Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Ready to Square Off With Wisconsin
12/5/2019 10:14:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Michigan State and Wisconsin are two teams with several differences.
The Badgers, with seven freshmen and only two seniors, are the second-youngest team in college hockey, and the Spartans, with eight seniors and only three freshmen, are one of the oldest.
Wisconsin has 11 NHL draft picks on its roster, including three first-rounders and one player who's expected to be selected in the first round in the 2020 Entry Draft. MSU has four draft picks.
The Badgers are known for an up-tempo, attack style of offense. The Spartans' focus isn't totally on defense and they want to use speed in transitioning to offense and be opportunistic. But they do put an emphasis on defending. Defense and goaltending have been strengths this season.
Differences aside, there's one area both teams are striving to attain: Consistency.
A few good games followed by so-so outings is not the formula for finishing high in the Big Ten standings and being in position to make the NCAA Tournament.
The sixth-place Badgers and fourth-place Spartans head into this weekend's series one game below .500. Wisconsin, coming off a split against Michigan, is 7-8-1 overall and a disappointing 2-5-1-1 (8 points) in the Big Ten. Michigan State, is 6-7-1 and a positive 4-3-1-0 (13 points) in the Big Ten, but disappointed by getting swept at Ohio State in which it only scored one goal.
"We have to get back to the way we were playing. We can take the things we did well against Ohio State and tighten up things we didn't do well,'' MSU senior captain Sam Saliba said. "It's stick to what makes us successful.
"I think we've done a pretty good job of that so far in Big Ten play. Obviously, we came up on the short end of the two games last weekend. We did a lot of good things but struggled to find offense.''
The Spartans and Badgers will be trying to get back on track when they meet at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Munn Arena. For each team, it's the last Big Ten series until early January. MSU still has a non-conference series coming up next weekend against Arizona State. Wisconsin is off until Jan. 1 when it plays the U.S. Under-18 team in an exhibition game.
"This series is really crucial. We have six big ones (points) against Wisconsin,'' Saliba said. "Every game is so important in the Big Ten and collecting points is essential. Up until last weekend, we've done a good job with that. We have to get back to that this weekend.''
Both teams are eager get on a run and add points and confidence.
After two series splits to start the season, Michigan State got swept by Cornell, but then put together its best stretch of the season – 4-1-1. The Spartans split at Penn State, won two against Michigan and tied and won vs. Notre Dame.
The Spartans were solid defensively at Ohio State but had difficulty creating quality scoring chances in 3-1 and 2-0 losses, giving up an empty-net goal in each game.
Wisconsin started the season going 4-1, including a sweep of defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth. Since late October, the Badgers are 3-6-1, with three series splits, one in which they got swept and a series with a loss and tie (shootout win).
Wisconsin averaged 3.75 goals in its first eight games but over the last eight, it's dropped to 2.50.
In addition, the Badgers have been hampered by slow starts. In three of the last four games, they've watched the opponent take two-goal leads in the first 30 minutes.
There were down 2-0 against Michigan last Friday before rallying for a 3-2 victory. On Sunday, the Wolverines again went up 2-0 and this time, Wisconsin never caught up, losing 3-1 with an empty-net goal.
"It's just has been frustrating for the players and for us as coaches to watch three games in a row where you just don't come out of the gate and have a lot of energy into your game,'' Wisconsin coach Tony Granato told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this week. "You're sitting back watching and waiting.''
The Badgers, with a highly regarded freshman class and two standout defensemen passing up NHL opportunities to stay in school, had high expectations for this season. They were considered a contender for the Big Ten regular season title and expected to be in the mix for a NCAA Tournament berth.
But with a young group, including four 18-year-olds, it's taken longer than expected for Wisconsin to get in sync. Still, there's 18 games left for the Badgers to find their game.
"Eventually, talk is cheap,'' Badgers junior defenseman and captain Wyatt Kalynuk said after the Michigan series. "I think you can say everything you want after every loss and you can say the same things, but eventually you've just got to go out and do it.''
