ohio State's No. 1-ranked penalty kill did not take the ice Friday night because the Buckeyes were not penalized. Don Lucia gave the officials an earful after Jack Glover was called for cross-checking in the second period, and the ensuing power play led to the Buckeyes' lone goal. After the game, Lucia was diplomatic about the officiating, but did say, "We won the game, and that's all that matters. … I know one thing: We don't need to have a power-play meeting tomorrow [Saturday].''
The Gophers will honor seniors Bristedt, Jack Glover, Steve Johnson, Nick Lehr and Mike Szmatula before the game.
Here are the line charts for today's game:
GOPHERS (19-13-1, 10-10-1-1 Big Ten)
Brent Gates Jr.-Tommy Novak-Tyler Sheehy
Rem Pitlick-Casey Mittelstadt-Brannon McManus
Ryan Norman-Mike Szmatula-Scott Reedy
Vacant-Darian Romanko-Jack Ramsey
Ryan Lindgren-Jack Sadek
Steve Johnson-Tyler Nanne
Ryan Zuhlsdorf-Jack Glover
Mat Robson in goal
OHIO STATE (19-8-4, 12-8-1)
Freddy Gerard-Matthew Weis-Tanner Laczynski
John Wiitala-Mason Jobst-Luke Stork
Kevin Miller-Ronnie Hein-Christian Lampasso
Austin Pooley-Brendon Kearney-Sam McCormick
Sasha Larocque-Wyatt Ege
Gordi Myer-Matt Miller
Janik Moser-Matt Joyaux
Sean Romeo in goal