TV Details, Preview of MSU Hockey's Series vs. Notre Dame
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Michigan State hockey is back in action and looking to take another step towards a Big Ten regular season championship.
The top-ranked Spartans' path is simple: keep winning, and another trophy will go in the team's trophy case. MSU is four points behind Michigan for first place in the Big Ten standings, but the Wolverines have played two more conference games.
What's next for Michigan State (22-6-0 overall, 13-5-0 Big Ten) is a home series against last place Notre Dame (6-20-4, 2-15-1). The Spartans are coming off a bye week, while the Fighting Irish are coming off a series against Minnesota where they lost (technically tied) the first game in a shootout and then won game two in regulation, picking up four of the six possible points.
Here are the details on how you can watch both games of this series, which are set for Thursday and Friday:
Thursday TV Details
Thursday Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: Big Ten Network
Announcers: Ben Holden (play-by-play); Fred Pletsch (analyst)
Friday TV Details
Friday Puck Drop: 6 p.m. ET
Channel: Big Ten Network
Announcers: Ben Holden (play-by-play); Fred Pletsch (analyst)
While Michigan State is entering these couple of games as heavy favorites --- MSU is first on the NPI, while Notre Dame is 52nd out of 63 --- the Fighting Irish have been playing better lately. That series against Minnesota was the first Big Ten series all season where Notre Dame earned at least four points. The weekend before that, UND lost a pair of one-goal games at No. 13 Wisconsin, with one game going to overtime.
Michigan State, on the other hand, has been playing great hockey nearly all season. The Spartans went through a three-series gauntlet, emotionally and physically, before getting last weekend. MSU is playing with "DS" patches on their uniforms for the remainder of the season in honor of the team's director of hockey operations, Dan Sturges, who passed away in late January.
MSU opted to keep playing and were able to piece together a sweep of Minnesota a handful of days later, winning the two games at home 3-1 and 3-2. Those were the last two games Michigan State has played at home.
The Spartans then went out to play Penn State on the road. They got a 6-3 win in the first game, but the big game was game two, which was at Beaver Stadium. With 74,575 people in attendance, Charlie Stramel scored an overtime winner to cap off a hat trick. MSU then went to Michigan the next weekend, blowing a two-goal lead in the first game. Then, the two teams met in Detroit, where Michigan State dominated in front of 19,515.
For MSU to win a Big Ten title, it simply has to win games like these. The Spartans took care of business back when it first met Notre Dame back in mid-November, sweeping the Irish 4-1 and 3-1 to grab six points.
Anything less than six points would feel like a disappointment. On paper, this is the easiest it gets in the Big Ten, or within the major conferences in college hockey, for that matter.
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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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