The freshmen have made an impact. Cole Caufield and Alex Turcotte are the No. 1 and 3 scorers. Both were stars with the U.S. National Team Development Program the last two years and were drafted in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Caufield has a team-leading 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points, while Turcotte has six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Linus Weissbach, a junior and a linemate of Caufield and Turcotte, is second in team scoring with three goals and 13 assists for 16 points.
Kalynuk and sophomore Kandra Miller, another first-round draft pick, anchor a veteran defense.
"Wisconsin presents some different challenges. They really attack and have a ton of skill and their D-corps is way underrated,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "People always talk about how much they can score but when you have Kalynuk and K'Andre Miller and the other guys back there, that's a solid group.
"We better be on top of our game. Not just physically and mentally, but also emotionally. We need to be up and going. That's the only way you have success, and that's when we've been at our best.''
MSU junior defenseman Tommy Miller says the key to being consistent is preparation – what you do in the offseason and in practice during the season.
"It's kind of all built in. It's in your training in the summer and day-in and day-out in practice – on a Monday or a Thursday or whenever,'' Miller said. "It's what you do in practice and then in the games.
"That's what we're striving to do here. I know coach wants us to practice how we play. When we're playing our game, we have that confidence and swagger and our offense builds on that.''
The Spartans head into the weekend with 13 points, two behind Notre Dame and Ohio State, who are tied for second place. MSU trails first-place Penn State by five points. Every team in the Big Ten has played eight league games and has 16 remaining.
THE MSU-BADGERS RIVALRY: The Spartans hold a 56-55-4 edge in the series which started with a 9-2 MSU win on Dec. 11, 1964. Michigan State won the first nine meetings with the Badgers, which was in the early stages of building their program.
Last season, the Badgers went 2-1-1 against MSU, sweeping their home series and losing and tying at Munn Arena.
Over the last five seasons, Wisconsin holds a 10-9-1 edge over Michigan State. The last time the Spartans dominated was during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons when they went 6-2 vs. the Badgers. A year later – in 2016-17, Wisconsin won all four games.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Cole Caufield is Wisconsin's most heralded player because of his goal-scoring prowess with the U.S. National Team's Development Program's U-17 and U-18 teams.
Caufield set the USA single-season record for goals with 73 last season and is the career leader in goals with 126 in two seasons in Plymouth. He's third in career points with 180, including 100 last season.
Caufield, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound right wing from Stevens Point, Wis., was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens, 15th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Caufield got off to a fast start with six goals in his first three games, then scored three in the next eight games, followed by a four-game goal drought before scoring his 10th of the season last Sunday vs. Michigan. He has points in 12 of 16 games and leads NCAA freshman with 10 goals, 18 points and 64 shots on goal.
Two other Badgers have been drafted in the first round. Freshman Alex Turcotte was picked before Caufield, his linemate. He was picked fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings. K'Andre Miller, a sophomore defenseman, was a first-round pick – 22nd overall – by the New York Rangers in 2018.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Owen Lindmark – another alumn of the NTDP, was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round, 137th overall, in 2019.
Freshman forward Dylan Holloway has a late birthday and wasn't eligible for the 2018 Entry Draft. He's expected to be the first American to be selected in the first round in the 2020 draft.
Wisconsin has seven players with double-digit points -ranking from Lindmark's 10 (4-6) to Caufield's team-leading 18 (10-8). Junior Linus Weissbach is second with 16 points (3-13), followed by Turcotte (6-9-15), defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk (3-10-13), sophomore forward Roman Ahcan (5-7-12), Miller (6-5-11) and Lindmark (4-6-10).
The veteran defensive corps also includes juniors Tyler Inamoto and Joss Ess, sophomore Ty Emberson and freshman Mike Vorlicky.
In goal, sophomore Daniel Lebedeff has started 15 of 16 games and has a 7-8-0 record, a 3.25 goals-against average and a .898 saves percentage.
On the power play, Wisconsin is converting at 21.9 percent – 5th in the Big Ten and 17th nationally. Penalty killing: 79.3 percent, 6th in the conference and 40th in the nation.
"They're a really good team. They like to get up in the play,'' MSU senior center Sam Saliba said. "They're similar to a team like Penn State, and they have a couple of defensemen (Miller and Kalynuk) that can get up in the play and join the rush.''
