University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, February 6
3M Arena at Mariucci
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Ohio State
Players Mentioned
Goaltender
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Defense
/ Men's Hockey
Forward
/ Men's Hockey
Photo by: Claudia Staut
Gophers Welcome Buckeyes for B1G Battle Feb. 6-7
2/5/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Final series of homestand
MINNEAPOLIS - The Golden Gophers men's hockey team continues their four-game homestand inside 3M Arena at Mariucci Feb. 6-7 as they take on Ohio State.
Coming off a home sweep of rival Wisconsin, Minnesota looks to keep the momentum going Friday night at 7 p.m. live on FOX9 and streaming through B1G+ before closing the conference series Saturday night at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Fans can also tune into an audio broadcast each night via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
WATCH THE PRIDE ON ICE
Minnesota and FOX9 have partnered for a local television broadcast deal for the third-straight year that will air 17 home games during the 2025-26 campaign presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. This year's home broadcasts on FOX9 and FOX9+ will again feature a 30-minute Pride on Ice Pre-Game Show presented by M Health Fairview as well as a post-game show recapping the action presented by RBC Wealth Management. The Gophers will have 10 games broadcast on Big Ten Network as well as one on FS1 this season.
LAST TIME ON THE ICE
Minnesota snapped its seven-game skid in emphatic fashion with a rivalry sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers opened the weekend with a 4-1 victory Friday, getting power-play goals and multi-point efforts from LJ Mooney and Erik Påhlsson to secure their fourth top-10 win of the season. The statement continued Saturday as Minnesota erupted for an 8-4 win behind five special-teams goals, with ten players recording points and seven posting multi-point nights in front of a sold-out crowd. Ziemer and Påhlsson led the way again, while Mooney joined the pair with each recording three points as the Maroon and Gold completed the Big Ten Conference sweep and upset.
PÅHLSSON'S PRODUCTION STAR
Påhlsson delivered a breakout weekend to power the Gophers to a sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin and earned the first weekly award of his career as the Big Ten Second Star of the Week. The sophomore totaled five points on three goals and two assists with multi-point performances in both games. His outburst nearly doubled his season production, entering the series with six points over his previous 21 contests. The Swede scored the first power-play goal of his career Friday, the eventual game winner, then followed with a season-high three points Saturday, including his first multi-goal game as a Gopher. He now has points in five of eight career games against the Badgers, accounting for 11 of his 29 career points and both of his game-winning goals.
ZIEMER KEEPS LIGHTING THE LAMP
Brodie Ziemer is operating at a point-per-game pace and is leading the Gophers in scoring with 27 points in 27 games, while his 10 power-play goals are tied for the NCAA's top spot. The sophomore closed 2025 on a blistering run, lighting the lamp in six of the final seven outings with a pair of three-game goal streaks and piled up eight goals and 11 points across that stretch. The Chaska, Minn., native delivered back-to-back multi-goal efforts at Ohio State in December to earn B1G First Star honors (Dec. 9). Ziemer has continued that trend in 2026, finding the back of the net six times in eight games for a career-best 18 goals, which ranks fifth in the country. He has a knack for lighting the lamp on Saturday where he has scored in six of the past seven Saturday outings dating back to November, including five consecutive. His two-goal effort in the series finale versus Wisconsin (Jan. 31) extended his goal-scoring streak to three games, his third streak of three games this year, and included the first shorthanded marker of his tenure.
LUCA A SHUTOUT STAR
Luca Di Pasquo stopped 52-of-53 shots he faced to lead the Gophers to a series sweep of Notre Dame and was named the B1G Second Star of the Week (Nov. 11). The Livonia, Mich., native recorded his first shutout with the Maroon and Gold, third of his career, and also added an assist in the third period for the first point of his NCAA tenure. The junior continued that trend by making 33 saves in the series finale against the Irish before backstopping Minnesota with a brilliant, career-best 47-save performance to secure an upset over No. 4 Denver (Nov. 29). Despite dropping all four games against the nation's top two teams in the middle of January, Di Pasquo made 171 saves, 42.8 per game, and owned a .924 save percentage, while his .931 save percentage in league play ranks third among all B1G netminders.
LAMB KEEPS FEASTING
Senior captain Brody Lamb has been a driving force behind the Gophers' offense, ranking second on the team with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists, one point shy of his career high of 27 set in 2023-24. He reached double-digit goals for the third-straight season with the 15th power-play tally of his career versus Michigan (Jan. 17). The Byron, Minn., native posted consecutive three-point outings at Denver (Nov. 29) and Ohio State (Dec. 4), recording four multi-point performances over the final eight games of 2025 before adding his team-leading eighth multi-point effort of the season against Wisconsin (Jan. 31). His two-point night to close the sweep of the Badgers pushed his point streak to five games, matching the longest streak of his career, after posting a similar stretch from Oct. 18-Nov. 1 of last season.
