COLLEGE HOCKEY PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN STATE 

COLLEGE HOCKEY: NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN STATE 

 

By JOHN FINERAN

 

WHEN/WHERE: Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Ron Mason Rink in Clarence L. “Biggie” Munn Ice Arena (6,114), East Lansing, Mich.

 

RADIO: WZOC-FM (94.3) and UND.com (Tyler Reidy).

 

STREAMING: Big Ten+

 

RECORDS: Notre Dame 5-5-0 overall, 1-3-0 Big Ten for 3 points; Michigan State 7-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 Big Ten for 6 points.

 

RANKINGS: Notre Dame is receiving votes in both the USCHO.com media and USA Hockey/The Rink Live coaches polls. … Michigan State is No. 4 in media poll and tied for No. 3 with Minnesota in coaches’ poll. … In the latest Pairwise Comparison Ratings to predict the 16-team field for the NCAA tournament, Michigan State is No. 4 and Notre Dame No. 24.

 

RECAPS: Notre Dame’s losing streak reached three games as No. 7 Michigan swept a Big Ten Conference series 2-1 (OT) and 4-2 last weekend in Ann Arbor. … Despite being outshot 47-19 in Friday opener, Irish forced overtime behind junior goaltender Owen Say’s 45 saves and sophomore left wing Brennan Ali’s goal. … On Saturday, Michigan scored on its first two shots and Notre Dame could not recover despite goals by Ali and graduate right wing Blake Biondi and 30 saves by Say. … Defending Big Ten regular-season and tournament champion Michigan State opened its conference season with 4-2 and 4-1 victories over Ohio State, running its winning streak to five games since a 3-0 home loss to No. 2 Boston College Oct. 11.

 

RIVALRY: Michigan State leads 77-53-16 in rivalry which began with 3-1 Notre Dame victory on Jan. 18, 1922 at Aggie Rink in East Lansing. … MSU is 42-21-5 in games played on its home ice. … Spartans won three of four games last season from Irish, sweeping 5-2 and 2-1 at Munn Dec. 8-9, 2023 and then following 4-1 setback at Compton Family Ice Arena Feb. 2 with 4-0 victory Feb. 3.

 

COACHES: Notre Dame, Jeff Jackson (412-271-73 in 20^th season with NCAA Frozen Four appearances in 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2018; 594-323-98 overall record includes 182-52-25 record in six seasons at Lake Superior State where his teams won national championships in 1992 and 1994 and was runner-up in 1993). … Jackson earned two degrees from Michigan State in 1978 and 1979. … Michigan State, Adam Nightingale (50-29-5 in third season).

 

SCOUTING FIGHTING IRISH: Sophomore forward Cole Knuble (6-7-13) continues to lead Notre Dame in scoring followed by senior left wing Justin Janicke (3-7-10), junior defensemen Axel Kumlin (1-5-6) and Michael Mastrodomenico (1-5-6), senior center Hunter Strand (2-3-5), sophomore center Danny Nelson (3-1-4), sophomore left wing Brennan Ali (3-1-4), graduate right wings Blake Biondi (2-2-4) and Ian Murphy (1-3-4), senior defenseman Ryan Helliwell (1-3-4) and sophomore defenseman Paul Fischer (0-4-4). … Danny Nelson has won 127 faceoffs (fifth nationally) and has a faceoff-win percentage of .557. … Say (4-3-1) finds himself ranked third nationally in saves percentage (0.953) and his 1.71 goals-against average is 16^th best. … Freshman goalie Nicholas Kempf (1-2-0) has a 2.39 average with .927 saves percentage… Three defensemen lead the team in blocked shots: graduate Zach Plucinski (22) and sophomores Fischer (15) and Henry Nelson (12). … NCAA statistics (as of Nov. 11): Scoring offense, 2.60 goals per game (35th); scoring defense, 2.10 goals per game (15th); scoring margin, 0.50 goals per game (26th); power-play percentage, 0.233 (7 of 30) (17th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.844 (27 of 32) (25th); faceoff win percentage, 0.532 (336-295) (16th); penalty minutes per game, 12.00 (11th).

 

SCOUTING SPARTANS: Junior left wing Isaac Howard (5-5-10) leads Michigan State in scoring by a point over junior left wing Daniel Russell (6-3-9), who is tied for the national lead in game-winning goals with four. … Last weekend against Buckeyes, Howard was paired with junior center Charlie Stramel (2-4-6) and sophomore right wing Gavin O’Connell (1-2-3). … Russell’s linemates included junior center Karsen Dorwart (0-3-3) and junior right wing Joey Larson (3-1-4). … Sophomore Maxim Štrbák (0-5-5) and graduate Nicklas Andrews (2-2-4) anchor defense. … Sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine, who won Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors last week, has a goals-against average of 1.57 (13^th nationally) and a saves percentage of .941 (12^th). … NCAA statistics (as of Nov. 11): Scoring offense, 3.25 goals per game (21st); scoring defense, 1.50 goals per game (3rd); scoring margin, 1.75 goals by game (8th); power-play percentage, 0.136 (3 of 22) (49th); penalty-kill percentage, 0.870 (20 of 23) (14th); faceoff win percentage, 0.546 (260-216) (14th); penalty minutes per game, 12.13 (10th).