Coach Tony Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 and then spent 13 years in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. He served as an assistant and head coach with the Colorado Avalanche and later as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.
He's in his fourth season as Wisconsin coach and has a career record of 55-60-11.
SPECIAL TEAMS UPDATE: Michigan State didn't get off to a good start with its penalty killing in the first six games of the season. The Spartans' opponents - Northern Michigan, Colorado College and Cornell -scored at least one power-play goal in each game and totaled 10 in 32 chances.
But MSU has turned it around in the last eight games and penalty killing is one of the most improved aspects of this team. The Spartans have allowed only three power-play goals in 23 chances over the last eight contests.
Their slow start still has them last in the Big Ten and 49th nationally at 77.2 percent success rate. Michigan State has not given up a power-play goal in five of the last six games, killing 16 of 18 opportunities.
"You work on it and work on it. We have emphasized it,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Our penalty killing struggled in non-conference games but the guys have done a good job on that in the Big Ten.
"It's a huge part of the game and magnified in the playoffs, not just in college but in the NHL with special teams.''
Just a few weeks ago, Michigan State's power play was 4th in the nation, clicking at 31 percent. But since then the Spartans haven't had many power plays and have scored only one goal – in the first game of the Michigan series, Nov. 14.
MSU is 0-for-10 on the power play in its last five games. The Spartans went 0-1 in the second game vs. U-M, 0-1 and 0-2 against Notre Dame and 0-2 and 0-4 at Ohio State.
"With the power play, we haven't had a lot of opportunities but we need to start producing,'' Cole said. "In one-goal games, that can be the difference. We need those guys to get over the hump.
"Last week, it didn't end up being a factor when neither team scored on the power play and we had an even number of power plays. But we need to win that battle and not just tie that battle.
"It's tough scoring goals in the Big Ten. A lot of it is coaching, a lot of it is talent and a lot of it is familiarity. But if you can pop some in and win that special teams battle, it gives you a much better chance to win.''
BROTHER COMBINATIONS: While Michigan State has one pair of brothers – sophomore defensemen and twins Cole and Christian Krygier – Wisconsin has three – and that has to be No. 1 in the country.
The Badgers' brothers:
The Caufields – sophomore forward Brock and freshman forward Cole. The Dhooghes – junior forwards Sean and Jason; The Donovans – freshman forward Ryder and freshman defenseman Shay.
They've all played except for Shay Donovan, who has yet to make his Badger debut.
FAMILIAR FACES: Michigan State and Wisconsin are teams that know each other very well. That's because many Spartans were one-time teammates with a lot of Badgers in junior hockey.
Eleven Spartans had Badgers for teammates – goalies John Lethemon, Drew DeRidder and Spencer Wright, defensemen Tommy Miller, Butrus Ghafari, and forwards Sam Saliba, Mitchell Lewandowski, Mitchell Mattson, Logan Lambdin, Brody Stevens and Adam Goodsir.
Twelve Badgers were one-time teammate with Spartans.
Lethemon was teammates with Badger forward Max Zimmer with the Chicago Steel of the USHL in 2014-16; DeRidder was on the same U.S. Under-18 team as defensemen K'Andre Miller and Ty Emberson in 2017-18 and Wright played with Wisconsin backup goalie Jack Berry with the New Jersey Titans of the NAHL in 2015-16.
Here's the rest of the list:
Saliba (Zimmer briefly with Sioux City, USHL, in 2013-14, and Jason Dhooghe, Green Bay, 2014-2016); Tommy Miller (Tyler Inamato and Sean Dhooghe, U.S. 17 and U-18 teams, 2015-2017); Lewandowski (Zimmer, Chicago Steel, USHL, 2015-16); Lambdin (Wyatt Kalynuk, Bloomington Thunder, USHL, 2015-16; Tarek Baker, Bloomington, 2015-16); Mattson (Kalynuk, Bloomington, 2015-17; Baker, Bloomington, 2015-17); Ghafari (Kalynuk, Bloomington, 2015-16, Baker, Bloomington, 2015-16);
Stevens (Mick Messner, Madison Capitols, USHL, 2015-16; Jason Dhooghe and Brock Caufield, Green Bay Gamblers, USHL, 2016-17); Goodsir (Linus Weissbach, Tri City Storm, USHL, 2016-17).
