No. 18 Spartans Begin GLI on Monday vs. Michigan Tech

55th Annual Great Lakes Invitational | Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Michigan, Ferris State
Dates – Times: Monday, Dec. 30, MSU vs. MTU – 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 31 – 11:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. vs. Michigan or Ferris State
Location: Little Caesars Arena | Detroit
Tickets: 313Presents.com
Web Stream: FloHockey.tv
TV: Fox Sports Detroit (championship game only)
Radio: Spartan Sports Network | Local: WJIM 1240-AM & 106.9-FM
Game Notes: Michigan State

On The Fly…
• No. 18 Michigan State is making its 41st consecutive and 46th overall appearance at the Great Lakes Invitational … The Spartans have taken part in every tournament since 1979.

• Five of the Spartans' last nine GLI games have been decided by a goal, and five of eight have gone into overtime, including both games last season.

• The Spartans are 26-17-2 all-time in GLI semifinal games and 48-38-4 all-time in the tournament … MSU's last tournament win came in 2009.

• Michigan State enters the GLI having won three of its last four games, including a series split with No. 16/15 Arizona State, Dec. 14-15, in the last games before the holiday break.

• In the Big Ten, Michigan State is 6-3-1-0 and tied with Ohio State for second place with 19 points apiece.

• John Lethemon posted his fourth shutout of the season the last time out in a 1-0 OT win over Arizona State … Lethemon's four shutouts are tied for the most of any goaltender in the country ... Lethemon is fifth nationally in save percentage (.941) and 15th in GAA (2.01).

• Patrick Khodorenko (3-2--5), Mitchell Lewandowski (3-2--5) and Dennis Cesana (0-4--4) all bring three-game point streaks into Monday's game vs. MTU … The three players have combined for each of the Spartans' last two game-winning goals – both in OT (Dec. 7 vs. Wisconsin; Dec. 15 vs. Arizona State).

• Patrick Khodorenko leads the Spartans in both goals (9), assists (9) and points (18) … His nine goals are tied for second in the Big Ten.

• The Spartans haven't allowed a power-play goal in nine of the last 10 games, killing 30-of-32 (.938) opponent tries on the man-advantage over the span … MSU extinguished all six ASU power plays in its last series ... In Big Ten play, MSU leads the conference in penalty kill percentage at .906.

• The Spartans have their highest shot on goal totals of the season over the last four games and are averaging 37.75 shots on goal per game over the span, which is nearly 10 shots per game higher than their season average.

• The Spartans have two overtime wins this season – both coming over the last three games – for the first time since 2011-12 when they also had two.

• Michigan State ranks ninth in the country in faaceoff winning percentage at .536 … Tommy Apap leads all Spartan centers and is seventh in the Big Ten with a .571 winning percentage.

• Eight different players have accounted for the Spartans' nine game-winning goals.

About Michigan Tech
The Huskies are coming off a tie (2-2) and loss (4-2) with No. 4 Clarkson in their final games before the break, Dec. 13-14 … MTU went 7-1 over an eight-game stretch from Nov. 15-Dec. 7 … Michigan Tech is currently tied for third place in the WCHA at 8-6 … The Huskies are 12th nationally in goals-allowed per game at 2.05 … Sophomore forward Alec Broetzman leads the Huskies in goals (8) and points (14) … Junior defenseman Seamus Donohue leads in assists (9) … In goal, senior Matt Jurusik owns a 2.00 GAA and .924 save percentage in 15 games played.

Arizona State Series Recap
In their fourth consecutive series against a USCHO.com Poll top-20 opponent, the Spartans split a pair of games at Munn with then No. 15/16 ASU … The Spartans trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in the opener before rallying to tie the game in the third period … MSU outshot ASU 35-25 in the 4-3 loss and then both teams had 36 shots on goal in the 1-0 OT win … Mitchell Lewandowski's OT winner was the first of his career … The Spartans killed all six ASU power plays in the series, including three in each game.

Michigan State vs. Arizona State, Dec. 14 2019

Michigan State vs. Arizona State, Dec. 14 2019

GLI Tidbits
Against potential day two opponents, MSU has an 8-13-2 all-time record vs. Michigan in the GLI and is 1-0 against Ferris State in the tournament ... Eight of the Spartans' 16 GLI games since 2011 have gone to overtime … Head coach Danton Cole and assistant coach Chris Luongo helped the Spartans capture the 1985 GLI title as freshmen and went 5-3 in the tournament as players from 1985-88.

