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| Eric Schierhorn (pictured after Saturday's 2-0 win) makes his 78th consecutive start for Minnesota (Photo Credit: Nathan Wells) |
#11 Penn State (1-1-0) at #7 Minnesota (1-1-0)
Date: October 13, 2017Time: 7:00 pm CT
Place: Mariucci
TV: Fox Sports North (Doug McLeod and Ben Clymer)
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for tonight: The Athletic Minnesota
Pregame Reading: Tyler Nanne living his dream with Gophers after long recovery (The Athletic - subscription required)
Follow along for live tweeting @gopherstate
As the old promo that got greeted by Minnesota fans with boos goes, Big Ten hockey...is here.
In October. Yes, this weekend features a Big Ten conference series.
In previous seasons the conference would set up its schedule in two halves. The first featured all non-conference games before conference games began near the end of November or beginning of December. Going from 20 to 24 Big Ten games with a seventh team, Notre Dame, joining the conference means each team will play at least one October series.
Count Don Lucia as a fan.
"I like it. I never really liked the fact we wouldn't start the conference until Thanksgiving. It's nice to play conference games between a non-conference game and that they're mixed in throughout the year a bit," he said. "I'm glad we're starting them in October now."
Big Ten games are all worth three points. Teams receive three for a regulation/OT win, two for a shootout win, one for a shootout loss and zero for a regulation/OT loss.
"We get thrown in it right away. It's good," Leon Bristedt said.
The Gophers met Penn State five times in 2017-18, winning the first four before losing in 2OT at the Big Ten conference tournament in Detroit. This weekend is a match-up between the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament champions, both of whom are ranked in the top 11 of the USCHO poll.
Line Combinations:
For the 78th consecutive time Eric Schierhorn is Minnesota's starting goaltender. That total ties John Lothrop's 1964-1966 Gopher goaltending record.
"There's been a lot of good goalies here," he said. "It signifies durability. It's a little easier in college than pro or juniors, but I'm just happy that Don (Lucia) has stuck by me. I feel really good."
Schierhorn, coming off his 9th career shutout Saturday (3rd-most in the modern era behind Kellen Briggs and Adam Wilcox), put in a lot of work over the summer and said he can feel being more in control. He believes he played better last Friday than Saturday, giving credit to his defense.
They'll both be tested against a Nittany Lions squad known for shooting the puck from here, there and everywhere.
"They shoot a lot and work hard," said Schierhorn. "Rebound control is the biggest thing. They step inside the blue line and they fire on you and are looking for rebounds. If I can suck everything up or put them in the corner it'll be difficut for them to create offense. I think that's key for me and the defense."
Unfortunately for Minnesota, captain Tyler Sheehy is out Friday night. The junior, who had 53 points last season while dealing with a back issue, missed practice Wednesday although head Don Lucia was hopeful he'd be healthy to play against Penn State. Brannon McManus takes his spot with Tommy Novak and Leon Bristedt.
Minnesota is listing Sheehy as week-to-week.
Penn State is without its best freshman forward, Evan Barratt. The 3rd round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks was ruled out this weekend with an upper body injury.
University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
Forwards:
Brent Gates Jr. (#10) - Mike Szmatula (#9) - Jack Ramsey (#16)
Rem Pitlick (#15) - Casey Mittelstadt (#21) - Scott Reedy (#19)
Leon Bristedt (#18) - Tommy Novak (#17) - Brannon McManus (#7)
Ryan Norman (#23) - Darian Romanko (#26) - Joey Marooney (#12)
Defense:
Steve Johnson (#4) - Jack Glover (#3)
Ryan Lindgren (#5) - Jack Sadek (#2)
Ryan Zuhlsdorf (#20) - Tyler Nanne (#29)
Goaltenders:
Eric Schierhorn (#37)
Brock Kautz (#1)
Nick Lehr (#34)
Penn State Nittany Lions
Forwards
Denis Smirnov (#25) - Nate Sucese (#14) - Brandon Biro (#10)
James Robinson (#7) - Nikita Palychev (#13) - Blake Gober (#23)
Brett Murray (#18) - Alex Limoges (#9) - Liam Folkes (#26)
Alec Marsh (#28) - Chase Berger (#8) - Andrew Sturtz (#16)
Defense
Cole Hults (#2) - Erik Autio (#2)
Derian Hamilton (#19) - Trevor Hamilton (#11)
Kris Myllari (#4) - James Gobetz (#6)
Goaltenders
Peyton Jones (#31)
Chris Funkey (#33)
Matt Erlichman (#30)
Italics indicates starter
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