MSU Hockey Prepping for Notre Dame After Bye
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The home stretch of Michigan State hockey's regular season is here.
MSU, ranked first in the polls and in the NCAA Percentage Index (NPI), is coming off its final bye week. The Spartans got that weekend off at a good time after facing No. 6 Penn State and second-ranked Michigan in back-to-back weekends, with all four games being away from home. Those series included an overtime win for Michigan State outdoors in Happy Valley in front of 74,575 people, and then a "Duel in the D" victory over Michigan at Little Caesars Arena.
The Big Ten race seems likely to go down to the wire. UM currently holds a four-point advantage over the Spartans, but the catch is that the Wolverines have played two more conference games. Michigan plays a series at 13th-ranked Wisconsin this week.
Michigan State (22-6-0 overall, 13-5-0 Big Ten) will be hosting Notre Dame (6-20-4, 2-15-1). On paper, this is the easiest series MSU can have right now, but the Fighting Irish have been playing better lately, and weird things tend to happen when the pressure is ramped up this late in the season. Games are set for Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network) and Friday (6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network).
More on MSU's Upcoming Series
While the Fighting Irish's record is certainly a bit dreadful, they have been playing better hockey as of late. Notre Dame took four of the six possible points in its series against Minnesota last week, winning game two in regulation. The week before that, it got swept by the Badgers, but the Irish took one game to overtime and fell one goal short in the other.
It's an improved club compared to when Michigan State easily swept Notre Dame in South Bend back in November, 4-1 and 3-1. MSU head coach Adam Nightingale didn't seem to concerned about his team falling into a "trap game"-type mindset.
"I think, always, in the back of your head, there's those thoughts, but I think our guys know how good Notre Dame is," Nightingale said Tuesday. "They know how tough our conference is. At the end of the day, anyone can beat anyone."
Something Nightingale cited was that the 7 seed, the team that finished dead last, has beaten the 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in back-to-back seasons. Ohio State upset Wisconsin in 2024, and Notre Dame upset Minnesota last year. Those also aren't one-game upsets on a neutral site, either. The first round of the BTT is a best-of-three series at the campus of the higher seed.
Michigan State hasn't been insulated from upsets, either. The Spartans' season last year came to a screeching halt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Cornell. They opened this season with a home loss to New Hampshire. The path forward is still simple: keep winning, and you get a third straight Big Ten title.
"I know our fans are proud of us having a chance to win some championships here," Nightingale said. "But I think those things take care of themselves. We've got to make that, 'Hey, we've got one more practice tomorrow. Let's make sure that we're dialed in.' Every time we play, we want to play better than the last game, and we've got an opportunity to do that on Thursday."
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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