Spartans Host No. 3 Notre Dame This Weekend at Munn

Games 11-12: #3/3 Notre Dame (8-1-1, 4-1-1-0 B1G) vs. Michigan State (5-5, 3-1-0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Nov. 22 | 7 p.m. // Saturday, Nov. 23 | 7 p.m.
Location: East Lansing, Mich. | Munn Ice Arena
Tickets: MSUSpartans.com
Promotions:
Friday – Four Seats, Four Treats
Saturday – Star Wars night, Family Four Pack, Student-Athlete Food Drive

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 | Notre Dame | Big Ten

On The Fly...
• Michigan State will square off against a top-6 team in a series for the third time this month as it hosts No. 3/3 Notre Dame at Munn on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (7 p.m.).

• The Spartans are coming off a sweep of Michigan (4-3, 3-0) and have won three of their last four games.

• MSU is 3-1 in Big Ten play and is in third place with nine points, while Notre Dame is in second place at 4-1-1-0 in the conference with 13 points.

• Senior goaltender John Lethemon's 35-save shutout was his second in the last four games and he was named the Big Ten's First Star of the Week on Tuesday … Lethemon posted a .960 save percentage in the two-game sweep of Michigan.

• Lethemon's .936 save percentage leads all Big Ten goaltenders and his 2.31 GAA ranks fourth best in the league … Lethemon is one of just nine goaltenders nationally to have at least two shutouts.

• Logan Lambdin brings a career best four-game point streak into Friday's game as he has two goals and two assists over the span … Lambdin scored the game-winner in Nov. 14's 4-3 win at Michigan and assisted on the game-winning goal the next time out.

• Patrick Khodorenko's career long six-game point streak ended on Saturday but the senior comes into Friday's game tied for fifth in the Big Ten in points (13) and tied for third in goals (6).

• Khodorenko has 12 points (8g, 4a) over the last seven games.

• Michigan State's power play ranks fourth nationally for the second straight week as the Spartans are converting on 31.2% (10-for-32) of their chances on the man-advantage … MSU had just three power plays in the series vs. Michigan, going 1-for-3 with the game-winning goal on Nov. 14 coming via the power play.

• The Spartan penalty kill has been strong of late, extinguishing 13-of-14 (92.8%) of opponent power plays over the last four games … MSU killed all eight U-M power plays last weekend.

• This weekend's series features two of the nation's best teams in the faceoff circle as the Spartans rank fourth in the country in faceoff winning percentage (.556), while Notre Dame is second (.588).

• All three Spartan freshmen picked up points the last time out as Josh Nodler scored the game-winning goal, while Jagger Joshua and Nicolas Müller both picked up assists on Tommy Apap's goal.

• Müller leads the Spartan rookie class with five points (2g, 3a), while Nodler has points in each of the last two games and four (2g, 2a) on the season.

About Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish suffered their first lost off the season last weekend in a split at Wisconsin (L, 3-0; W, 5-4 OT) … Notre Dame is 4-1-1-0 in league play and sits in second place with 13 points – two behind conference-leader Penn State … The Irish are seventh nationally in goals per game (3.8) and ninth in goals allowed per game (2.0) … Notre Dame has already played three overtime games, going 2-0-1 … Cal Burke leads ND in points (13) and assists (9); Mike O'Leary and Trevor Janicke share the co-lead in goals (5) … Cale Morris is 5-1-1 with a 2.52 GAA and .913 save percentage.

Notre Dame matchup graphic

Michigan Series Recap
MSU rallied from two, two-goal deficits (2-0, 3-1) in the 4-3 win at Yost … The Spartans killed all eight U-M power plays in the series, including five in the Nov. 14 3-0 win … The 3-0 win marked the second time John Lethemon shut out Michigan, as he also did so on Dec. 8, 2017 at Munn (5-0) ... Michigan's last two road shutouts have come against MSU at Munn … Six players combined to score the Spartans' seven goals … Danton Cole improved to 3-0-1 against U-M at Munn.

Another Week, Another First Star
For the second straight week, a Spartan has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week as goaltender John Lethemon was named the recipient of the honor on Tuesday, marking the first time in his career he has received a weekly conference accolade. He was also named the NCAA's Third Star of the Week. Lethemon posted a .960 save percentage in the sweep of Michigan and earned his second shutout of the year in his 35-save effort in the 3-0 win.

