Michigan State University Athletics
Hockey Travels to Ohio State for Big Ten Opener
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
| Games 10 & 11: Michigan State (3-6, 0-0 B1G) vs. Ohio State (3-6-1, 0-0 B1G) | |
| Dates | Times | Thur., Nov. 20 - 7 p.m. | Fri., Nov. 21 - 7 p.m. |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio | Value City Arena (17,500) |
| TV | Thur. - Fox Sports Detroit Plus |
| Live Video Stream | Friday |
| Live Stats | | |
| Radio | Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Thur. - WVFN 730-AM | Fri. - WVFN 730-AM |
| Radio (Mobile) | Broadcast available on Spartan Sports Network Mobile App: iPhone/iPad | Android |
| Game Notes | Michigan State | Ohio State |
| Social Media | @MSU_Hockey  | Facebook  |
On The Fly...
• The Spartans travel to Columbus to open Big Ten play against Ohio State ... The Spartans went 0-2-3 against the Buckeyes last season.
• MSU is coming off a 3-2 loss to eighth-ranked Boston College in its only game last weekend, while Ohio State split a home-and-home series with Bowling Green.
• Captain Michael Ferrantino scored his fifth goal of the season in the loss to Boston College, extending his scoring streak (4-0-4) to three games ... He has scored four of the team's last seven goals.
• Ferrantino (5-3-8) and senior Matt Berry (5-3-8) lead the Spartans in points.
• All four of sophomore Joe Cox's assists this season have come in the last three games ... His four assists are tied for the team lead and the three-game assist streak is a career long.
• Four of the Spartans' six losses have been to teams ranked in the top 15 ... All four losses to the ranked opponents and five of the six this season have been by one goal.
• With 31 stops in his last outing against BC, goaltender Jake Hildebrand eclipsed the 2,000-career save mark ... He enters the Ohio State series with 2,002-career saves - 192 away from breaking into the top 10 on the MSU career saves list.
• The Spartans have allowed two goals or fewer in four of their nine games and are currently tied for 28th in the nation in goals against per game at 2.56.
• The Spartans have allowed just one power-play goal over the last five games, killing 16-of-17 penalties over the stretch ... The Spartan penalty kill is tied for ninth in the nation in penalty kill percentage at .909.
• MSU ranks eighth in the nation in face-off win percentage at .535 (299-260) ... Junior Michael Ferrantino leads MSU in face-offs taken (198) and win percentage (.600) ... His 117 face-off wins rank third in the Big Ten and are tied for 19th nationally.
• The Spartans led the country in blocked shots per game per game (17.67) in 2013-14 and are back up near the top this season, currently averaging 14.78 blocks per game which ranks second in the Big Ten, behind OSU (16.8), and 13th nationally.
• MSU has outshot its opponents in six of nine games this season and by a total count of 261-251 ... MSU has a 91-66 advantage over opponents in the second period.
• The Spartans' three unassisted goals are tied for sixth nationally.
• Michigan State is 3-0 when leading after the first and second periods this season ... MSU is also 3-0 when scoring first.
• Ryan Keller and Ron Boyd are MSU's plus/minus leaders at plus-2.
About Ohio State
The Buckeyes are coming off a series split with Bowling Green, with each team winning on the other's home ice ... OSU is 1-5 at home this season and has already played three overtime games, going 1-1-1 ... Senior Tanner Fritz, who ranked third on the team in scoring last season (8-24-32), currently leads OSU in points (3-6-9) ... Fritz is also the team's active-career leader in points (92) ... Junior Anthony Greco leads the team in goals with five ... The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten and rank sixth in the nation in blocked shots per game average at 16.8 ... OSU's power play is 6-for-40 (.150) on the season, while its penalty kill has extinguished 30-of-36 (.833) opponent power plays ... Sophomore goaltenders Christian Frey (1-3, 3.78 GAA) and Matt Tomkins (2-3-1, 2.30 GAA) have split time in net.
