By Jacob Messing

A strong weekend of Big Ten hockey has seen five of the conference’s seven teams earn a top-20 ranking heading into next weekend.

Minnesota leads the way at No. 5, followed by No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 16 Ohio State, and No. 17 Penn State.

In 14 games spread across 12 separate series, the Big Ten went a collective 10-4 over the weekend; six of those clashes were streamed right here on FloHockey.

Penn State Splits With Michigan, Fails To Meet Meet Expectations

After a 25-12-2 record and the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, Penn State hockey was buoyed — or, perhaps in this case, burdened — by heightened expectations. The Nittany Lions split their third-straight series of the season against the Michigan Wolverines.

Penn State trailed for more than 46 minutes in Friday’s game versus Michigan but overcame a deficit three separate times.

The Nittany Lions had a two-goal third period, courtesy of Alex Limoges and Chase Berger, which forced overtime, during which PSU forward Blake Gober scored the winner just 53 seconds into the extra frame for his first of the season.

Wolverines forward Cooper Marody scored a goal and added two assists in the loss, but came out just as strong the following day with three assists in Saturday’s 5-2 win.

The 4-4-0 Nittany Lions have lost the second game in each of their past three series.

Penn State fell to No. 17 in the rankings. They visit a 2-2-2 Mercyhurst team this weekend, where the Lions will look to get their season back on track in a search for consecutive wins.

A fun weekend at Munn. #victoryformsu pic.twitter.com/enqkhNWfB0

— MSU_Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 29, 2017

Revenge Mission A Success For Michigan State

A year ago, Michigan State was embarrassed in a series loss to Lake Superior State by a combined score of 13-4 over two games.

The Spartans didn’t let that happen again.

Freshman Mitchell Lewandowski tallied a goal and an assist over the weekend while Taro Hirose and Cody Milan each added three assists. Lewandowski and Hirose each own nine points through six games on the season.

David Keefer and Mitch Eliot recorded their first career goals in the second game, which the Spartans dominated with four second-period goals on their way to a 6-0 shutout.

Sophomore John Lethemon recorded his second career shutout and gave up three goals on 34 shots over the weekend for a .911 save percentage.

MSU improved to 4-2 on the season as new coach Danton Cole has pushed his team and received contribution throughout the lineup. They’re especially excited about the production of Lewandowski.

“I think there’s a lot more there. He’s just starting to get there,” Cole told Neil Koepke of MSUSpartans.com, speaking about the freshman. “If you look at his game now and see where he is at the end of the year and next year, he’s going to keep getting better.”

So slick. We're all tied up, 3-3. pic.twitter.com/bdAc2BpZiG

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) October 29, 2017

Top-10 Clash Yields Mixed Results For No. 5 Wisconsin

Over the weekend No. 5 Wisconsin split its second-straight series, falling to No. 7 St. Lawrence in the second game.

The Saints’ Callum Cusinato scored both goals in the first game, a 4-2 victory for the Badgers that saw Wyatt Kalynuk, Jake Linhart, and Will Johnson each record two points.

The second game was fiercer, as Cusinato opened the scoring. Ryan Wagner had two goals and an assist for Wisconsin, which locked it up 3-3 just 32 seconds into the final frame. They quickly fell flat, however, allowing St. Lawrence to tally three unanswered goals for the 6-3 win.

The Badgers host No. 4 North Dakota next weekend. A positive result would be a significant boost for Wisconsin, who looks sluggish at time and can’t break .500 (2-2 overall) at home.

Warmups complete! Buckeyes vs. Colonials getting close! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/v4foeFvK8n

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) October 28, 2017

Ohio State Pummels Robert Morris

The Ohio State Buckeyes beat up the Robert Morris Colonials over the weekend in a home-and-home series that kicked off in Columbus.

In the first battle, Buckeyes’ Matthew Weis and leading scorer Tanner Laczynski each had a goal and two assists, leading OSU to a 5-3 win. Game two saw Ohio State barrage Robert Morris with 40 shots against the Colonials’ mere 14. Laczynski added two more goals in the 3-1 win.

Now ranked No. 16, OSU hasn’t been beaten in six games now, holding a 4-0-2 record in that span and a 5-1-2 record overall. Ohio State hosts No. 10 Notre Dame this weekend for a Big Ten matchup.

Keep an eye out for previews on men’s series Notre Dame vs OSU, Ferris State vs UM, and women’s series Wisconsin vs OSU later this week. Each series and many more games will be streamed live this weekend right here on FloHockey.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.