In addition, the Badgers' Miller and Emberson played for MSU coach Danton Cole and assistant Chris Luongo in 2016-17 when Cole was the head coach and Luongo an assistant with the U.S. Under-17 team.
ANOTHER MSU-BADGER CONNECTION: Wisconsin freshman center Alex Turcotte is the grandson of former Spartan forward Real Turcotte. Real played for Coach Amo Bessone from 1959-63.
Real played in 74 games and had 32 goals and 60 assists for 92 points. He led the Spartans in scoring as a sophomore in 1960-61 with 15 goals and 43 points and followed up with eight goals and 31 points and was the team's second-leading scorer as a junior.
Turcotte was injured as a senior and played in only nine games.
Alex Turcotte was a standout with the U.S. U-18 team last year. He scored 27 goals and had 35 assists for 62 points in 37 games. He missed 27 games due to an injury. Turcotte grew up in the Chicago area but played Bantam Minor AAA with Honeybaked in metro Detroit.
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 6/6 Penn State (11-4-0 overall, 6-2-0 Big Ten) plays at Michigan (5-9-2, 1-6-1-0) on Friday and Saturday. The Nittany Lions are coming off a win and a loss in the Boston area – a 7-0 rout of Merrimack and a 3-2 overtime loss at No. 17/15 UMass-Lowell. The Wolverines last Saturday and Sunday split at Wisconsin, losing 3-2 and winning 3-1.
Minnesota (5-8-3, 2-3-3-2) is at No. 7/8 Ohio State (9-4-1, 5-3-0), also on Friday and Saturday. The Gophers are coming off two losses at home against North Dakota – 9-3 on Thanksgiving night and 3-2 last Friday.
No. 5/4 Notre Dame plays a non-conference home-and-home series with No. 10/7 Boston College. The teams play in Boston on Friday and at Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish (8-4-2, 4-2-2-1) are 0-3-1 in their last four games. They got swept by Bowling Green last weekend, 5-2 and 5-2.
In the only Big Ten series next weekend, Penn State is at Notre Dame.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Michigan State and Wisconsin are two teams with several differences.
The Badgers, with seven freshmen and only two seniors, are the second-youngest team in college hockey, and the Spartans, with eight seniors and only three freshmen, are one of the oldest.
Wisconsin has 11 NHL draft picks on its roster, including three first-rounders and one player who's expected to be selected in the first round in the 2020 Entry Draft. MSU has four draft picks.
The Badgers are known for an up-tempo, attack style of offense. The Spartans' focus isn't totally on defense and they want to use speed in transitioning to offense and be opportunistic. But they do put an emphasis on defending. Defense and goaltending have been strengths this season.
Differences aside, there's one area both teams are striving to attain: Consistency.
A few good games followed by so-so outings is not the formula for finishing high in the Big Ten standings and being in position to make the NCAA Tournament.
The sixth-place Badgers and fourth-place Spartans head into this weekend's series one game below .500. Wisconsin, coming off a split against Michigan, is 7-8-1 overall and a disappointing 2-5-1-1 (8 points) in the Big Ten. Michigan State, is 6-7-1 and a positive 4-3-1-0 (13 points) in the Big Ten, but disappointed by getting swept at Ohio State in which it only scored one goal.
"We have to get back to the way we were playing. We can take the things we did well against Ohio State and tighten up things we didn't do well,'' MSU senior captain Sam Saliba said. "It's stick to what makes us successful.
"I think we've done a pretty good job of that so far in Big Ten play. Obviously, we came up on the short end of the two games last weekend. We did a lot of good things but struggled to find offense.''
The Spartans and Badgers will be trying to get back on track when they meet at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Munn Arena. For each team, it's the last Big Ten series until early January. MSU still has a non-conference series coming up next weekend against Arizona State. Wisconsin is off until Jan. 1 when it plays the U.S. Under-18 team in an exhibition game.
"This series is really crucial. We have six big ones (points) against Wisconsin,'' Saliba said. "Every game is so important in the Big Ten and collecting points is essential. Up until last weekend, we've done a good job with that. We have to get back to that this weekend.''
