Gophers men's hockey gameday
6 p.m. Friday, Saturday vs. Michigan State (FSN-plus Friday only)
Gophers face hot Spartan squad
Gophers (17-14, 12-4 Big Ten): The No. 17 Gophers are coming off arguably their biggest win of the season. Junior forward Hudson Fasching's overtime goal finished off No. 6 Michigan for a series split to reclaim first place in the Big Ten standings. Fasching leads the Gophers with 19 goals and 34 points, both career highs. He has six of the Gophers' game-winning goals this season. Freshman goalie Eric Schierhorn gave up six goals against Michigan last Thursday, but recovered to hold the high-powered offense to just two goals Friday. This week, he was announced as a nominee for Mike Richter Award honoring the nation's top college goaltender. He has a 2.67 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.
• Friday's game will be streamed on BTN2Go and Fox Sports Go, Saturday's on BTN Plus.
Michigan State (9-20-3, 5-10-1): The Spartans are riding a three-game unbeaten streak. They swept Wisconsin in Madison two weeks ago and tied Penn State in their last game at Munn Ice Arena three weeks ago. Despite sitting in fifth place in the Big Ten standings, Michigan State has been successful on its home ice against conference opponents with a pair of wins and a tie in three series. Junior forward Mackenzie MacEachern leads the Spartans with 12 goals and 25 points. Senior forward Michael Ferrantino has eight goals and 22 points. Both have three-game point streaks. Reigning Big Ten Player and Goalie of the Year Jake Hildebrand has a 3.21 goals-against average and save percentage of .902. … The Spartans lost 5-2 and 3-1 to the Gophers on the road in mid-January
JASON GONZALEZ