Lethemon has started each of the last four games, posing a .948 save percentage and 2.00 GAA over the span. His .936 save percentage on the season leads the Big Ten.

Lambdin Gets Rolling
Through 10 games, senior Logan Lambdin is already halfway to his point total from last season with six (3g, 6a). Lambdin brings a career-best four-game point streak into Friday's game (2-2--4). Lambdin had a big series against Michigan, first scoring the game-winning goal on the power play in the third period of a 4-3 win. Two nights later, he helped set up the game-winning goal.

MSU is 5-1 in games Lambdin has recorded a point this season.

Powering Through
The Spartan power play continues to be one of the best in the country, ranking fourth nationally at 31.2% (10-for-32). Of teams that have played at least 10 games, only Penn State has a better power-play percentage at 32.6%. The Spartans are 3-for-7 (42.8%) over the last four games (did not have a power play Nov. 8 at Penn State). The Spartans have scored two power-play goals in three games this season.

Patrick Khodorenko leads the Spartans with six power-play points (2g, 4a). Two of sophomore Dennis Cesana's three goals on the season have come on the power play, while Mitchell Lewandowski has scored both of his goals this season on the man-advantage.

Butrus Ghafari vs. Cornell

Patty Paces the Offense
After one assist through the first three games of the season, Patrick Khodorenko has since put up 12 points (6g, 6a) over the last seven games. Khodorenko started a career best six-game point streak (6-6--12) with three assists in a win at Colorado College on Oct. 26. He had four points at Penn State (3g, 1a) and then scored twice in the Spartans' win at U-M.

Khodorenko's second goal at Michigan on Nov. 14 was his 100th career point. With 44 career goals, he's the first Spartan since Matt Berry to register at least 40 as Berry had 48 in 130 games from 2011-15.

Penn State Series Recap
The Spartans' 2-0 shutout was their first since a 2-0 blanking on the road at Wisconsin on Jan. 12, 2018 … The Spartans blocked 31 shots in the 2-0 win – their most since blocking 32 in a tie with Penn State in Nov. 2017 … John Lethemon's 48 saves in the shutout were a career high and marked the fifth time in his career he had at least 40 saves vs. Penn State … The Spartans killed all four Penn State power plays in the win, including a 2-minute 5-on-3 in the second period … Patrick Khodorenko (3a, 1a) had a hand four of six MSU goals … The Spartans won more faceoffs in both games … MSU is now 2-2 in its last four games at Pegula.

Khodorenko the No. 1 Star
For the second time in his career, Patrick Khodorenko was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week after he had four points in the series split at then-No. 6 Penn State (Nov. 8-9). Khodorenko scored the game-winner in the second period of Friday's 2-0 shutout win. The following night, he scored twice and had an assist in a 6-4 loss. Khodorenko's second goal with 1:07 left pulled the Spartans to within a goal.

Strong in the Dot
The Spartans rank fourth in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .556. Of centers that have at least 100 faceoff wins, Tommy Apap ranks sixth nationally and second in the Big Ten in winning percentage at .598. Adam Goodsir has a. 574 winning percentage, while Patrick Khodorenko posts a .572 winning percentage.

The Spartans have won more faceoffs than their opponents in seven of 10 games, including taking 69% of draws in a 5-1 win at Colorado College on Oct. 26.

We'll be Around for a While
The Nov. 14 game at Michigan marked the Spartans' seventh of nine games this season on the road, marking the first time since the start of the 1988-89 season that MSU played seven of its first nine games on the road. However, the Spartans are now in a stretch of playing seven of nine games at Munn Ice Arena. Beyond that, MSU will play in the GLI in Detroit, Dec. 30-31, and then host Minnesota to begin the new calendar year, giving MSU a span of 11 of 13 games in the state of Michigan.

The Spartans started the year with four straight on the road (at Northern Michigan and at Colorado College), before hosting No. 4 Cornell in what was its latest home-opening series since 2005.

Cole Wins His 500th Career Game
Coach Danton Cole won his 500th career game as a head coach in the Spartans 4-3 rally at Michigan on Nov. 14. 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 29 wins in now his third season at MSU.

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Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Adam Goodsir

Jagger Joshua

Patrick Khodorenko

Logan Lambdin

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Josh Nodler