 

BIG TEN STANDINGS: (Numbers in parenthesis before school are its rankings in this week’s media and coaches polls): 

(3/T3) 1. MINNESOTA 4-0-0, 11 points (9-1-0 overall)

(4/T3) T2. MICHIGAN STATE 2-0-0, 6 points (7-1-0 overall)

(nr/nr) T2. WISCONSIN 1-5-0, 6 points (2-8-0 overall)

(5/6) T4. MICHIGAN 2-0-0, 5 points (7-2-1 overall)

(14/14) T4. OHIO STATE 2-2-0, 5 points (7-2-1 overall)

(rv/rv) 6. NOTRE DAME 1-3-0, 3 points (5-5-0 overall)

(18/18) 7. PENN STATE 0-2-0, 0 points (4-3-0 overall)

 

Thursday, Nov. 14: Bemidji State at Minnesota, 8:07 p.m. (non-conference)

 

Friday, Nov. 15: Notre Dame at Michigan State, 7 p.m.; Wisconsin at Penn State, 7 p.m.; Ohio State at Lindenwood, 8:10 p.m. (non-conference)

 

Saturday, Nov. 16: Notre Dame at Michigan State, 8 p.m.; Wisconsin at Penn State, 7:30 p.m.; Ohio State at Lindenwood, 3:10 p.m. (non-conference); Minnesota at Bemidji State, 7:07 p.m. (non-conference)

 

JEFF JACKSON ON: 

 

(Shuffling lines and play last week at Michigan) “We did that with the hope of finding lightning in the bottle as far as finding some offense. … It’s a work in progress, kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together every week. … I thought we played better as the games progressed both nights. Obviously it would have been nice to get an overtime win Friday; we still got a point out of the game. The second night, we didn’t start as well as I would have liked. We were in a hole the way we started but the guys battled; we played hard the rest of the game.”

 

(Scoring) “Right now, that’s our biggest challenge. We’re getting great goaltending, our P-K (penalty kill) was good on the weekend. We’re having a hard time finding goals, and that would include on the power play which was doing well. It’s not going to get any easier moving forward the next couple of weeks (playing Michigan State, then Minnesota at home and then in the Friendship Four tournament in Northern Ireland against Harvard and Merrimack or Boston University). We’re playing good teams with good goaltenders. We just have to find a way to win those confrontations at the net front for rebounds and tips, and we have to have more extended O-zone (offensive zone) time as well.”

 

(Getting off to quicker starts) “We’ve talked about and we’ve even started practicing faster at the start of practice to get guys going right away. I’ve had conversations with the leadership group how to get guys going right away. We just need to find a way to play with the same energy we play in the third periods. We need to find a way for our guys to play more desperate when we start games.”

 

(Goaltending) “I’m going to get Nick in there, hopefully this weekend. I don’t want him sitting too long. I’m leaning on playing him this weekend.

 

(Michigan State) “They are one of the more balanced teams in the country. They have good goaltending and they are solid on the backend, and they’ve got four lines that can all be productive. It’s not like you’re going to focus on any one player or line. We have to make sure we minimize some of the mistakes we’ve made that lead to the other team getting good scoring chances. Our puck management has gotten better but it’s still a work in progress, still not where it needs to be.”

 

(Playing at Munn Ice Arena) “It’s a different building in some ways. It has a lower ceiling than a lot of buildings do, and that creates a little different environment. I’ve always felt it’s a little dark in there at times. It’s loud, but a duller loud, a lot different than Yost and the Compton. It’s always had lightning-fast boards.”