Both teams are eager get on a run and add points and confidence.
After two series splits to start the season, Michigan State got swept by Cornell, but then put together its best stretch of the season – 4-1-1. The Spartans split at Penn State, won two against Michigan and tied and won vs. Notre Dame.
The Spartans were solid defensively at Ohio State but had difficulty creating quality scoring chances in 3-1 and 2-0 losses, giving up an empty-net goal in each game.
Wisconsin started the season going 4-1, including a sweep of defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth. Since late October, the Badgers are 3-6-1, with three series splits, one in which they got swept and a series with a loss and tie (shootout win).
Wisconsin averaged 3.75 goals in its first eight games but over the last eight, it's dropped to 2.50.
In addition, the Badgers have been hampered by slow starts. In three of the last four games, they've watched the opponent take two-goal leads in the first 30 minutes.
There were down 2-0 against Michigan last Friday before rallying for a 3-2 victory. On Sunday, the Wolverines again went up 2-0 and this time, Wisconsin never caught up, losing 3-1 with an empty-net goal.
"It's just has been frustrating for the players and for us as coaches to watch three games in a row where you just don't come out of the gate and have a lot of energy into your game,'' Wisconsin coach Tony Granato told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier this week. "You're sitting back watching and waiting.''
The Badgers, with a highly regarded freshman class and two standout defensemen passing up NHL opportunities to stay in school, had high expectations for this season. They were considered a contender for the Big Ten regular season title and expected to be in the mix for a NCAA Tournament berth.
But with a young group, including four 18-year-olds, it's taken longer than expected for Wisconsin to get in sync. Still, there's 18 games left for the Badgers to find their game.
"Eventually, talk is cheap,'' Badgers junior defenseman and captain Wyatt Kalynuk said after the Michigan series. "I think you can say everything you want after every loss and you can say the same things, but eventually you've just got to go out and do it.''
The freshmen have made an impact. Cole Caufield and Alex Turcotte are the No. 1 and 3 scorers. Both were stars with the U.S. National Team Development Program the last two years and were drafted in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Caufield has a team-leading 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points, while Turcotte has six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Linus Weissbach, a junior and a linemate of Caufield and Turcotte, is second in team scoring with three goals and 13 assists for 16 points.
Kalynuk and sophomore Kandra Miller, another first-round draft pick, anchor a veteran defense.
"Wisconsin presents some different challenges. They really attack and have a ton of skill and their D-corps is way underrated,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "People always talk about how much they can score but when you have Kalynuk and K'Andre Miller and the other guys back there, that's a solid group.
"We better be on top of our game. Not just physically and mentally, but also emotionally. We need to be up and going. That's the only way you have success, and that's when we've been at our best.''
MSU junior defenseman Tommy Miller says the key to being consistent is preparation – what you do in the offseason and in practice during the season.
"It's kind of all built in. It's in your training in the summer and day-in and day-out in practice – on a Monday or a Thursday or whenever,'' Miller said. "It's what you do in practice and then in the games.
"That's what we're striving to do here. I know coach wants us to practice how we play. When we're playing our game, we have that confidence and swagger and our offense builds on that.''
The Spartans head into the weekend with 13 points, two behind Notre Dame and Ohio State, who are tied for second place. MSU trails first-place Penn State by five points. Every team in the Big Ten has played eight league games and has 16 remaining.
THE MSU-BADGERS RIVALRY: The Spartans hold a 56-55-4 edge in the series which started with a 9-2 MSU win on Dec. 11, 1964. Michigan State won the first nine meetings with the Badgers, which was in the early stages of building their program.
Last season, the Badgers went 2-1-1 against MSU, sweeping their home series and losing and tying at Munn Arena.
Over the last five seasons, Wisconsin holds a 10-9-1 edge over Michigan State. The last time the Spartans dominated was during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons when they went 6-2 vs. the Badgers. A year later – in 2016-17, Wisconsin won all four games.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Cole Caufield is Wisconsin's most heralded player because of his goal-scoring prowess with the U.S. National Team's Development Program's U-17 and U-18 teams.
