Well, that didn’t take long.
After failing to lock down its third straight Big Ten regular-season title when it left Ohio State last weekend with out a win, and subsequently fell out of No. 1 in both major polls and the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index, Michigan State flexed its muscle at Minnesota on Thursday night to end any lingering doubt.
Senior Tiernan Shoudy had two goals and an assist, and freshmen Porter Martone and Ryker Lee both scored two goals as the Spartans blew out the Gophers on their home ice for a 7-1 victory to clinch their place atop league standings over rival Michigan.
However, with the win, Michigan State not only secured top seeding in the Big Ten Tournament, which will be completely played on campus sites, and the first-round bye into the semifinals, but moved back up to No. 1 in NPI heading into Friday’s regular season finale.
While the No. 1-overall seeding in the NCAA Tournament will likely be determined by how Michigan and Michigan Stare fare in the conference tournament, and what No. 3 North Dakota does in the NCHC Tournament, all three teams are pretty much assured of a top regional seeding when the brackets are revealed during the March 22 selection show.
However, some other games Thursday night might have had a big impact on the botton end of the 16-team NCAA Tournament field:
• Wisconsin also had a statement game, scoring four goals in the third period to defeat Penn State 7-3, and clinched home ice for the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. While it hosts Ohio State at the Kohl Center to start the postseason, Michigan will face visiting Notre Dame, while Penn State will get Minnesota at home.
• Boston College fell to fourth place in Hockey East and may have done some serious damage to its NCAA Tournament hopes with a 2-1 loss at hard-charging Massachusetts. The Eagles subsequently dropped to No. 15 in NPI. Boston College has lost three straight since sweeping Connecticut on Feb. 20-21, but the Huskies have bounced back into second place in the league standings at 41 points, just ahead of UMass (40), and BC (39). On Saturday, UConn is at Providence, UMass is at UNH, and Northeastern is at Boston College for the final regular-season games in all of college hockey this season.
• Tristan Fraser scored two goals while Tyler Muszelik made 27 saves as UConn finished out its home schedule with a 4-1 win over New Hampshire. Combined with Boston College’s loss, the Huskies moved up to No. 13 in NPI. They were the last team out in our most recent bracketology earlier this week.
Finally, on the women’s side, No. 2 Ohio State shut out No. 4 Minnesota at Lee & Penn Anderson Arena in St. Paul, Minn. to advance to the 2026 WCHA Final Faceoff Championship against No. 1 Wisconsin. Kelly Gorbatenko and Kirsten Simms both had two goals as UW defeated Minnesota State 7-2. The Badgers and Buckeyes have met in the last three national championship games.
The moment the Spartans became back-to-back-to-back @bigten champs 🙌 pic.twitter.com/IFd98x6I01
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) March 6, 2026
Puck Drop: Friday, March 6, 2026
• The Ottawa Senators acquired former New Hampshire left wing Warren Foegele and a conditional 2026 third-round pick from the Los Angeles Kings for a 2026 second-round pick and a conditional 2026 third-round pick. The Senators subsequently traded left wing David Perron to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a conditional fourth-round draft pick. The 2026 NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
• Former Alaska Fairbanks defenseman Colton Parayko reportedly declined to waive his no-trade clause with the St. Louis Blues, who had an agreement to trade him to Buffalo as part of a deal including prospect defenseman Radim Mrtka and a first-round draft pick.
• From Breakaway On SI: Former St. Cloud State forward Nic Dowd was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, which hasn’t gone over well in the Washington locker room. However, the Capitals, who are just four points out of the wild-card picture in the Eastern Conference, got a lot back for the 35-year-old: goalie prospect Jesper Vikman, a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Men’s Non-Tournament Thursday Scores
Big Ten
Notre Dame 5, Ohio State 4 (OT)
No. 11 Wisconsin 7, No. 6 Penn State 3
No. 2 Michigan State 7, Minnesota 1
Hockey East
Merrimack 5, UMass Lowell 3
No. 20 Massachusetts 2, No. 13 Boston College 1
No. 15 Connecticut 4, New Hampshire 1
Non-Conference
United Collegiate Hockey Cup
At Maryland Heights, Mo.