 

THIS WEEK’S USCHO.com MEDIA POLL AND SCHEDULES

 

1. Denver(NCHC) (10-0-0) at No. 9 North Dakota Friday and Saturday.

 

2. Boston College(Hockey East) (7-1-0) at Connecticut Friday.

 

3. Minnesota(Big Ten) (9-1-0) vs. Bemidji State Thursday, at Bemidji State Saturday.

 

4. Michigan State(Big Ten) (7-1-0) vs. Notre Dame Friday and Saturday.

 

5. Michigan(Big Ten) (7-2-1) is idle. Next: Nov. 22-23 at No. 18 Penn State.

 

6. Cornell(ECAC) (3-0-1) at No. 17 Dartmouth Friday, at No. 20 Harvard Saturday.

 

7. Maine(Hockey East) (6-2-1) vs. No. 11 Boston University Friday and Saturday.

 

8. Colorado College(NCHC) (8-0-0) at No. 13 Western Michigan Friday and Saturday.

 

9. North Dakota(NCHC) (5-4-0) vs. No. 1 Denver Friday and Saturday.

 

10. Providence(Hockey East) (6-1-2) at Massachusetts Thursday, vs. Massachusetts Saturday.

 

11. Boston University(Hockey East) (5-4-0) at No. 7 Maine Friday and Saturday.

 

12. St. Cloud State(NCHC) (8-3-0) is idle. Next: Nov. 22-23 at No. 8 Colorado College.

 

13. Western Michigan(NCHC) (5-1-0) vs. No. 8 Colorado College Friday and Saturday.

 

14. Ohio State(Big Ten) (7-2-1) at Lindenwood Friday and Saturday.

 

15. UMass Lowell(Hockey East) (6-2-0) at Vermont Friday and Saturday.

 

16. Minnesota State(CCHA) (7-4-1) vs. Northern Michigan Friday and Saturday.

 

17. Dartmouth (ECAC) (4-0-0) vs. No. 6 Cornell Friday, vs. Colgate Saturday

 

18. Penn State (Big Ten) (4-3-0) vs. Wisconsin Friday and Saturday.

 

19. Quinnipiac(ECAC) (3-5-0) at Brown Friday, at Yale Saturday.

 

20. Harvard(ECAC) (2-1-0) vs. Colgate Friday, vs. No. 6 Cornell Saturday.

 

Others receiving votes

 

Massachusetts (Hockey East) (4-4-2) vs. No. 10 Providence Thursday, at No. 10 Providence Saturday.

 

Notre Dame (Big Ten) (5-5-0) at No. 4 Michigan State Friday and Saturday.

 

Michigan Tech (CCHA) (6-2-0) is idle. Next: Nov. 22-23 vs. No. 16 Minnesota State.

 

Union (ECAC) (6-2-1) vs. St. Lawrence Friday, vs. Clarkson Saturday.

 

Clarkson (ECAC) (6-3-1) at Rensselaer Friday, at Union Saturday.

 

Northeastern (HEA) (1-4-2) at New Hampshire Friday, vs. New Hampshire Saturday.

 

Omaha (NCHC) (2-6-0) at Arizona State Friday and Saturday.

 

Robert Morris (Atlantic Hockey) (4-1-2) at Sacred Heart Friday and Saturday.

 

Augustana (CCHA) (5-5-0) at US-Under 18 Team Friday and Saturday (exhibitions).

 

Bowling Green (CCHA) (5-3-0) at St. Thomas Friday and Saturday.

 

New Hampshire (HEA) (3-3-1) vs. Northeastern Friday, at Northeastern Saturday.

 

Niagara (Atlantic Hockey) (5-4-2) vs. Holy Cross Friday and Saturday.

 

Arizona State (NCHC) (3-6-1) vs. Omaha Friday and Saturday.

 

 

OTHER GAMES THIS WEEK

 

Tuesday, Nov. 12

 

Stonehill 4, Merrimack 3 (OT)

 

Friday, Nov. 15

 

American International at Bentley, 7 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Holy Cross at Niagara, 7 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Princeton at Yale, 7 p.m. (ECAC)

 

Long Island at Stonehill, 7 p.m. (non-conference)

 

Minnesota Duluth at Miami, 7:05 p.m. (NCHC)

 

Army at RIT, 7:05 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Ferris State at Lake Superior State, 7:07 p.m. (CCHA)

 

Omaha at Arizona State, 9 p.m. (NCHC)

 

Mercyhurst at Air Force, 10:05 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Alaska at Alaska Anchorage, 11:07 p.m. (non-conference)

 

Saturday, Nov. 16

 

Long Island at Stonehill, 5 p.m. (non-conference)

 

American International at Bentley, 6 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Lake Superior State at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m. (CCHA)

 

St. Lawrence at Rensselaer, 7 p.m. (ECAC)

 

Princeton at Brown, 7 p.m. (ECAC)

 

Augustana at U.S. Under-18 Team, 7 p.m. (exhibition)

 

Minnesota Duluth at Miami, 7:05 p.m. (NCHC)

 

Army at RIT, 7:05 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)

 

Alaska at Alaska Anchorage, 9:07 p.m. (non-conference)

 

Mercyhurst at Air Force, 10:05 p.m. (Atlantic Hockey)