MOONEY MAGIC
LJ Mooney's breakaway goal to close the sweep of the Fighting Irish on Nov. 8 highlighted the speed and skill of the Gophers' rookie. It was the first multi-point night of his young career, and he has barely slowed down since, tallying five more multi-point performances to put up 17 points in the last 14 games. The West Mifflin, Pa., native has at least one point in 12 of 14 series played, totaling six goals and a team-leading 18 assists, including 15 points on Minnesota's 24 total power-play goals where his vision and creativity are on full display. His career-high three assists versus Wisconsin (Jan. 31) stretched Mooney's point streak to six games, the longest of any Gopher this season.
LUKE DOING IT ALL
Captain Luke Mittelstadt has opened his final season playing some of the best hockey of his career, putting up 13 points over his last 16 appearances and is playing more than 26 minutes per game. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native is second for the Gophers with 16 assists, tops in the B1G and seventh among all NCAA defensemen, with 13 of those points coming while running the blue line on the man advantage. His first goal of the year, a power-play game winner against Notre Dame (Nov. 8), ended a 23-game scoring drought and capped the series sweep, while his second goal was also the winner to finish a B1G sweep of Wisconsin (Jan. 31).
POWER PLAY POTENCY
After striking just four times in the first 13 games of the season, the power play has converted 20 times over their last 14 outings, including goals in six straight. That has risen the Gophers to second nationally at 30.8 percent as the 5-on-4 unit has surged thanks to Brodie Ziemer potting eight in that stretch. The 20 goals since Nov. 15 are the most by any team in the NCAA as Minnesota is converting at a 48.8 percent clip (20-for-41) during that span. Ziemer is tied with freshman LJ Mooney for the team lead with 15 points on the man advantage this year, while Brody Lamb and Luke Mittelstadt have also reached double-digit points at 14 and 13, respectively.
AN INSIDE LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes come to Dinkytown having dropped three of their last four outings but picked up one point in the B1G standings following an overtime loss at home versus No. 1 Michigan last Saturday and are 2-5-1 since the calendar flipped to 2026. OSU ranks just 54th in the NCAA in scoring defense, having allowed 3.6 goals per game, while its offense sits 34th at 2.9 goals per game. Davis Burnside and Jake Karabela are pacing the team's scoring behind 21 and 20 points, respectively, and Max Montes has a team-best 10 goals. Goaltender Kristoffer Eberly has six wins in net across 17 starts and posted a 3.34 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE BUCKEYES
Minnesota owns a 48-12-6 (.773) record in the all-time series versus Ohio State and that margin is even wider in home games for the Maroon and Gold at 26-3-3 (.859). The Gophers have won seven straight matchups inside 3M Arena at Mariucci and are 11-2-1 when facing the Buckeyes at home under the direction of Coach Motzko. Minnesota picked up four of a possible six points against OSU in early December winning the opener 6-3 before falling in overtime 6-5 in the final game before the holiday break. Brodie Ziemer accounted for four of the team's 11 goals during a five-point series in Columbus for the sophomore.
TOP 10 VICTORIES
Thanks to last weekend's sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin at home, the Gophers have now logged five victories over top-10 opponents, accounting for half of their total wins this season. The stretch began with a road triumph at No. 8 North Dakota on Oct. 18 and continued with a home victory over No. 5 Penn State on Nov. 21. Minnesota then delivered an upset of No. 4 Denver in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 29 to close the first half of the season, before the wins against the Badgers snapped a seven-game skid. The sweep marked the 51st and 52nd top-10 victories of Head Coach Bob Motzko's tenure and the 13th time his Gophers have swept a top-10 opponent.
HOME SWEET HOME ICE
Minnesota has posted a winning record at 3M Arena at Mariucci in 31 of the building's 32 seasons, with the only exception coming in 2010-11 when the team finished 9-10-3. Since then, the Gophers have built a 195-81-19 home record and recorded double-digit home wins in 14-straight seasons. Last year, the Maroon and Gold went 15-4-2 on home ice, closing the regular season with seven wins in its final eight games. Under head coach Bob Motzko, the Gophers are 98-51-9 at 3M Arena at Mariucci, including a 76-34-4 mark over the last four years. That strong stretch has been fueled by Big Ten success, as Minnesota owns a 42-15-2 record in home conference games since the start of 2021.
