Michigan - Minnesota Preview

Who: #9 Minnesota at Michigan

Where: Yost Ice Arena

When: 1/9/15, 6:35pm, BTN - 1/10/15, 4:05pm, FS Detroit

About Minnesota

The Gophers are the best team in the Big Ten and it's not close. They're currently the only Big Ten team in contention for an at-large bid and they haven't put their full lineup on the ice for half of the season. The Gophers are fast, aggressive, highly skilled and strong defensively in front of their goaltender.

At forward Kyle Rau and Connor Reilly lead the team in goal scoring and the sophomore trio of Kloos, Cammarata and Fasching continue where they left off after impressive freshman seasons.

On the blueline the Gophers have an abundance of talent with upperclassmen Mike Reilly, Ben Marshall and young talent featuring Ryan Collins, Jack Glover, Jake Bischoff and Michael Brodzinski. The Gophers will also get their #1 defensemen Brady Skjei back from injury after missing a month. In net is All-World goaltender Adam Wilcox; he's started every game this season and will start both games this weekend.

Outlook

The Wolverines return Compher, Motte, Larkin and Werenski from World Juniors and will start Steve Racine in net. The scheduling is not a benefit to Michigan's cause, as a 4:05 game will be played Saturday while a 1pm game will take place at Crisler.

The importance of this series for Michigan is huge. They only have six remaining games at Yost this season and after this weekend will not be back until late February. Taking at least one game is a must.