Caufield set the USA single-season record for goals with 73 last season and is the career leader in goals with 126 in two seasons in Plymouth. He's third in career points with 180, including 100 last season.
Caufield, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound right wing from Stevens Point, Wis., was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens, 15th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Caufield got off to a fast start with six goals in his first three games, then scored three in the next eight games, followed by a four-game goal drought before scoring his 10th of the season last Sunday vs. Michigan. He has points in 12 of 16 games and leads NCAA freshman with 10 goals, 18 points and 64 shots on goal.
Two other Badgers have been drafted in the first round. Freshman Alex Turcotte was picked before Caufield, his linemate. He was picked fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings. K'Andre Miller, a sophomore defenseman, was a first-round pick – 22nd overall – by the New York Rangers in 2018.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Owen Lindmark – another alumn of the NTDP, was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round, 137th overall, in 2019.
Freshman forward Dylan Holloway has a late birthday and wasn't eligible for the 2018 Entry Draft. He's expected to be the first American to be selected in the first round in the 2020 draft.
Wisconsin has seven players with double-digit points -ranking from Lindmark's 10 (4-6) to Caufield's team-leading 18 (10-8). Junior Linus Weissbach is second with 16 points (3-13), followed by Turcotte (6-9-15), defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk (3-10-13), sophomore forward Roman Ahcan (5-7-12), Miller (6-5-11) and Lindmark (4-6-10).
The veteran defensive corps also includes juniors Tyler Inamoto and Joss Ess, sophomore Ty Emberson and freshman Mike Vorlicky.
In goal, sophomore Daniel Lebedeff has started 15 of 16 games and has a 7-8-0 record, a 3.25 goals-against average and a .898 saves percentage.
On the power play, Wisconsin is converting at 21.9 percent – 5th in the Big Ten and 17th nationally. Penalty killing: 79.3 percent, 6th in the conference and 40th in the nation.
"They're a really good team. They like to get up in the play,'' MSU senior center Sam Saliba said. "They're similar to a team like Penn State, and they have a couple of defensemen (Miller and Kalynuk) that can get up in the play and join the rush.''
Coach Tony Granato played at Wisconsin from 1983-87 and then spent 13 years in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. He served as an assistant and head coach with the Colorado Avalanche and later as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.
He's in his fourth season as Wisconsin coach and has a career record of 55-60-11.
SPECIAL TEAMS UPDATE: Michigan State didn't get off to a good start with its penalty killing in the first six games of the season. The Spartans' opponents - Northern Michigan, Colorado College and Cornell -scored at least one power-play goal in each game and totaled 10 in 32 chances.
But MSU has turned it around in the last eight games and penalty killing is one of the most improved aspects of this team. The Spartans have allowed only three power-play goals in 23 chances over the last eight contests.
Their slow start still has them last in the Big Ten and 49th nationally at 77.2 percent success rate. Michigan State has not given up a power-play goal in five of the last six games, killing 16 of 18 opportunities.
"You work on it and work on it. We have emphasized it,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Our penalty killing struggled in non-conference games but the guys have done a good job on that in the Big Ten.
"It's a huge part of the game and magnified in the playoffs, not just in college but in the NHL with special teams.''
Just a few weeks ago, Michigan State's power play was 4th in the nation, clicking at 31 percent. But since then the Spartans haven't had many power plays and have scored only one goal – in the first game of the Michigan series, Nov. 14.
MSU is 0-for-10 on the power play in its last five games. The Spartans went 0-1 in the second game vs. U-M, 0-1 and 0-2 against Notre Dame and 0-2 and 0-4 at Ohio State.
"With the power play, we haven't had a lot of opportunities but we need to start producing,'' Cole said. "In one-goal games, that can be the difference. We need those guys to get over the hump.
"Last week, it didn't end up being a factor when neither team scored on the power play and we had an even number of power plays. But we need to win that battle and not just tie that battle.
"It's tough scoring goals in the Big Ten. A lot of it is coaching, a lot of it is talent and a lot of it is familiarity. But if you can pop some in and win that special teams battle, it gives you a much better chance to win.''
