PREVIEW: No. 7 Michigan State hosts No. 20 Notre Dame in two-game series
Michigan State’s ice hockey team stepped up to the challenge in a road trip to Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers two weekends ago. MSU spilt a two-game series with the Gophers, with both contests finding a winner in overtime. Now, after a week off, No. 7 Michigan State turns its focus onto No. 20 Notre Dame with the first to two games being played tonight at Munn Ice Arena (7 p.m./B1G+). The Irish are coming off a split with Michigan in South Bend this past weekend.
As was the case against Minnesota, if the Spartans want a chance to win the game and the series against Notre Dame, staying out of the penalty box is a must. Michigan State gave Minnesota 11 power play chances over the two games in Minneapolis. The Spartans only allowed the Gophers to capitalize once on the one-man advantage in the first game of the series, which ended with a 3-3 tie in regulation. The Spartans picked up the extra point after winning in a shootout. In the second game, Michigan State’s penalty kill wasn’t able to keep up when three of Minnesota’s five regulation goals came on the power play. The Gophers converted on half their power play opportunities in Game 2, which contributed to MSU’s defeat, 6-5.
Against the Fighting Irish, Michigan State will look to get the crowd into the game early as the Spartans have the fifth-highest attendance nationally. Getting a quick goal against Notre Dame would help bring the crowd into the game and put the Fighting Irish in a tough spot, as ND is 3-6 this season when the opposing team scores first.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, Notre Dame has only taken 67 penalties, which is second-fewest in the Big Ten. This is compared to Michigan State’s second-most penalties in the conference with 86. Fortunately for Michigan State, the Fighting Irish have only scored nine power play goals this year on 55 opportunities. In addition to the power play struggles, Notre Dame averages 2.8 goals per game which is also second-lowest in the conference. The Irish are scoring on a lowly .08 percent of their shots on goal.
The Spartan defense has been playing strong on their end of the ice, led by sophomore defenseman Matt Basgall (24 blocked shots) and freshman defenseman Maxim Štrbák (17). The play of those two have helped goaltender Trey Augustine, who’s recorded a .911 save percentage while making 15 of 16 starts as a freshman. Augustine had a career-high 44 saves in the shootout win against Minnesota and has not had fewer than 25 saves in any game. Augustine ranks in the Top 10 nationally for saves with 468, and has been credited with nine wins.
With a 10-4-2 overall record and 5-1-2 mark in conference play, Michigan State looks to pick up six more points in the Big Ten standings with this weekend tilt against Notre Dame. The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. with the encore on Saturday at 6 p.m. The games can be streamed with a B1G+ subscription via the Big Ten Network.
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