Michigan State University
Penn State
Spartans Begin B1G Schedule at No. 6 Penn State
11/6/2019 4:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
Games 7-8: Michigan State (2-4 | 0-0 B1G) at No. 6 Penn State (6-1 | 2-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Nov. 8 | 7 p.m. // Saturday, Nov. 9 | 6 p.m.
Location: University Park, Pa. | Pegula Ice Arena
Web Stream: BTNPlus.com | BTN + app
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Local: Friday – WJIM 1240-AM // Saturday – WVFN 730-AM
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Game Notes: Michigan State | Penn State | Big Ten Â
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On The Fly…
• Michigan State will take on another top-10 team as it opens Big Ten play by visiting No. 6/6 Penn State on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.) at Pegula Ice Arena.
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• MSU was 2-2 against Penn State last year as each team went 1-1 at home.
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• For the first time since the start of the 1988-89 season, MSU will play seven of its first nine games on the road ... Following the first game of a home-and-home with Michigan on November 14, the Spartans will play seven of their next nine games at home.
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• Patrick Khodorenko has seven points (1g, 6a) over the first six games, including points in each of the last three contests, posting a 1-5--6 line over the span.
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• Khodorenko has had a good amount of success in his career against Penn State with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 12 games vs. the Nittany Lions.
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• Defensive partners Dennis Cesana (2g, 2a) and Jerad Rosburg (1g, 3a) lead all Spartan blueliners with four points each … Spartan defensemen have combined for 13 points (5g, 8a) so far this year, equating to just over 31% of MSU's total points.
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• The Spartan power play ranks 10th nationally at 29.2% (7-for-24) … MSU was 2-for-6 and 2-for-5, respectively, last weekend, and has a power-play goal in four of six games this season … Patrick Khodorenko leads the Spartans in power-play points with four (1g, 3a).
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• Michigan State's scoring has been spread out so far this season with nine different players scoring the last 10 Spartan goals (Nico Müller has two goals) over the last four games … Fifteen different players have points this season.
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• The Spartans rank third nationally in faceoff winning percentage .565 … Tommy Apap leads all Spartans with a .605 winning percentage, followed by Patrick Khodorenko at .579.
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• Junior defenseman Tommy Miller had two assists the last time out, marking his first multi-point game since February 2018.
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• 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).
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About Penn State
Ranked sixth in both polls nationally, Penn State is coming off a sweep at home of then-No. 7 Wisconsin (W, 6-1; W, 4-2) … The Nittany Lions have played all seven of their games at home so far this season … Nationally, PSU ranks second in total goals (32), fourth in goals per game (4.57) and second in shots on goal (38.14), while defensively they're ninth in goals allowed per game (2.0) … The Lions are 31.4% (11-for-35) on the power play, which ranks sixth in the country, and the penalty kill has erased 90.6% (29-of-32) of opponent power plays – 13th best nationally … Senior forward Nate Sucese leads the team and is tied for third nationally in points with 13 (7g, 4a) … In goal, senior Peyton Jones is 6-0 with a 1.47 GAA and .947 save percentage.
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Against the Nittany Lions
Patrick Khodorenko is averaging a point per game in his career vs. PSU with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 12 career contests ... Mitchell Lewandowski has six points (3g, 3a), including two game-winning goals, vs. Penn State ... Three (2g, 1a) of Adam Goodsir's six points, including a game-winning goal, last season came against the Nittany Lions ... Goaltender John Lethemon is 3-3-1 with a .917 save percentage in seven starts vs. PSU ... MSU is 1-2-1-1 over the last two seasons at Penn State.
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Cornell Series Recap
The Spartans dropped a pair of games to No. 4 Cornell, 3-2 and 6-2 … All four Spartan goals in the series came via the power play as MSU was 4-for-11 (.363) … Dennis Cesana and Patrick Khodorenko scored the first night, while freshmen Josh Nodler and Nico Müller both recorded tallies on Saturday … Defenseman Tommy Miller had his first multi-point game since February 2018 with two assists on Saturday night.
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Life on the Road
For the first time since 1988, Michigan State is playing seven of its first nine games on the road. The Spartans started with four straight on the road (at Northern Michigan and at Colorado College), before hosting No. 4 Cornell last weekend in what was its latest home-opening series since 2005. After opening its Big Ten slate at Penn State, the Spartans will play the first of a home-and-home with Michigan in Ann Arbor on Thursday, Nov. 14.
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However, the Spartans will get to stick close to home beginning with the Saturday, Nov. 16 matchup vs. Michigan. That game will mark the start of seven of nine contests at Munn and nine of 11 in the state of Michigan.
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Khodorenko Gets Better With Age
Patrick Khodorenko is off to another good start with seven points (1g, 6a) through six games. Khodorenko had his best season in the Green and White last year with career highs in goals (18), points (37), shots (117), power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (2). Khodorenko has increased his output in all five of those statistical categories over each season during his time at MSU.
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The native of Walnut Creek, California, who played for Danton Cole with the USNTDP, entered the season with 87 career points, which was the 11th best total among all active players, while his 38 career goals were eighth among all active skaters. He enters this weekend's series at Penn State with 94 career points (39g, 55a).
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Khodorenko will be wearing a letter for his first time as a Spartan, as he was named one of the team's two assistant captains in May.
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Strong in the Dot
The Spartans rank third in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .565. Leading the way is Tommy Apap, who ranks fifth in the Big Ten in faceoff winning percentage at .605 (69-45). Patrick Khodorenko is close behind at .579 (62-45). Adam Goodsir is also above .500 at .535.
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The Spartans have won more faceoffs than their opponents in four of six games, including taking 69% of draws in a 5-1 win at Colorado College on Oct. 26.
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Spreading the Wealth
Scoring for the Spartans has been spread out so far this season as entering Friday's game at Penn State, 11 different players have scored the last 12 MSU goals, and in total, 11 players have combined for the Spartans' 15 total goals. Conversely, MSU didn't have 11 different goal scorers until its 23rd goal last season.
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Esteves Taking Advantage of Early Opportunities
Junior Gianluca Esteves has a goal and two assists in his five appearances so far this season. 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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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.
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