Stonehill 3, Alaska Anchorage 0
Lindenwood 5, LIU 4
College Hockey Friday Schedule
Big Ten
Notre Dame at Ohio State, 6:30 p.m. ET
No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 6 Penn State, 7 p.m. ET
No. 2 Michigan State at Minnesota, 7 p.m., CT
Non-Conference
United Collegiate Hockey Cup
At Maryland Heights, Mo.
Stonehill vs. Alaska, 3 p.m. CT
Long Island vs. Alaska-Anchorage, 7 p.m. CT
Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.
AHA Tournament
First Round
Tuesday, March 3
Mercyhurst 5, Canisus 2
Niagara 5, Army 4
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Mercyhurst at Bentley, 7 p.m. ET
Niagara at Sacred Heart, 7 p.m. ET
Air Force at Robert Morris, 7 p.m. ET
RIT at Holy Cross, 7 p.m. ET
CCHA Tournament
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Lake Superior State at No. 17 St. Thomas, 7 p.m. CT
Bemidji State at No. 14 Augustana, 7 p.m. CT
Ferris State at No. 16 Minnesota State, 7 p.m.
Bowling Green at Michigan Tech, 7 p.m.
ECAC Tournament
Opening Round
Friday, March 6
St. Lawrence at Harvard, 7 p.m. ET
RPI at Clarkson, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 7
Brown at Union, 5 p.m. ET
Yale at Colgate, 7 p.m. ET
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 13 (through Sunday)
Lowest remaining seed at No. 7 Quinnipiac, 7 p.m. ET
Second-lowest remaining seed at No. 11 Dartmouth, 7 p.m. ET
Second-highest remaining seed at No. 9 Cornell, 7 p.m. ET
Highest-remaining seed at Princeton, 7 p.m.
NCHC Tournament
Quarterfinals
Best of 3
Friday, March 6 (through Sunday)
Colorado College at Western Michigan, 7 p.m. ET
Miami at Denver, 7 p.m. MT
St. Cloud State at Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m. CT
Omaha at North Dakota, 7 p.m., CT
Women’s Conference Tournaments
AHA Tournament
Saturday, February 28
No. 12 Mercyhurst 3, Lindenwood 2, 2OT
No. 3 Penn State 2, Syracuse 1
Championship
Saturday, March 7
No. 12 Mercyhurst at No. 3 Penn State, 2 p.m. ET
ECAC Tournament
Semifinals
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Friday, March 6
No. 8 Yale vs. No. 11 Cornell, 4 p.m. ET
No. 6 Quinnipiac vs. No. 10 Princeton, 7 p.m. ET
Championship
At Lake Placid, N.Y.
Saturday, March 7
Semifinal winners, 5 p.m. ET
Hockey East Tournament
Semifinals
Tuesday, March 3
No. 7 Connecticut 6, Holy Cross 1
No. 5 Northeastern 3, Vermont 1
Championship
Saturday, March 7
No. 7 Connecticut at No. 5 Northeastern, 2:30 p.m. CT
NEWHA Tournament
Semifinals
Wednesday, March 4
Saint Anselm 2, Assumption 1
Franklin Pierce 2, Stonehill 1 (2OT)
Championship
Saturday, March 7
Saint Anselm at Franklin Pierce, 7 p.m. ET
WCHA Tournament
Semifinals
Thursday, March 5
At St. Paul, Minn.
No. 1 Wisconsin 7, No. 4 Minnesota State, 2
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 3 Minnesota 0
Championship
Saturday, March 7
At St. Paul, Minn.
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 2 Ohio State, BTN, 2 p.m. CT
Hockey Quote of the Day
“Ice hockey is a form of disorderly conduct in which the score is kept.”
Doug Larson, columnist
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We’ll Leave You With This …
Who hired the UMass control room for the Minnesota state tournament? https://t.co/tI20fVb3JQ
— Chris Vogel (@ChrisVogel26) March 6, 2026
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