Four Big Ten teams will be in action this week, as Michigan and Penn State both have byes. Three teams — Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State — will be tested with some out-of-conference matchups.

The Gophers should have an easy time facing Notre Dame, but the Badgers, who are winless this season, will take on rival North Dakota. To make things more difficult, the freshman-heavy Badgers also haven’t played a game in two weeks.

Michigan State continues the Big Ten-Hockey East Challenge with a trip to New Hampshire, its first since 1982. Michigan State, a team seldom known for offense, will face a Wildcat team that allowed eight goals in its last game.

Last weekend, the Buckeyes earned their first win since the season opener. They’ll face Nebraska-Omaha, which hasn’t lost since opening weekend and has two of the nation’s top scorers.

The Buckeyes, Spartans and Badgers have all struggled this season, and they should be the most tested teams in out-of-conference play this week.

Wisconsin (0-4-0) vs. North Dakota (5-1-1): Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. CT; Nov 8 at 7 p.m. CT

The Badgers have been off for two weeks and will have to face a team that’s been playing over that span. On Monday, Mike Eaves told media that it’ll be hard jumping back into game pace. Based on the press conference transcript, he’s well aware of how difficult things are for the Badgers right now, but said the team has improved on some areas in their two weeks of practice.

Wisconsin and North Dakota last met in the NCAA tournament, when North Dakota beat the Badgers 5-2. It was quite a couple of weeks, because North Dakota only made the NCAA tournament because Wisconsin beat Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game last season. If Ohio State had won, the Buckeyes would’ve earned an automatic bid and Wisconsin would’ve earned an at-large bid — leaving bubble team North Dakota on the outside looking in.

I thought Wisconsin had a solid goalkeeping situation with Joel Runpel, but he’s had a rough start to the season. Eaves said the gap between Rumpel and Landon Peterson has closed.

North Dakota’s only loss of the season came against Bemidji State on Oct. 10 in North Dakota’s season opener. Since then, North Dakota has gone 4-0-1.

It’s North Dakota, and the only positive for the Badgers is this game is in Wisconsin and not North Dakota.

Prediction: North Dakota sweeps

Ohio State (2-3-1) vs. Nebraska-Omhaha (4-1-1): Nov. 7 at 7  p.m.; Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Last weekend, the Buckeyes earned their first win since their season opener. After a 3-3 tie on Friday night, they defeated Canisius 4-1. Ohio State’s struggling offense scored seven goals on the weekend, after recording just one goal a piece in its last three games.

Omaha has won three of its last four games, including a pair of wins over Western Michigan and a victory over Cornell. In its opening weekend, the Mavericks split a series with Minnesota State. Both Jake Guentzel and Austin Ortega have nine points for the Mavericks, while goalkeeper Ryan Massa has a .952 save percentage, tied for seventh in the nation.

Ohio State is still figuring out its goalkeeping situation, as Christian Frey and Matt Tomkins have each made three starts this season. So far this season, the Buckeyes have struggled to find offense and posses the puck. It’s still early in the season, but so far indications that it’s going to be a difficult team for the Buckeyes.

Prediction: Nebraska-Omaha sweeps

Michigan State (2-4-0) at UNH (2-4-0): Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

After three one-goal losses and scoring once in their past three games, the Spartans netted four goals in a win over Ferris State. Michigan State’s top line of Matt Berry, Mackenzie MacEachern and Michael Ferrantino lead the scoring with 17 points total.

The Wildcats aren’t the strongest team in Hockey East. They lost their last two games to UMass Lowell by a combined 10-2 score, surrendering eight goals on Saturday. UNH’s two wins came over Michigan and Colorado College, one a 5-1 victory at Yost. Their goalkeeping took a hit this season, as the Wildcats no longer have Casey DeSmith.

The Spartans are notorious for low-scoring games, gritty defense and minimal offensive power. But they’re a fairly consistent team — for the most part, you know what you’ll get from them. While the Spartans have struggled to win this season, they have some pluses — like a good goalkeeper.

Prediction: Michigan State sweeps

Minnesota (5-1-0) vs. Notre Dame (5-2-1): Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.; Nov. 9 at 4 p.m.

The Gophers suffered their first loss of the season last Friday, dropping a road game against St. Cloud State. But Minnesota came home to win the second game of the set 4-3 in overtime.

Minnesota is one of the strongest teams in the country, but they’ll be without two defensemen for the next few weeks. Brady Skjei suffered a lower-body injury last weekend and will miss a few weeks, while Travis Boyd will miss around a month, per Minnesota coach Don Lucia.

Notre Dame’s Mario Lucia, son of Minnesota’s Don Lucia, is fifth in the country in scoring with 10 points. While the Irish have a seemingly impressive record, they haven’t faced any quality competition so far this season. Notre Dame has defeated Lake Superior State, Niagara and Vermont. The fighting Irish are unbeaten in their last six, after losing its season-opening games to RPI and Minnesota-Duluth.

Losing Skjei and Boyd hurts Minnesota, but the Gophers are one of the most well-rounded teams in the country. Notre Dame hasn’t beaten any quality competition yet this season, and the Gophers have won 15 straight on their home ice.

Prediction: Minnesota sweeps

Thursday, November 6th, 2014 - 10:17 am | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings