The Frozen Four gets back underway on Thursday, April 7 with the semifinals of the NCAA men’s ice hockey tournament. It’s been a pretty long layoff between rounds as the hockey teams were waiting for the NCAA basketball tournament to wrap up. Now that Kansas has been crowned champions, we can shift back over to hockey. There are four teams remaining and the first matchup features No. 1 Denver and No. 1 Michigan. The late game is No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 1 Minnesota State. Let’s go over how to watch and some background on the matchup.
No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 1 Minnesota State
Game time: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPNU
Live stream: Watch ESPN app and ESPN+
The Golden Gophers shut out No. 1 Western Michigan to advance to the semifinal. Justen Close made 24 saves while Blake McLaughlin, Aaron Huglen and Matthews Knies all scored goals for Minnesota. Center Ben Meyers had two assists in the win and was named a nominee for the 2022 Hobey Baker award. Meyers had 36 points in 30 games this season while winning 58.4 percent of faceoffs.
The Mavericks also shutout their opponent — Notre Dame — in the quarterfinals to advance. Goalie Dryden McKay had 23 saves in the 1-0 victory and is also a Hobey Baker nominee, one of three goalies to have that honor this season. McKay is a nominee for the award for a third straight season. He went 34-4-0 with a 1.28 GAA and .933 save percentage this season.