No. 4 Michigan State opens a two-game Big Ten series at Notre Dame on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend. Both games start at 7 p.m. Eastern, with the series finishing Friday, Nov. 13.
The Spartans
Michigan State (6-2-0) slipped one spot to No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls this week after splitting with Boston University at Munn Ice Arena. BU built a 4-0 lead on the way to a 6-2 win in the opener, but the Spartans answered the next night: Gavin O’Connell scored 32 seconds in, Cayden Lindstrom scored for the second straight game, and Joshua Ravensbergen stopped all 25 shots in a 5-0 win. Anthony Romani opened last week as the Big Ten’s Second Star.
The Irish
Notre Dame, in its second season under head coach Brock Sheahan, comes in after sweeping Penn State at home. Evan Werner won the opener 5-4 in overtime, and the Irish finished the sweep with a 4-2 win the next night. Senior captain Danny Nelson, the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week, leads the team with 10 points (5-5-10). Werner and Paul Fischer each have seven points, with Werner’s five goals tied with Nelson for the team lead. Junior goaltender Nicholas Kempf had a .929 save percentage in three games against Michigan State last season, according to Notre Dame.
The series
This is one of college hockey’s oldest rivalries: the teams have met 155 times, and Michigan State leads the all-time series 86-53-16. The weekend is also the Spartans’ last stop before the season’s first Michigan-Michigan State series, Nov. 20-21.
How to watch
Both games stream on Peacock at 7 p.m. Eastern, with live stats on StatBroadcast.
Earlier on Mitten Hockey: NCAA Hockey Rankings: Michigan holds at No. 2 as four state teams stay in the top 20 (Week of Nov. 9) and The Mitten Weekly: Nov. 2-8.
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