Spartans Off to No. 8 Cornell for First Road Trip of the Season

Friday, October 26

Ithaca, N.Y.

7:00 P.M. ET

Michigan State University

Cornell

Photo by: Rey Del Rio/MSU Athletic Communications

Spartans Off to No. 8 Cornell for First Road Trip of the Season

10/24/2018 3:41:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

MSU Game Notes

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On The Fly…
• After an off-weekend, the Spartans return to action by heading to No. 8/8 Cornell … It will mark the first matchup with the Big Red since the Spartans visited Cornell Oct. 28-29, 2005 … Cornell represents the highest ranked opponent played by a Big Ten team on the road this season.

• The Spartans opened the season with a split at Munn vs. Northern Michigan, Oct. 12-13 … MSU won the opener, 4-2, and then fell the following night, 4-3.

• Five different Spartans recorded points in both games vs. NMU, led by Taro Hirose (2g, 1a) and Mitchell Lewandowski (1g, 2a), both of whom had three points … It marked the second consecutive year both Hirose and Lewandowski have picked up points in each of the first two games of the season.

• The Spartans had 45 and 29 shots on goal, respectively, in the two games vs. NMU (37.0 avg.) … The 45 shots were the most in a game by MSU since Dec. 2014 … MSU's 37.0 shots on goal per game average ranks third nationally.

• The Spartans recorded power-play goals in both games, going 3-for-9 (.333) on the weekend … Three different Spartans scored on the man-advantage (Khodorenko, Osburn, Saliba).

• The KHL line (Khodorenko, Hirose and Lewandowski) accounted for eight (4g, 4a) of the Spartans' 18 points on opening weekend … The trio combined for 108 points (44% of the Spartans' team total) last season as all three players had at least 30 points, marking the first time since 2011-12 MSU has had three players with at least 30 points.

• Dating back to last season, Hirose has points in each of the last five Spartan games (3-5--8) … He is averaging nearly a point per game in his career with 69 points (20g, 49a) in 72 games.

• Goaltenders John Lethemon (W, 21 saves) and Drew DeRidder (L, 23 saves) split the season-opening series.

• In addition to DeRidder getting a start in goal, all six freshman skaters were in the lineup for both games vs. NMU … Defenseman Dennis Cesana picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Oct. 13.

About Cornell
Cornell went 25-6-2 a season ago, winning both the ECAC and Ivy League titles and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament … Cornell returns 16 letterwinners, 10 of which are upperclassmen … The Big Red led the nation in goals against per game (1.58), while ranking 15th nationally in goals per game (3.09) … Cornell was third nationally in shots on goal against per game (24.82) … The program returns three of its top-six point producers from last season, led by senior forward Mitch Vanderlaan (7-13--20) … Sophomore goaltender Matthew Galajda earned First-Team All-America honors last season, along with being named the ECAC and Ivy League Rookie of the Year … He posted a .939 save percentage and 1.51 goals-against average … Cornell went 2-0 in its exhibition games, defeating Laurentian on Oct. 13 (6-1) and Guelph on Oct. 20 (7-0).

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The Series
MSU leads the all-time series, 4-2-1 ... The teams last met Oct. 28-29, 2005, in Ithaca, New York, splitting the two-game series (L, 4-2; W, 4-3) ... The only meetings between the teams in East Lansing came in Nov. 2004.

Of Note vs. Northern Michigan
Eleven different Spartans recorded a point in the opening series, including five that had a point in both games … The Spartans had a .526 winning percentage in the faceoff circle … MSU killed the Wildcats' first five power plays of the series and extinguished 8 of 10 on the weekend … The Spartans averaged 37.0 shots in goal in the two games, which was 10.86 above their season average last year … MSU outscored NMU by a combined margin of 4-1 in the third period.

Early Season Noteables
• Michigan State returns 89% of its point production and 93% of its goal scoring from last season, both of which are fourth-most nationally and the most in the Big Ten.

• The Spartans' top four scorers from 2017-18 are all back - Taro Hirose (12-30--42), Mitchell Lewandowski (19-15--34), Patrick Khodorenko (13-19--32) and Cody Milan (6-15--21).

• MSU has 21 returning letterwinners (three seniors; 10 juniors; eight sophomores) and welcomes seven freshmen ... The three seniors is tied for the fewest among all NCAA teams.

• MSU brings back one of college hockey's top-scoring lines in Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski as the trio combined for 108 points (44% of the Spartans' team total) last season … All three players had at least 30 points, marking the first time since 2011-12 MSU has had three players with at least 30 points.

• Khodorenko, Hirose (unanimous) and Lewandowski were all voted to the Big Ten's 15-player Preseason Watch List.

• Hirose earned second team All-Big Ten honors last season in recording the most points (42) by a Spartan since 2009-10 and most assists (30) by a Spartan since 2004-05.

• Lewandowski was the 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year as his team-leading 19 goals tied for the most in the Big Ten during the regular season … He ended the year first in the nation among all rookies in goals and fourth in points among freshmen.

• On the blue line, MSU returns all but Carson Gatt from last season … Tommy Miller and Jerad Rosburg played in all 36 games, while Zach Osburn is the team's most experienced returning player having appeared in 105 career games.

Prolific KHL Line Returns Intact
Patrick Khodorenko (13-19--32), Taro Hirose (12-30--42) and Mitchell Lewandowski (19-15--34) combined to form one of the Big Ten's – and college hockey's – most dangerous lines last season in producing a total of 108 points (44 goals, 64 assists) in playing together in all 36 games. The trio makes Michigan State the only Big Ten team to return its top three point producers from 2017-18. All three players were voted to the Big Ten's preseason Players to Watch list.

Khodorenko – Ranked 12th in the Big Ten and third on the team in points (32) … Voted team's most improve player … Second on the team and fourth in the Big Ten in power-play goals (6) during the regular season.

Hirose – 2018 All-Big Ten second team … Ron Mason Team MVP … His 42 points were the most by a Spartan since Corey Tropp had the same number in 2009-10 … Was the fourth Spartan since 2007-08 to eclipse the 40-point plateau … His 30 assists were the most since Jim Slater in 2004-05 (32) … Never went more than two consecutive games without a point and had at least a point in more games (25) than any other player in the league during the regular season.

Lewandowski – 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and only unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman team … College Hockey News All-Rookie team … Led all rookies nationally in goals (19) and tied for the most in the Big Ten (among all players) during the regular season … Was the first MSU freshman to score at least 19 goals since 1997-98 (Rustyn Dolyny) and just the seventh rookie in program history to score at least 19 goals.

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Saliba Gets The 'C'
Sam Saliba is the 72nd player in program history to be named team captain. The junior, who was one of three assistant captains last season, was voted team captain by his teammates in the offseason. Saliba has never missed a game in his two seasons, appearing in all 71 contests since the start of the 2016 season.

Joining Saliba in the Spartans' leadership group for 2018-19 as assistant captains are seniors Brennan Sanford and Cody Milan; junior Taro Hirose; and sophomore Tommy Apap. The assistants will alternate duties with two of the four wearing A's each game. Sanford was one of three assistant captains last season.

Board Approves – Munn to Get Major Upgrades
With a vote on August 31, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted to authorize the planning phase of the estimated $16 million Munn Ice Arena addition. The new addition, which will occur outside building's footprint on the south side, will include a hall of history, new locker rooms, weight room, video room and team offices among other amenities.

The 44-year-old arena has received several major upgrades since 2013, including: new lighting, high-definition video boards, LED ribbon boards, increased chairback seating and replacement of all bleachers, ice plant, boards and glass.

Blueliners Back
Michigan State returned all but Carson Gatt from last season's defense corps. The Spartans have just one senior blueliner for the second straight year in Zach Osburn, who has appeared in more career games (107) than any other player on the roster. Beyond Osburn, the next most-experienced Spartan defensemen is redshirt junior Jerad Rosburg (71 career games), who was second among MSU defensemen in points last season with 11 (1g, 10a). Sophomore Tommy Miller, who played in every game last season, was third among blueliners with 10 points (10a). MSU also returns a trio of juniors in Butrus Ghafari (52 career games), Damian Chrcek (27 career games) and Anthony Scarsella (18 career games).

Three rookies in Cole Krygier, Christian Krygier and Dennis Cesana also bolster the Spartan blue line. Cesana was fourth among all players and first among defensemen in the AJHL in points last season with 75 (14g, 61a) in 60 games. Both Krygiers were selected in this past summer's NHL Draft with Christian going to the New York Islanders (No. 196 overall) and Cole going to Florida (No. 201 overall).

Milan Looking for More After Career Year
Senior Cody Milan had a breakout 2017-18 as his 21 points (6g, 15a) were nine more than his combined total through his first two seasons. His 21 points were fourth best on the team while his 15 assists tied for third. Ten of his points came on the power play.

Staying Out of the Box
Michigan State was one of 14 college hockey teams last season to average fewer than 10 penalty minutes per game. The Spartans averaged 9.89 penalty minutes per game, which ranked third fewest in the Big Ten. Defenseman Tommy Miller was one of three players in the Big Ten to have played in all of their respective team's games and not record a single penalty.

All in the Family
Freshmen defensemen Christian and Cole Krygier are the first twins to play for the Spartans in program history. In following in the footsteps of their older brother, Brock, who was a defenseman for the Spartans from 2012-15, the Krygiers are the first trio of brothers to play for MSU since Kip (1986-90), Kevin (1984-88) and Kelly Miller (1981-85).

2017-18 Odds & Ends
The Spartans held leads pretty well, going 8-3 when leading after the first period and 9-0-1 when leading after two ... The Spartans went 11-5 when scoring first ... MSU was 7-5 when generating at least 30 shots on goal ... MSU was 10-6 when scoring at least three goals ... The Spartans allowed two or fewer goals 12 times, going 8-2-2 in such contests.