Against Ohio State Last Season
The Spartans couldn't solve the Buckeyes last season, going 0-2-3 ... After dropping the first meeting of the season in Columbus, 5-3, on Jan. 10, the two teams tied the following night, 1-1, with MSU picking up the extra point with a shootout win ... Both games in East Lansing (Feb. 7-8) were 2-2 ties with OSU winning both shootouts ... OSU won the fifth and final meeting, 2-1, in overtime in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
From The BC Game
Michigan State outshot the Eagles, 12-10 and 11-10, over the final two periods ... MSU killed the only BC power play ... Jake Hildebrand made at least 30 saves (31) for the third time this season ... MSU had at least 30 shots on goal (33) for the fourth time this season.
Ferrantino Leading By Example
While captain Michael Ferrantino enters the series with OSU tied for the team lead in goals (5) and points (8), the junior's leadership has been just as valuable in other facets of the game. Ferrantino is one of the Big Ten's best in the face-off circle, posting a .600 win percentage, which ranks fifth in the league. His 117 face-off wins are third-most among conference centers as well.
Ferrantino brings a three-game scoring streak into Thursday's game against the Buckeyes. The streak is one game shy of tying his career long from last year when he had four goals and one assist over a four-game stretch from Jan. 18-31.
Ferrantino is critical to the Spartans' special teams as a regular on both the power play and penalty kill. His two power-play goals lead the team.
The Plymouth native is ahead of last year's scoring pace, which saw him post a 9-11-20 line. Ferrantino didn't score his fifth goal of last season until Jan. 23.
Watch Tom
PK Improvement
MSU's penalty kill unit has made significant improvement over last season and enters the series tied for ninth in the nation in penalty kill percentage at .909, having extinguished 30-of-33 opponent power plays. The Spartans have killed 18 of the last 19 opponent power plays and have yet to allow a goal on the man advantage in the second period (7-of-7).
Through nine games in 2013-14, the Spartans allowed nine power-play goals and had a .775 penalty kill percentage.
Player Notes
• Matt DeBlouw (2-0-2) scored his second goal of the season the last time out and first since the season-opener vs. UMass.
• After missing two games with an upper-body injury, Ryan Keller returned to the lineup against Boston College, picking up an assist on DeBlouw's goal ... Dylan Pavelek also returned to the lineup after missing four games with a concussion.
• Hildebrand's 2.48 GAA and .912 save percentage both rank third among Big Ten goalies that have played at least nine games.
• Matt Berry (5-3-8) and Michael Ferrantino (5-3-8) are tied for fourth in the Big Ten in goals and 11th in points ... Travis Walsh (2-3-5) is tied for third among Big Ten defensemen in points.
• After going without a point in his first five collegiate games, freshman defenseman Josh Jacobs has three assists over the last four games.
• Mackenzie MacEachern had two unassisted goals in the series at New Hampshire, becoming the first Spartan to have two unassisted goals in a season since Brent Darnell had a pair in 2012-13 ... MacEachern has three goals and one assist in the last four games.
A Few More Items...
MSU is 3-1 when scoring a power-play goal ... MSU has outshot its opponents in the third period in six of the last seven games ... Spartan defensemen have provided three goals and 11 of the team's 51 points (21.5 %). MSU had just three goals from its defensemen in all of 2013-14.
Spartans in the NHL
A total of 13 Spartans were on NHL opening night rosters and 12 have seen action so far this season:
• Corey Potter (Calgary Flames)
• John-Michael Liles (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
• Corey Tropp (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Shawn Horcoff (Dallas Stars)
• Justin Abdelkader (Detroit Red Wings)
• Drew Miller (Detroit Red Wings)
• Jeff Petry (Edmonton Oilers)
• Mike Weaver (Montreal Canadiens)
• Chris Mueller (New York Rangers)
• David Booth (Toronto Maple Leafs)