Coming off a home sweep of rival Wisconsin, Minnesota looks to keep the momentum going Friday night at 7 p.m. live on FOX9 and streaming through B1G+ before closing the conference series Saturday night at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Fans can also tune into an audio broadcast each night via the Gopher Radio Network 103.5 FM/AM-1130 KTLK.
WATCH THE PRIDE ON ICE
Minnesota and FOX9 have partnered for a local television broadcast deal for the third-straight year that will air 17 home games during the 2025-26 campaign presented by Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union. This year's home broadcasts on FOX9 and FOX9+ will again feature a 30-minute Pride on Ice Pre-Game Show presented by M Health Fairview as well as a post-game show recapping the action presented by RBC Wealth Management. The Gophers will have 10 games broadcast on Big Ten Network as well as one on FS1 this season.
LAST TIME ON THE ICE
Minnesota snapped its seven-game skid in emphatic fashion with a rivalry sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers opened the weekend with a 4-1 victory Friday, getting power-play goals and multi-point efforts from LJ Mooney and Erik Påhlsson to secure their fourth top-10 win of the season. The statement continued Saturday as Minnesota erupted for an 8-4 win behind five special-teams goals, with ten players recording points and seven posting multi-point nights in front of a sold-out crowd. Ziemer and Påhlsson led the way again, while Mooney joined the pair with each recording three points as the Maroon and Gold completed the Big Ten Conference sweep and upset.
PÅHLSSON'S PRODUCTION STAR
Påhlsson delivered a breakout weekend to power the Gophers to a sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin and earned the first weekly award of his career as the Big Ten Second Star of the Week. The sophomore totaled five points on three goals and two assists with multi-point performances in both games. His outburst nearly doubled his season production, entering the series with six points over his previous 21 contests. The Swede scored the first power-play goal of his career Friday, the eventual game winner, then followed with a season-high three points Saturday, including his first multi-goal game as a Gopher. He now has points in five of eight career games against the Badgers, accounting for 11 of his 29 career points and both of his game-winning goals.
ZIEMER KEEPS LIGHTING THE LAMP
Brodie Ziemer is operating at a point-per-game pace and is leading the Gophers in scoring with 27 points in 27 games, while his 10 power-play goals are tied for the NCAA's top spot. The sophomore closed 2025 on a blistering run, lighting the lamp in six of the final seven outings with a pair of three-game goal streaks and piled up eight goals and 11 points across that stretch. The Chaska, Minn., native delivered back-to-back multi-goal efforts at Ohio State in December to earn B1G First Star honors (Dec. 9). Ziemer has continued that trend in 2026, finding the back of the net six times in eight games for a career-best 18 goals, which ranks fifth in the country. He has a knack for lighting the lamp on Saturday where he has scored in six of the past seven Saturday outings dating back to November, including five consecutive. His two-goal effort in the series finale versus Wisconsin (Jan. 31) extended his goal-scoring streak to three games, his third streak of three games this year, and included the first shorthanded marker of his tenure.
LUCA A SHUTOUT STAR
Luca Di Pasquo stopped 52-of-53 shots he faced to lead the Gophers to a series sweep of Notre Dame and was named the B1G Second Star of the Week (Nov. 11). The Livonia, Mich., native recorded his first shutout with the Maroon and Gold, third of his career, and also added an assist in the third period for the first point of his NCAA tenure. The junior continued that trend by making 33 saves in the series finale against the Irish before backstopping Minnesota with a brilliant, career-best 47-save performance to secure an upset over No. 4 Denver (Nov. 29). Despite dropping all four games against the nation's top two teams in the middle of January, Di Pasquo made 171 saves, 42.8 per game, and owned a .924 save percentage, while his .931 save percentage in league play ranks third among all B1G netminders.
LAMB KEEPS FEASTING
Senior captain Brody Lamb has been a driving force behind the Gophers' offense, ranking second on the team with 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists, one point shy of his career high of 27 set in 2023-24. He reached double-digit goals for the third-straight season with the 15th power-play tally of his career versus Michigan (Jan. 17). The Byron, Minn., native posted consecutive three-point outings at Denver (Nov. 29) and Ohio State (Dec. 4), recording four multi-point performances over the final eight games of 2025 before adding his team-leading eighth multi-point effort of the season against Wisconsin (Jan. 31). His two-point night to close the sweep of the Badgers pushed his point streak to five games, matching the longest streak of his career, after posting a similar stretch from Oct. 18-Nov. 1 of last season.
