MINNEAPOLIS — When Mason Jobst and Dakota Joshua gave a stick salute to the Ohio State pep band and skated off the ice of Scheels Arena in Fargo in March, it was clear that an important era in Buckeyes hockey had come to a quiet end.

Those high-scoring seniors, with the help of goalies Sean Romeo and Tommy Nappier, had sparked a resurgence of the Ohio State program, leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2018 and claiming the program’s first Big Ten regular season title last winter.

After a 2-0 loss to Denver in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA playoffs, it was over and Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik was starting over.

On Friday and Saturday nights in Columbus, Ohio, the Minnesota Gophers will get their first experience with the “new” Buckeyes, for whom stingy defense and Nappier’s goaltending is the calling card.

“The best thing about our team is our structure and the way we play defense together,” Rohlik said this week, with the Buckeyes coming off a sweep of Michigan State when Nappier allowed one goal in 120 minutes of hockey, and was named the Big Ten’s third Star of the Week. “From our goaltender on out, we try not to give up much. If you play that way, you’re going to create offense and give yourself a chance to win a lot of hockey games. That’s the way we’ve played this year.”

For a Gophers team that heads to Ohio State having gone 1-4-1 in its last six games, and still looking for its offensive footing this season, the challenge is clear. They need to find a way to score goals, and spark some of their usual offensive suspects who have been quiet lately. A prime example is sophomore co-captain Sammy Walker, who had seven points in the Gophers’ first five games, and has two points (a goal and an assist) since.

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Columbus might not be the best place to go looking for goals these days, as the Buckeyes — ranked 7th and 8th in the two national polls this week — lead the Big Ten in goals-against (1.93 per game) and in penalty killing (86.3%).

“They’ve found their niche. They’ve found the style they want to play,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “Their demeanor is being very strong defensively, a great penalty kill, strong defense and slug games out. And they do it very well.”

It will be a family reunion for the Marooney clan of Chaska. Joey Marooney is a senior forward for the Gophers, while his younger brother, James, is a freshman defenseman for the Buckeyes.

“I broke the guys down after practice, telling them this was a big weekend for me and my family, and they were all fired up,” Joey said this week, adding that at least a half-dozen members of the Marooney family are making the trip to Ohio State to see the showdown.

Ohio State men’s hockey shares Value City Arena with the school’s basketball program, and the Buckeye hoopsters have a Saturday afternoon home game with Penn State, which has led to some creative scheduling to accommodate the ice. Both Gophers-Buckeyes hockey games will be 7 p.m. starts, with Big Ten Network televising the Friday game and BTN Plus providing a video stream on Saturday.