Spartans Travel to Minnesota for Thanksgiving Weekend

Games 11-12: Michigan State (4-6 | 0-2-0-0 B1G) at Minnesota (3-5-1 | 1-1-0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Nov. 23 | 8 p.m. ET // Saturday, Nov. 24 | 8 p.m. ET
Location: Minneapolis, Minn. | 3M Arena at Mariucci
TV: Friday – Fox Sports North | Saturday – Fox Sports North +
Fox Sports North is channel 668 on DirecTV & 436 on Dish Network
Fox Sports North Plus is channel 668-2 on DirecTV & 9537 on Dish Network
Web Stream: BTN2Go
Live Stats: MSUSpartans.com
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Local: WVFN 730-AM
SSN Mobile App: iPhone/iPad | Android
Game Notes: Michigan State | Minnesota | Big Ten
Social Media: @MSU_Hockey

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On The Fly…
• Michigan State travels to Minnesota for Thanksgiving weekend to meet the Gophers at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. ET both nights.

• It will be the second conference series for both teams as the Spartans started league play last weekend, falling twice to No. 8 Notre Dame, while Minnesota split its Big Ten opening set at Wisconsin, Nov. 9-10.

• Patrick Khodorenko scored in both games last weekend to bring his team-leading goal total to seven, which ranks third in the Big Ten … Five of Khodorenko's goals have come on the power play, which is the most in the Big Ten and second in the country.

• Taro Hirose leads the Spartans in points with 15, which is tied for fourth in the Big Ten and ninth in the country … Hirose's 10 assists are tied for third in the league and 13th in the nation.

• Hirose's 58 career assists are the most by a Spartan since Jeff Petry had as many from 2007-10 (118 career games) … Hirose has 81 points in 80 career games.

• The KHL line of Khodorenko, Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski has accounted for 34 points (15g, 19a) – 46% of the team total.

• Lewandowski is second on the team in both points (10) and assists (7).

• Michigan State leads the Big Ten in penalty kill percentage at 84.4, which is 18th nationally, and fewest power-play goals against with seven … MSU extinguished 5-of-6 Notre Dame power plays last weekend.

• The Spartans are third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally in power play percentage at 22.0 (9-for-41).

• Among all Big Ten rookies, defenseman Dennis Cesana ranks third in points (7) and fourth in assists (6) … He's second in both categories among rookie defensemen … He has assisted on three of the Spartans' last six goals.

• Michigan State has won more faceoffs than its opponent in eight of 10 games this season, including both games last weekend vs. Notre Dame … The Spartans are third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally in faceoff winning percentage at 52.8 … MSU has more centers in the top 10 in the league in faceoff wins than any other team – Sam Saliba (109; sixth), Patrick Khodorenko (107; seventh) and Tommy Apap (103; eighth).

• The Spartans allowed 21 and 22 shots on goal, respectively, against Notre Dame, which were the fewest totals by any MSU opponent this season … MSU is yielding an average of 28.5 shots on goal per game, which is third lowest in the league.

About Minnesota
Minnesota is coming off a split at home with St. Lawrence (L, 4-3 OT; W, 3-0) last weekend … The Gophers are 1-1 in the Big Ten as they split at Wisconsin, Nov. 9-10 (W, 3-2; L, 3-1) … The Gophers are averaging 2.33 goals per game, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten, while they're allowing 2.67, which is third best in the league … Minnesota is third in the Big Ten in penalty kill percentage at 82.2 (37-of-45) and seventh power play percentage at 16.2 (6-for-37) … Goaltenders Matt Robson (2.87 GAA, .916 Sv. %, 2-3-1) and Eric Schierhorn (1.60 GAA, .925 Sv. %, 1-2) have alternated each of the last four starts … Sophomore Rem Pitlick leads Minnesota in goals (4) and points (8), while sophomore defenseman Clayton Phillips leads in assists (5).

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Of Note Last Weekend vs. Notre Dame
The Spartans outshot Notre Dame both nights (28-21; 29-22) … Patrick Khodorenko scored in both games, giving him goals in back-to-back games for the second time this year … MSU extinguished 6-of-7 UND power plays … The five goals (including one empty-netter) tied for the fewest allowed by MSU in a series this season.

Khodorenko's Scoring Touch
Junior center Patrick Khodorenko is off to the best start of his career in terms of goal scoring. He scored in both games last weekend to give him a team-leading seven on the season, which is tied for third most in the Big Ten. While Khodorenko netted a career high 13 goals last season, it took him 19 games to get his seventh in 2017-18.

The native of Walnut Creek, California, who played for Danton Cole with the USNTDP has found a good amount of success on the power play as his five goals on the man-advantage leads the Big Ten and is second most in the nation. Fourteen of his 27 career goals have come on the power play.

He was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week on Nov. 6 for the first time in his career after his four-point game (3g, 1a) on Nov. 2 vs. Ferris State.

Hirose Back Among the Big Ten's Best
After establishing himself as one of the top players in the conference a season ago, junior Taro Hirose has taken another step this season. Hirose is tied for fourth in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in points with 15. His 10 assists are tied for third in the Big Ten.

He has points in seven of 10 games, including in each of the first five games of the season with three consecutive three-point games (10/26-27 vs. Cornell; 11/2 vs. Ferris State). Since the beginning of 2017-18, Hirose has more multi-point games (16) than games without a point (12).

Hirose has 81 points in 80 career games and he's the first Spartan to record 58 career assists since defenseman Jeff Petry had as many from 2007-10 in 118 career games.

The native of Calgary was named the NCAA and Big Ten First Star of the Week on Oct. 30 after his six-point, two game-winning goal effort in a sweep of No. 8 Cornell.

Cesana Leading Blueliners
Rookie Dennis Cesana leads all Spartan defensemen and ranks fourth on the team with seven points (1g, 6a). The native of Providence, R.I., who led all defensemen in the AJHL in points (75) last season, has two multi-point games and scored his first-career goal on Oct. 26 in a win over No. 8 Cornell. Cesana is second among Big Ten freshmen defensemen in both assists and points and is third among all league rookies in points.

Power Up…
The Spartan power ranks third in the Big Ten with a 22.0% conversion rate (9-for-41), which is 15th in the country. The Spartans scored a power play goal in each of the first six games of the season for the first time since 2009-10 when MSU went 11-for-41 (26.8%) to begin the year.

The Spartans have demonstrated by the ability to strike quickly as three of their nine power-play goals have come fewer than 10 seconds into a power play. Two of MSU's last three power-play goals have come 6 and 9 seconds, respectively, into the man-advantage.

…Then Shut Down
The other half of MSU's special teams has also had a strong start as the Spartans lead the Big Ten and rank 18th nationally in penalty killing percentage at 84.4%, extinguishing 38-of-45 opponent power plays. It's a nearly 10% improvement over MSU's PK percentage from last season.

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All KHL
Since playing together in the first game of last season, Patrick Khodorenko (7-2—9), Taro Hirose (5-10--15) and Mitchell Lewandowski (3-7--10) have combined to form one of the Big Ten's – and college hockey's – most dangerous lines. Last season, they produced 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 and have combined for 34 of 73 (46.6%) of the Spartans' total points this season.

Khodorenko – His team-leading five power-play goals rank second in the nation and lead the Big Ten ... MSU's active career leader in goals (27) ... Ranked 12th in the Big Ten and third on the team in points (32) last season.

Hirose – Ninth in the country and fourth in the Big Ten with 15 points (5g, 10a)... Has two game-winning goals ... Has points in 15 of 19 games dating back to last season ... Has five multi-point games this season and 22 in his career ... Averaging a point per game in his career (81 points in 80 games) ... 2018 All-Big Ten second team … His 42 points were the most by a Spartan since Corey Tropp had the same number in 2009-10 … His 30 assists were the most since Jim Slater in 2004-05 (32).

Lewandowski – Started the season with a career-best five-game point streak (3-6--9) ... Had a season-high three points (1g, 2a) at Cornell (10/27) ... 2018 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and only unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman 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).

Magee Hits the 1500 Mark
Longtime Michigan State equipment manager Tom Magee was recognized at the Spartans' Nov. 16 matchup vs. Notre Dame for working his 1,500th collegiate game. Magee is in his 38th season with the Spartans and has been a part of nearly 900 MSU victories. He's the second member of the Spartan hockey staff to hit the 1,500-game milestone as associate head athletic trainer Dave Carrier accomplished the feat in March 2017.

Osburn Showing His Age
Senior blueliner Zach Osburn is more than halfway to his point total from last season with five points (2g, 3a). Osburn, who is MSU's most experienced player with 115 games played, had points in four of the first five games of the season. Both of his goals (Oct. 12 v. NMU; Nov. 2 v. Ferris State) have been the Spartans' first of the game.

Lethemon, DeRidder Sharing Time in Goal
Junior John Lethemon has started seven of 10 games this season, while freshman Drew DeRidder has started three games. Lehtemon, who started 32 of 36 games last season, has yielded two or fewer goals in four of his starts, including each of the last two, and owns a 2.75 GAA and .906 save percentage.

DeRidder, who was born in May 2000, is the youngest goalie in NCAA Division I. The USNTDP product last started Nov. 16 vs. Notre Dame, allowing a season-low two goals.

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Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Drew DeRidder

Taro Hirose

Patrick Khodorenko

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Zach Osburn

Sam Saliba