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Tournament Predictions #3 B1G

StateofHockey78

New member
Less to do here with the fact the playoffs started last week. Feel free to add opinions and your predictions!

Semi's

Michigan State wins over OSU - I don't think OSU matches up as well with State as they do with Wisconsin. It can't be denied though, OSU took 3 of 4 from Wisco recently and had a late season split with Michigan State as well. OSU has been a pairwise wrecking ball for B1G teams this month. Valiant effort, but I think the run ends here for OSU. 4-2 MSU.

*Bias disclaimer* - I'm a gopher fan, I'll do my best to be objective, but this definitely has a slight aroma of homer flavor. I will say up front, very little is going to separate the three teams in terms of who comes out on top. (MN, MI, MiSt)

Minnesota wins over Michigan 4-3 in OT. I'd be a lot more confident in MN exercising the playoff demons against Michigan had it not been for game 2 against PSU. Up to the playoff I think MN has been the strongest team in the B1G in the 2nd half. Very consistent results and several tough road series. However, just when I think they've got all pistons firing they have a blip. I could argue that Snuggerud getting tossed from the game early in the first period contributed to struggling with jumbled line combo's and played a part of them not looking good Saturday. I think that would just be an excuse for being outshot 35-7 in periods 2 & 3 where they had very little energy outside of Jaxon Nelson. It was a miracle named Justen Close that MN pulled out the win on Saturday. A win by Michigan here would put them in great position to improve/solidify their Pairwise position and set up a potential MI vs Mich St final and I think Michigan is going to come in very confident.

Final

Minnesota wins over Michigan State 3-2. These two teams have played some great games this year and you could flip a coin as to who comes out victorious. I think MN has probably had the best results of any team in the B1G against Michigan State. MN was 2-1-1 in the regular season which included a late 3rd period rally by Michigan State in a game where MN was up 2-0. I think the playoff experience, the desire for the seniors to finally hang a B1G playoff banner, and the red-hot play of Jaxon Nelson makes the difference against a very good Michigan State team. I believe this is the beginning of the rise of Michigan State as a consistent player in the B1G, especially if they can hold onto Augustine for a few years.
 
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