MOONEY MAGIC
LJ Mooney's breakaway goal to close the sweep of the Fighting Irish on Nov. 8 highlighted the speed and skill of the Gophers' rookie. It was the first multi-point night of his young career, and he has barely slowed down since, tallying five more multi-point performances to put up 17 points in the last 14 games. The West Mifflin, Pa., native has at least one point in 12 of 14 series played, totaling six goals and a team-leading 18 assists, including 15 points on Minnesota's 24 total power-play goals where his vision and creativity are on full display. His career-high three assists versus Wisconsin (Jan. 31) stretched Mooney's point streak to six games, the longest of any Gopher this season.
LUKE DOING IT ALL
Captain Luke Mittelstadt has opened his final season playing some of the best hockey of his career, putting up 13 points over his last 16 appearances and is playing more than 26 minutes per game. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native is second for the Gophers with 16 assists, tops in the B1G and seventh among all NCAA defensemen, with 13 of those points coming while running the blue line on the man advantage. His first goal of the year, a power-play game winner against Notre Dame (Nov. 8), ended a 23-game scoring drought and capped the series sweep, while his second goal was also the winner to finish a B1G sweep of Wisconsin (Jan. 31).
POWER PLAY POTENCY
After striking just four times in the first 13 games of the season, the power play has converted 20 times over their last 14 outings, including goals in six straight. That has risen the Gophers to second nationally at 30.8 percent as the 5-on-4 unit has surged thanks to Brodie Ziemer potting eight in that stretch. The 20 goals since Nov. 15 are the most by any team in the NCAA as Minnesota is converting at a 48.8 percent clip (20-for-41) during that span. Ziemer is tied with freshman LJ Mooney for the team lead with 15 points on the man advantage this year, while Brody Lamb and Luke Mittelstadt have also reached double-digit points at 14 and 13, respectively.
AN INSIDE LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes come to Dinkytown having dropped three of their last four outings but picked up one point in the B1G standings following an overtime loss at home versus No. 1 Michigan last Saturday and are 2-5-1 since the calendar flipped to 2026. OSU ranks just 54th in the NCAA in scoring defense, having allowed 3.6 goals per game, while its offense sits 34th at 2.9 goals per game. Davis Burnside and Jake Karabela are pacing the team's scoring behind 21 and 20 points, respectively, and Max Montes has a team-best 10 goals. Goaltender Kristoffer Eberly has six wins in net across 17 starts and posted a 3.34 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage.
HISTORY WITH THE BUCKEYES
Minnesota owns a 48-12-6 (.773) record in the all-time series versus Ohio State and that margin is even wider in home games for the Maroon and Gold at 26-3-3 (.859). The Gophers have won seven straight matchups inside 3M Arena at Mariucci and are 11-2-1 when facing the Buckeyes at home under the direction of Coach Motzko. Minnesota picked up four of a possible six points against OSU in early December winning the opener 6-3 before falling in overtime 6-5 in the final game before the holiday break. Brodie Ziemer accounted for four of the team's 11 goals during a five-point series in Columbus for the sophomore.
TOP 10 VICTORIES
Thanks to last weekend's sweep of No. 8/7 Wisconsin at home, the Gophers have now logged five victories over top-10 opponents, accounting for half of their total wins this season. The stretch began with a road triumph at No. 8 North Dakota on Oct. 18 and continued with a home victory over No. 5 Penn State on Nov. 21. Minnesota then delivered an upset of No. 4 Denver in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 29 to close the first half of the season, before the wins against the Badgers snapped a seven-game skid. The sweep marked the 51st and 52nd top-10 victories of Head Coach Bob Motzko's tenure and the 13th time his Gophers have swept a top-10 opponent.
HOME SWEET HOME ICE
Minnesota has posted a winning record at 3M Arena at Mariucci in 31 of the building's 32 seasons, with the only exception coming in 2010-11 when the team finished 9-10-3. Since then, the Gophers have built a 195-81-19 home record and recorded double-digit home wins in 14-straight seasons. Last year, the Maroon and Gold went 15-4-2 on home ice, closing the regular season with seven wins in its final eight games. Under head coach Bob Motzko, the Gophers are 98-51-9 at 3M Arena at Mariucci, including a 76-34-4 mark over the last four years. That strong stretch has been fueled by Big Ten success, as Minnesota owns a 42-15-2 record in home conference games since the start of 2021.
Cinematic Recap: Minnesota Sweeps Wisconsin
Wednesday, February 04
Brodie Ziemer Goal
Sunday, February 01
Highlights: Gophers 8, Wisconsin 4
Saturday, January 31
Highlights: Gophers 4, Wisconsin 1
Friday, January 30