After Big Ten play started last season, all teams are back to non-conference slates this Thanksgiving weekend. Each team is in action, and a few are on the East Coast. Minnesota, Michigan State and Penn State are making trips to Boston, New Jersey and New York.

This weekend should be easy for Minnesota and Michigan State. The Gophers will play Boston College and Northeastern, while the Spartans will head to Baker Rink and Princeton for the first time. Minnesota is on a two-game losing streak, its first of the season, but are facing a considerably different Boston College team than last year’s Frozen Four contestant.

After a split with Penn State, the Wolverines host RPI. Both teams have been inconsistent this season, but Michigan should at least be able to take one at home. After allowing eight goals last weekend, Penn State travels to MSG to face Cornell. Ohio State will participate in the Shillelagh Tournament and the Badgers host Ferris State.

Wisconsin is still winless, but they’ve played better of late. It’s hard to tell what kind of teams Ohio State and Michigan are due to inconsistency, although the Buckeyes looked fairly strong last week against Michigan State, and they could make a statement at the Shillelagh Tournament. The offense is coming for Ohio State, and their goalkeeping situation has settled down.

Michigan State (4-7-0) at Princeton (1-6-1): Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.; Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.

The Spartans embark on their first trip to Princeton this weekend. Michigan State leads the all-time series 5-0, which includes a sweep in East Lansing last season. Michigan State’s offense opened up in the series, scoring 12 goals and eight in an 8-2 win.

Michigan State’s biggest strength lies in goalkeeping and defense, but their top line of Matt Berry, Michael Ferrantino and Joe Cox has given the offense a boost. Berry and Ferrantino have 10 points each, while Hildebrand has a .917 save percentage.

Princeton is under new leadership this season, and has one win under coach Ron Fogarty. The Tigers are on a five-game losing streak and have been outscored 21-3 over that stretch. Aaron Ave and Ben Foster lead the team with three points each, while Colton Phinney has earned the brunt of starts. The offense should get a boost with Mike Ambrosia, one of the team’s leading scorers, expected to return this week.

The Tigers have trouble scoring as is, and it will be even harder to get a puck past the gritty Spartan defense and Hildebrand.

Prediction: Michigan State sweeps

Minnesota (7-3-0) at Boston College (7-5-0) at Nov. 28 at 5 p.m.; at Northeastern (2-9-1) at Nov. 29 at 6 p.m.

The Gophers are on their first losing streak of the season after getting swept by Minnesota-Duluth two weeks ago. Last week, Minnesota suffered an OT loss against the NTDP U-18 team, but it was just an exhibition game. Per Nate Wells, Brady Skjei will be making the trip to Boston, and Travis Boyd could be too.

The losses to Minnesota-Duluth were stunning, but I wouldn’t say the Gophers played terribly in either game. A Boston trip should be a reprieve, as Boston College and Northeastern aren’t as strong as last season.

BC has won three in a row, snapping a four-game losing streak. The Eagles recently defeated Maine, Massachusetts and Michigan State, but Minnesota will be a big step up in quality of play. After losing its top line, BC’s leading scorer is Teddy Doherty.

Northeastern is no longer backed by the Clay Witt of last season, which means this year has been difficult. But he’s started the last four games, when the Huskies won two of their last three. Witt’s save percentage is .904.

Minnesota has been struggling, but two losses doesn’t spell doom for one of the stronger teams in the country. They’ll get a big boost if Skjei comes back this weekend, and it should help the Gophers back to the W column.

Prediction: Minnesota sweeps

Wisconsin (0-8-0) vs. Ferris State (7-6-0): Nov. 28 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 29 at 9 p.m.

The Badgers are still winless, but if it’s any consolation they’ve played in less games than most other teams – except for the Ivies. It’s only been out-of-conference play for Wisconsin thus far.

Offense has struggled and so has goalkeeping and pretty much everything else. Jack Dougherty is injured and there was no update on him as of yesterday and if he’ll play this weekend. Joel Rumpel split his starts last weekend with Landon Peterson, and Rumpel has a .883 save percentage.

Ferris State entered the season as a returning power, but struggled a little bit early in the season. The Bulldogs are 5-3 in their last eight games, which includes a split with Big Ten opponent Michigan State. Matt Robertson’s 14 points lead the Bulldogs, while C.J. Motte has a .941 save percentage.

The key for Wisconsin’s success this season was supposed to be goalkeeping. Rumpel’s shakiness has made it hard for the young Badger team to find success.

Prediction: Wisconsin gets swept

Ohio State (4-7-1) vs. Western Michigan (3-6-1) at Nov. 29 at 4:05 p.m.; Union (6-5-1) or Notre Dame (6-6-2) TBA (Shillelagh Tournament)

The Buckeyes are coming off a 3-0 win over Michigan State and a series split. Ohio State’s play has picked up, with a victory and two close games against Bowling Green. Ohio State has used a goaltending tandem, although Matt Tomkins has a .917 save percentage. Leading the offense is Tanner Fritz, who has nine points.

The Broncos are winless in their last three games, last defeating Denver. They’ve played a difficult schedule so far, with tilts against Miami, St. Cloud State and Denver. Nolan LaPorte leads the offense with nine points, while Lukas Hafner has a .916 save percentage through nine games.

Don’t be fooled by Notre Dame’s string of five wins earlier in the season – the Irish are not as strong as last year. They’ve struggled against quality competition and have lost four of their last six  to Minnesota, Merrimack and UMass Lowell. Robbie Russo’s 12 points leads the offense, while Chad Katunar and Cal Petersen have shared goalkeeping duty. Katunar started the last two games and three of the last four.

Union’s in another interesting situation, and like Notre Dame lost many key players. The Dutchmen just snapped a six-game winless streak by beating Princeton 6-1, but Union failed to beat RPI, Dartmouth, Harvard and Quinnipiac. Alex Sakellaropoulos started two of the last three games, but Colin Stevens – last year’s starter – has started nine games and holds a .929 save percentage. Daniel Ciampini and Mike Vecchione lead Union with 16 points each.

I’m thinking of dubbing this the tournament of interesting teams. Both Union and Notre Dame have really struggled, although they’ve played some tough competition. The Broncos have as well, and Ohio State’s been playing better of late.

Prediction: Might as well pick out of a hat, but I’ll go with the Broncos. My second pick would be Ohio State. 

Michigan (5-6-0) vs. RPI (6-7-1): Nov. 28 at 7:35 p.m.; Nov. 30 at 7:35 p.m.

After defeating Penn State 8-1, the Wolverines host RPI. The Engineers had a rough start to the season, and Jason Kasdorf’s stellar play wasn’t enough to help RPI to a winning record. Things have picked up for Engineers, who’ve lost one of their last five games. Kasdorf, who has a .922 save percentage, was pulled from Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury. Scott Diebold has started twice this season and has appeared in four games with a .943 save percentage.

It’s hard to gauge what to expect from Michigan, as they’ve really been inconsistent this season. RPI’s been the same way. For the Wolverines, five of their eight goals against Penn State came in the third period, and a bunch were scored very late. The line of Dylan Larkin, Zach Hyman and Alex Kile has scored the most for Michigan this season. Zach Nagelvoort has started four straight games and has a .900 save percentage.

Yost is a difficult to place to play, which is why I find it hard for any team to sweep Michigan – no matter how inconsistent they’ve been.

Prediction: Split

Penn State (7-3-2) vs. Cornell (3-4-1) : Nov. 29 at 8 p.m.

The Nittany Lions return to action after splitting a series with Michigan and falling 8-1 to the Wolverines on Saturday. Penn State was on a four-game winning streak against AHA teams, but is 2-2 in its last four games.

Taylor Holstrom is tied for fourth in the country with 17 points, and he leads the Big Ten in scoring. After a season of Matthew Skoff starting, Penn State’s goalkeeping has turned to a rotation. Eamon McAdam started the last two games, but, Matthew Skoff is getting the nod this weekend, the Central Daily Times reported.

After a rough start to the the season when it took Cornell five games to finally get a win, the Big Red are 3-1 in their last four, which includes a pair of wins against Ivy foes Yale and Brown last weekend.

Prediction: Cornell wins

Thursday, November 27th, 2014 - 12:06 pm | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings