Regular Season Home Schedule Begins For Spartans Against No. 4/5 Cornell

Games 5-6: #4/5 Cornell (0-0, 0-0 ECAC) vs. Michigan State (2-2, 0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Nov. 1 | 7 p.m. // Saturday, Nov. 2 | 7 p.m.
Location: East Lansing, Mich. | Munn Ice Arena
Tickets: MSUSpartans.com
Promotions:
Friday – Trick or Treat at Munn (6-7 p.m.), costume contest, MSU students free with ID
Saturday – MSUFCU members get two free tickets with proof of membership, Love Your Melon hat & ticket for $30
Web Stream: BTNPlus.com & BTN + app
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Local: WJIM 1240-AM & 106.9-FM
SSN Mobile App: iPhone/iPad | Android
Game Notes: Michigan State | Cornell | Big Ten

On The Fly…
• Michigan State hosts No. 4/5 Cornell to begin regular season play at Munn Ice Arena this Friday and Saturday … The Spartans are coming off a split at Colorado College last weekend, while Cornell will be playing its first games of the regular season.

• In playing its first four games on the road, this season marks the latest the Spartans have started the regular season at home since 2005.

• Michigan State and Cornell met last season (Oct. 26-27, 2018) in Ithaca, N.Y., with the Spartans sweeping the series from the then No. 8 Big Red, 5-2 and 4-3, respectively … The programs have just nine all-time meetings entering this weekend's series.

• In winning in the series finale, 5-1, at Colorado College, the Spartans got points from nine different players, four of which recorded multiple points – Patrick Khodorenko (3a), Gianluca Esteves (1g, 1a), Jerad Rosburg (1g, 1a) and Sam Saliba (2a).

• The Spartans have spread production around the lineup through four games with 13 different players recording a point.

• Patrick Khodorenko leads all Spartans with four points … His three-assist game vs. Colorado College was the 20th multi-point game of his career.

• Ginaluca Esteves, who entered the season with three assists in 38 career games, has three points (1g, 2a) through three games so far this season … Esteves had an assist in the season-opener and then recorded his first goal and two-point game on Saturday at Colorado College.

• Senior goaltender John Lethemon has been in goal for both Spartan wins, posting a 2.00 GAA and .940 save percentage … Of the four total goals he's yielded, just one has been at even strength … Lethemon made 35 saves and stopped all 18 shots he saw in the third period of the win at Colorado College.

• Head coach Danton Cole enters the weekend with 498 career wins through his 19-year head coaching career … Cole won a combined 244 games, including playoffs, in six years as a professional coach in the AHL and UHL; 205 wins in seven seasons with the NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams; and 49 victories in his five-plus seasons in college hockey (Alabama Huntsville and MSU).

• The Spartans have yet to allow a goal in the second period this season and are perfect on the penalty kill in the middle stanza at 5-for-5.

• MSU recorded its highest shot on goal totals of the young season last weekend, recording 27 and 30, respectively in the two games against Colorado College … In the 5-1 win, the Spartans' 16 shots in the first period were their most in an opening period since they had the same number at Ohio State in Feb. 2017.

About Cornell
This weekend will mark Cornell's first regular-season games of 2019-20 … Cornell defeated Nipissing, 6-2 (Oct. 20), and the USNTDP U-18 team, 3-0 (Oct. 26), in its two exhibition games … Cornell went 21-11-4 last season and 13-5-4 in ECAC play to earn a share of the conference crown … The Big Red also made the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season last year where they were a win away from reaching the Frozen Four … Cornell was selected by both the coaches and media to win this year's ECAC title … Cornell's top returning scorer is junior first-team all-ECAC selection Morgan Barron, who had 34 points (15g, 19a) in 36 games last season … In goal, Matthew Galajda went 16-8-3 with a .921 save percentage and 1.85 GAA … Cornell ranked ninth nationally in goals allowed per game last season at 2.09.

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The Series
Michigan State leads the all-time series, 6-2-1 and is 2-0-1 in games played in East Lansing … The two teams last met in East Lansing in Nov. 2004 with the Spartans going 1-0-1.

Colorado College Series Recap
In the first series between the programs since 1981, the Spartans and Colorado College split the two games … MSU bounced back from Friday's 3-1 loss with goals from five different players in a 5-1 win on Saturday … Jeard Rosburg (1g, 1a), Gianluca Esteves (1g, 1a), Sam Saliba (2a) and Patrick Khodorenko (3a) all had multiple points … Nicolas Müller and Esteves both recorded their first-career goals, while Cole Krygier had the first game-winning goal of his career … John Lethemon made 35 saves, including 18 in the third period, in the win … MSU dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 64.8% of draws … MSU had just three power plays, going 1-for-3.

Esteves Taking Advantage of Early Opportunities
Junior Gianluca Esteves is one of the Spartans' leading scorers with a goal and two assists in his three appearances. Last season, Esteves skated in just three games, and entering this season, he had three assists in 38-career games. Esteves, who has played on the left wing along with Tommy Apap and Brody Stevens so far this season, had an assist in the season-opening win at Northern Michigan. In the Spartans' 5-1 win at Colorado College, Esteves scored the first goal of his career and picked up an assist later in the contest for his first multi-point game.

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Early Season Notables
• All three Spartan freshmen have recorded a point (Nicolas Müller, 1g; Jagger Joshua, 1a; Josh Nodler, 1a).
• Spartan defensemen have accounted for four goals (Cole Krygier, 2g; Jerad Rosburg, 1g; Dennis Cesana, 1g) … Krygier's two goals eclipse his total from last season.
• Defenseman Tommy Miller and forward Gianluca Esteves both have a plus-4 rating to lead the Spartans.
• Just four of the nine goals the Spartans have surrendered have been at even strength.
• Sam Saliba had his first two-point game since Jan. 2018, recording assists on both of the Spartans' first two goals of the game in the 5-1 win at CC.
•Two Spartans – Nicolas Müller (1-1--2) and Jeard Rosburg (1-2--3) – have points in each of the last two games.

Cole Closes in on 500
Coach Danton Cole brings a career record of 498-410-55 into this weekend's series with Cornell. Cole's is in the 19th season of his head coaching career, which started with the Muskegon Fury in the United Hockey League in 2001-02. Cole went on to coach three seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL and then spent two more seasons in the UHL with Motor City. In six total seasons, including playoffs, in the AHL and UHL, Cole won 244 games. He won 23 games over three years at Alabama Huntsville and then 205 over six seasons with the NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams. Cole has 26 wins in now his third season at MSU.

Strong in the Dot
The Spartans rank third in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .586. The Spartans won nearly 65 percent of the faceoffs last week at Colorado College, led by Patrick Khodorenko who went 21-8 (.724) and Tommy Apap, who was 30-13 (.698).

Both Apap (.628) and Adam Goodsir (.654) bring winning percentages above .600 into this weekend's series.

NMU Series Recap
The Spartans never trailed in the season-opening 5-3 win and twice had two-goal leads … Tommy Apap had the first two-goal and game-winning goal of his career, while Brody Stevens notched his second career multi-point game with a goal and assist … John Lethemon made 28 saves, including 13 in the third period, in Friday's win … MSU was 2-for-5 on the power play on Friday and 0-for-5 on Saturday … MSU improved to 43-31-5 in season-openers, including 2-1 under coach Danton Cole.

Donnelly Enters MSU Athletics Hall of Fame
Mike Donnelly (1982-86) was formally inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 24. Donnelly, who holds the NCAA single-season goal record with 59 in 1985-86, helped lead MSU to the national championship that same season. Donnelly scored the game-winning goal in the third period of the 6-5 victory over Harvard in the title game and was named the tournament's most outstanding player. The first-team All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist went on to play 11 seasons in the NHL and helped the Los Angeles Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. Donnelly is the ninth Spartan hockey player or coach to be inducted into the MSU HOF.

Late Start
Michigan State's regular season home-opening series against Cornell is its latest home-opening set at Munn Ice Arena since the 2005-06 season (Nov. 4-5). As a result, MSU will be playing four regular season games in December this season for the first time since 2013.

Schedule Notes…
• The Spartans' two home non-conference series will be against teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament (Cornell, Nov. 1-2; Arizona State, Dec. 14-15) … Cornell is currently ranked No. 5 in the USCHO.com poll, while Arizona State was slotted No. 20 in the preseason USCHO.com poll.
• The 24-game Big Ten schedule begins Nov. 8-9 at Penn State.
• The Spartans are currently slated to have 14 games televised, but that number could increase, pending further network selections.

The Munn Project
The $18.8 million Munn Ice Arena expansion project broke ground in mid-July, while an official groundbreaking ceremony was held Sept. 6. The expansion will provide the Spartans a new locker room, weight room, video room, training room with hydrotherapy pools, team lounge, offices and a hall of history among several other amenities. Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and his family have pledged $1.1 million toward the project.

...Speaking of Munn
The Spartans posted a winning record at home for the second straight season in 2018-19, going 7-5-2 at Munn, including a 5-4-2 Big Ten record … Home attendance average was up over 300 fans per game from the previous season as MSU ranked 10th nationally with an average of 5,461 in 2018-19.

Regular Season Home Schedule Begins For Spartans Against No. 4/5 Cornell

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Gianluca Esteves

Adam Goodsir

Jagger Joshua

Patrick Khodorenko

Cole Krygier

John Lethemon

Tommy Miller

Josh Nodler

Jerad Rosburg

Sam Saliba

Brody Stevens

Regular Season Home Schedule Begins For Spartans Against No. 4/5 Cornell

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Gianluca Esteves

Adam Goodsir

Jagger Joshua

Patrick Khodorenko

Cole Krygier

John Lethemon

Tommy Miller

Josh Nodler

Jerad Rosburg

Sam Saliba

Brody Stevens

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