MSU hockey looks to stay atop Big Ten in home series with Notre Dame
The Michigan State hockey team gets one more chance before the Christmas break to tighten its grip on first place in the Big Ten standings.
The No. 7-ranked Spartans host No. 20 Notre Dame for a pair of games this weekend at Munn Arena before an 18-day layoff.
MSU (10-4-2 overall, 5-1-2 Big Ten) sits atop the leage race with 19 points, one ahead of No. 6 Wisconsin. The standings tightened last weekend when MSU did not play and the Badgers swept their series with Ohio State.
The Spartans were last in action over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend when they earned three points with a shootout win and an overtime loss at No. 10 Minnesota.
"Coming off a bye week, looking back at the trip to Minnesota, I think we learned a lot about our team there," MSU coach Adam Nightingale said. "I really liked a lot of what we did. We would've liked to get more points, but the first night we came back three different times and the next night we showed a lot of resiliency to tie it up late.
"Now, we've had a really good couple weeks of practice here, taking advantage of our guys are getting ahead in school and also pushing our guys. We're looking forward to get back on the ice this weekend."
This week's opponent, Notre Dame, is in third place in the Big Ten with 15 points. The Fighting Irish (8-6-2 overall, 4-2-2 Big Ten) are coming off a home split with Michigan.
The last time these teams met in March, MSU earned its first ever Big Ten tournament game and series win by winning two of three games in South Bend.
The Irish always present a challenge with their tight defensive system — which is allowing just 2.44 goals per game — under veteran coach Jeff Jackson.
"They're very consistent. You look at college hockey coaches, Jeff and his staff are right at the top," Nightingale said. "Every year they're a good team and program. There's no easy offense against them and their ability to create offense, they do a good job of it. It'll be a really good test for us."
While the Irish are known for their tight checking, they do have some weapons offensively. Senior forward Landon Slaggert has a team-leading 12 goals and 16 points. Three others — defenseman Drew Bavaro and forwards Patrick Moynihan and Tyler Carpenter — all have four goals apiece.
Notre Dame's penalty-kill unit is ranked second in the Big Ten, but its power play unit is at the bottom of the conference.
Graduate senior Ryan Bischel, one of the nation's top goaltenders, will likely be in net for both games for the Irish. He has 93.1% save percentage entering the weekend.
MSU will host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Friday and at 6 p.m. Saturday. Both games can be streamed on BTN-plus, and radio listeners can tune in to both on WJIM 1240-AM.
Spartans heading to World Juniors
MSU had five players selected to participate in the World Junior Camps in mid-December in hopes to represent their respective countries. Forward Isaac Howard, defenseman Patrick Geary and goaltender Trey Augustine all received Team USA invitations. Defenseman Maxim Strbak (Slovakia) and forward Tommi Mannisto (Finland) also received invites.
The players who make the cut after the camps would play in the IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Sweden. Those players would be absent for MSU's two games in the Great Lakes Invitational (Dec. 28-29) and potentially in its exhibition with the U.S. National Team Development Program the following week.
"It's pretty sweet. It's a lot of guys and three different countries is pretty special," said Howard, a transfer who has already matched his freshman season total in points at Minnesota-Duluth with 17. "It would be exciting to go over there and represent the country. It'll be a really good team and to have a good opportunity to win a gold medal would be really fun."
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU hockey looks to stay atop Big Ten in home series with Notre Dame
