No. 20 Spartans Visit No. 11 Ohio State in Thanksgiving Weekend Clash

Games 13-14: No. 20 Michigan State (6-5-1 | 4-1-1-0 B1G) at No. 11 Ohio State (7-4-1 | 3-3-0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Saturday, Nov. 30 | 5 p.m. // Sunday, Dec. 1 | 2:30 p.m.
Location: Columbus, Ohio | Value City Arena
TV: BTN (Sunday)
Web Stream: BTNPlus.com & BTN + app (Saturday) // FOX Sports App (Sunday)
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Local: Saturday – WVFN 730-AM // Sunday – WJIM 1240-AM
SSN Mobile App: iPhone/iPad | Android
Game Notes: Michigan State | Ohio State | Big Ten

On The Fly…
• Michigan State, which is unbeaten in its last four games (3-0-1) and is 4-1-1 over its last six games, travels to Ohio State for Thanksgiving weekend to meet the No. 11 Buckeyes on Saturday and Sunday at Value City Arena.

• The Spartans are ranked 20th in this week's USCHO.com poll, while they received votes and are just outside of the 15-team USAToday/USA Hockey poll.

• The Spartans are 4-1-1-0 in Big Ten play and will enter the weekend in third place with 13 points – two behind second-place Notre Dame … OSU is in fifth place with nine points and a 3-3 conference record.

• Senior Logan Lambdin continued his career best point streak this past weekend with a goal and assist, extending the streak to six games … Lambdin has six points (3g, 3a) over the six-game span and is now second on the team with eight points (4g, 4a) this season.

• Senior Sam Saliba scored three of the Spartans' four goals last weekend vs. Notre Dame and was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week on Tuesday … It marks the third consecutive week a Spartan has been named the league's first star ... Four of Saliba's six points on the season have come over the last four games.

• Spartan seniors have helped fuel the team's 4-1-1 record over the last six games as the class has accounted for 12 of 17 goals over the span.

• John Lethemon leads all Big Ten goaltenders with a .939 save percentage, which is also fourth best among all goaltenders nationally that have played at least 10 games … Lethemon also leads the conference in goals-against average at 2.12.

• MSU leads the Big Ten in goals against per game (2.0) and has allowed four fewer goals (12) than the next closest team.

• Michigan State is sixth in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .550 … The Spartans won 51.7% of the draws last weekend against Notre Dame, which entered the series with the nation's second-best faceoff winning percentage.

• Despite being held without a goal on the man-advantage last weekend, MSU is fifth nationally in power-play efficiency at 28.6% (10-for-35).

• Six different Spartans have scored game-winning goals.

• Freshman Josh Nodler has points in three of the last four games, including a game-winning goal vs. Michigan (11/16) and an assist on a game-winning goal vs. Notre Dame (11/23).

About Ohio State
The Buckeyes are coming off a split with a pair of one-goal games at Penn State (L, 5-4; W, 4-3) … OSU is four points behind MSU in the standings at 3-3 in the league … Sophomore Gustaf Westlund (7-6--13) and senior Tanner Laczynski (4-9--13) are tied for the team lead in points … Junior goaltender Tommy Nappier has played all but one period in net, posting a 2.13 GAA and .926 save percentage … OSU ranks 13th in goals against per game at 2.13 … The Buckeyes have 16 power-play goals and their 28.1 power-play conversion rate is sixth best in the country.

OSU graphic matchup

Against the Buckeyes
Patrick Khodorenko is the team's active leader in points against OSU as he has 14 (5g, 9a) in 15 games … Seniors Sam Saliba (7g) Logan Lambdin (6g) are the Spartans' active leaders in goals against the Buckeyes … MSU leads the all-time series, 91-45-13, and is 40-23-6 all-time on the road vs. OSU … OSU won last season's series, 2-1-1-1.

Notre Dame Series Recap
Seniors accounted for all four goals (Saliba 3g; Lambdin 1g) and six of the Spartans' nine total points in the two games … Four of MSU's last seven games with Notre Dame have been decided by one goal … Saturday's 3-2 win was the Spartans' second in the last four games when they have trailed in the third period … The win was MSU's first vs. Notre Dame at Munn since January 2013.