The Wall of Lethemon
Senior goaltender John Lethemon recorded his nation-leading fourth shutout in the Spartans' last game and has two over the last four games. Lethemon has stepped up significantly this season as since the Nov. 8 shutout at Penn State, Lethemon has a .947 save percentage, which ranks fourth in the nation over the span. More impressively, Lethemon has faced the most shots (413) of any goaltender in the nation over that 12-game span. He is 7-4-1 with a 1.82 GAA over the stretch.

On the season, Lethemon leads the B1G and ranks fifth in the country in save percentage at .941, while his 2.01 GAA is second best in the conference and his four shutouts are tied for the most nationally.

He has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week twice, and most recently was named the league's No. 2 star after his performance vs. Arizona State.

His shutouts this season have come at Penn State (48 saves); vs. Michigan (35 saves); vs. Wisconsin (41 saves) and vs. Arizona State (36 saves).

B1G Lockdown
The Spartans rank third the Big Ten in goals against per game, yielding an average of just 2.39. Since league play began for the Spartans on Nov. 8 at Penn State, MSU has allowed three or fewer goals in eight of 10 conference games.

On the season, MSU's goals-against per game average continues to tick downward as the Spartans now rank 19th nationally at 2.39, which is 1.0 lower than its season average from 2018-19. The Spartans allowed three or fewer goals from Nov. 9 – Dec. 6, marking the first time MSU has allowed three or fewer in seven consecutive games since the 2013-14 season.

In the Rankings
The Spartans have been No. 18 in the USCHO.com top-20 poll for two straight weeks. For first time since Oct. 7, 2012, Michigan State appeared in the USCHO poll on Nov. 25, coming in at No. 20, following a tie and win with Notre Dame.

P K Getting The Job Done
Since the start of conference play on Nov. 8 at Penn State, the Spartans have posted a league-best 90.6% penalty kill percentage.

MSU hasn't allowed a power-play goal in nine of the last 10 games, killing 30-of-32 (.938) opponent power plays over the span. Over those 10 games since Nov. 14, the Spartans' .938 PK percentage is second best in the nation.

On the season, MSU is now 31st nationally in penalty kill percentage at .814.

Plenty of Gas in the Tank
Another key to the Spartans' success over the last 12 games (10 in the B1G) has been their ability to outscore opponents over the final two periods. Over the last 12 games, MSU has outscored opponents by a combined margin of 26-17 in the second and third periods. Further, in the third period of second games of a series, MSU holds a 7-4 edge, while three of those four opponent goals have been empty-netters.

Michigan State vs. Arizona State, Dec. 14, 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 was named the Big Ten First Star of the Week on Nov. 26 for his efforts. On Dec. 7 against Wisconsin, Saliba tied the game in the third period with a shorthanded goal.

Against Notre Dame, 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).

In Big Ten Games, MSU…
• Ranks second in goals against per game at 2.10
• Is second in total goals allowed at 21.
• Leads the league in penalty kill percentage at .906.
• Ranks second in faceoff winning percentage at .528.
• Is second in goals per game at 2.6.

Patty Paces the Offense
Patrick Khodorenko leads the Spartans in goals (9), assists (9) and points (18) and brings a three-game point streak (3-2--5) into the GLI. Khodorenko set up Mitchell Lewandowski's OT-winner on Dec. 15 and the weekend before that, he recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season and 24th of his career in the 5-4 OT win over Wisconsin. Khodorenko scored the Spartans' first goal; assisted on the second; and then got the first overtime winner of his career to cap the three-point night.

Earlier this season, Khodorenko compiled a career best six-game point streak (6-6--12) from Oct. 26 - Nov. 14 over which he produced 12 points (6g, 6a).

Khodorenko's second goal at Michigan on Nov. 14 was his 100th career point. With 48 career goals, it's the most by a Spartan since Matt Berry also had 48 in 130 games from 2011-15.

Wisconsin Series Recap
The Spartans earned their second Big Ten sweep of the season, marking the first time since 2014-15 that MSU has had at least two conference sweeps … The Spartans recorded their two highest shot on goal totals of the season – 36 and 44, respectively, and they improved to 4-0 when generating at least 30 shots on net … The Spartans' eight combined goals were their most in a series this season … Patrick Khodorenko had his third two-goal game of the season in the 5-4 OT win … John Lethemon had a .949 save percentage ... In the 5-4 OT win, MSU scored three goals in the third for the first time this season and first time since Jan. 12, 2018 in a win at Penn State.

Lambdin Producing…And at the Right Time
While Logan Lambdin had the best point-producing spurt of his career come to an end on Nov. 30, the senior enters the GLI fourth on the team with nine points (4g, 5a). Lambdin's six-game piont streak from Nov. 8-23 tied with Patrick Khodorenko for the longest by a Spartan this season as he produced six points (3g, 3a) over the span.

Lambdin's points came 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 7-1-1 in games Lambdin has recorded a point this season.