Lambdin Producing…And at the Right Time
Senior Logan Lambdin is on the best point-producing spurt of his career as he brings a six-game point streak into Saturday's game. Lambdin has six points (3g, 3a) over the span, which is tied with Patrick Khodorenko for the longest point streak by a Spartan this season. On the season, he ranks second on the team with eight points (4g, 4a).

Lambdin's points have come at big moments over the six-game span. The streak started Nov. 8 at No. 6 Penn State where he sealed the MSU win with an empty-net goal. Against Michigan, Lambdin broke a 3-3 tie by 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. Last weekend against Notre Dame, he scored the game-tying goal with 6:12 to go in the third period of the Spartans 3-2 come-from-behind win.

MSU is 6-1-1 in games Lambdin has recorded a point this season.

Michigan State vs. Notre Dame, Nov. 22, 2019

Michigan State vs. Notre Dame, Nov. 22, 2019

The Captain Comes Through
Second-year team captain Sam Saliba scored three of the Spartans' four goals in the series against Notre Dame and on Tuesday was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week for his efforts. Saliba, who had three assists entering the series, scored his first goal of the year in the 1-1 tie. In the 3-2 victory, he tied the game, 1-1, in the second period, and then got the game-winner with 1:10 play in third period. Saliba has a team-best three game-winning points this season (1g, 2a).

Lethemon Putting Up a Wall
Senior John Lethemon is off to the best start of any season of his career as the senior leads the Big Ten in both save percentage (.939) and GAA (2.12). Lethemon has started all six games of the Spartans' current 4-1-1 stretch, posting a .949 save percentage, 1.81 GAA and two shutouts over the span.

Lethemon made a career best 48 saves in a 2-0 shutout win at No. 6 Penn State. He earned his sixth career shutout – and second against Michigan – with 35 saves in a 3-0 win on Nov. 16.

In Big Ten Games, MSU…
• Leads the league goals against per game at 2.0.
• Has allowed four fewer goals (12) than the next closest team.
• Has an .833 penalty kill percentage, which ranks second and is .093 better than its season average.
• Ranks third in power play percentage at .273, while having the fewest number of power-play opportunities (11).

Seniors Seeing (B1G) Stars
The Spartans have boasted the Big Ten First Star of the Week now for three consecutive weeks with seniors Sam Saliba (Nov. 26), John Lethemon (Nov. 19) and Patrick Khodorenko (Nov. 12) all garnering the accolade.

In scoring three of the Spartans' four goals vs. Notre Dame, including a game-winner, Saliba earned a weekly conference accolade for the first time in his career. Lethemon earned the No. 1 star honor for the first time in his career after he 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. Khodorenko was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week for the second time in his career 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 a 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.

Powering Through
The Spartan power play continues to be one of the best in the country, ranking fifth nationally at 28.6% (10-for-35). While limited to just four chances on the man-advantage over the last three contests, the Spartans have scored two power-play goals in four 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.

In the Rankings
For first time since Oct. 7, 2012, Michigan State is in the USCHO.com top-20 poll, coming in at No. 20 this week. The Spartans received votes in the USAToday/USA Hockey top-15 poll.

Strong in the Dot
The Spartans rank sixth in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .550. In going up against Notre Dame last weekend, which came in as No. 2 in the national in faceoff winning percentage, the Spartans wound up winning 51.% of draws in the series.

Tommy Apap ranks second in the Big Ten in total faceoff wins with 123, while his team-leading .569 winning percentage ranks sixth among conference centers that have taken at least 150 draws. Patrick Khodorenko is second on the team with a .555 winning percentage.

The Spartans have won more faceoffs than their opponents in eight of 12 games, including taking 69% of draws in a 5-1 win at Colorado College on Oct. 26.

Michigan State vs. Notre Dame, Nov. 22, 2019

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 nine 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.

Up Next
The Spartans will play their final Big Ten series of the calendar year as they'll host 19^th-ranked Wisconsin Dec. 6-7 at Munn.

No. 20 Spartans Visit No. 11 Ohio State in Thanksgiving Weekend Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Patrick Khodorenko

Logan Lambdin

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Josh Nodler

Sam Saliba

No. 20 Spartans Visit No. 11 Ohio State in Thanksgiving Weekend Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Patrick Khodorenko

Logan Lambdin

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Josh Nodler

Sam Saliba

Related Videos