BROTHER COMBINATIONS: While Michigan State has one pair of brothers – sophomore defensemen and twins Cole and Christian Krygier – Wisconsin has three – and that has to be No. 1 in the country.
The Badgers' brothers:
The Caufields – sophomore forward Brock and freshman forward Cole. The Dhooghes – junior forwards Sean and Jason; The Donovans – freshman forward Ryder and freshman defenseman Shay.
They've all played except for Shay Donovan, who has yet to make his Badger debut.
FAMILIAR FACES: Michigan State and Wisconsin are teams that know each other very well. That's because many Spartans were one-time teammates with a lot of Badgers in junior hockey.
Eleven Spartans had Badgers for teammates – goalies John Lethemon, Drew DeRidder and Spencer Wright, defensemen Tommy Miller, Butrus Ghafari, and forwards Sam Saliba, Mitchell Lewandowski, Mitchell Mattson, Logan Lambdin, Brody Stevens and Adam Goodsir.
Twelve Badgers were one-time teammate with Spartans.
Lethemon was teammates with Badger forward Max Zimmer with the Chicago Steel of the USHL in 2014-16; DeRidder was on the same U.S. Under-18 team as defensemen K'Andre Miller and Ty Emberson in 2017-18 and Wright played with Wisconsin backup goalie Jack Berry with the New Jersey Titans of the NAHL in 2015-16.
Here's the rest of the list:
Saliba (Zimmer briefly with Sioux City, USHL, in 2013-14, and Jason Dhooghe, Green Bay, 2014-2016); Tommy Miller (Tyler Inamato and Sean Dhooghe, U.S. 17 and U-18 teams, 2015-2017); Lewandowski (Zimmer, Chicago Steel, USHL, 2015-16); Lambdin (Wyatt Kalynuk, Bloomington Thunder, USHL, 2015-16; Tarek Baker, Bloomington, 2015-16); Mattson (Kalynuk, Bloomington, 2015-17; Baker, Bloomington, 2015-17); Ghafari (Kalynuk, Bloomington, 2015-16, Baker, Bloomington, 2015-16);
Stevens (Mick Messner, Madison Capitols, USHL, 2015-16; Jason Dhooghe and Brock Caufield, Green Bay Gamblers, USHL, 2016-17); Goodsir (Linus Weissbach, Tri City Storm, USHL, 2016-17).
In addition, the Badgers' Miller and Emberson played for MSU coach Danton Cole and assistant Chris Luongo in 2016-17 when Cole was the head coach and Luongo an assistant with the U.S. Under-17 team.
ANOTHER MSU-BADGER CONNECTION: Wisconsin freshman center Alex Turcotte is the grandson of former Spartan forward Real Turcotte. Real played for Coach Amo Bessone from 1959-63.
Real played in 74 games and had 32 goals and 60 assists for 92 points. He led the Spartans in scoring as a sophomore in 1960-61 with 15 goals and 43 points and followed up with eight goals and 31 points and was the team's second-leading scorer as a junior.
Turcotte was injured as a senior and played in only nine games.
Alex Turcotte was a standout with the U.S. U-18 team last year. He scored 27 goals and had 35 assists for 62 points in 37 games. He missed 27 games due to an injury. Turcotte grew up in the Chicago area but played Bantam Minor AAA with Honeybaked in metro Detroit.
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 6/6 Penn State (11-4-0 overall, 6-2-0 Big Ten) plays at Michigan (5-9-2, 1-6-1-0) on Friday and Saturday. The Nittany Lions are coming off a win and a loss in the Boston area – a 7-0 rout of Merrimack and a 3-2 overtime loss at No. 17/15 UMass-Lowell. The Wolverines last Saturday and Sunday split at Wisconsin, losing 3-2 and winning 3-1.
Minnesota (5-8-3, 2-3-3-2) is at No. 7/8 Ohio State (9-4-1, 5-3-0), also on Friday and Saturday. The Gophers are coming off two losses at home against North Dakota – 9-3 on Thanksgiving night and 3-2 last Friday.
No. 5/4 Notre Dame plays a non-conference home-and-home series with No. 10/7 Boston College. The teams play in Boston on Friday and at Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish (8-4-2, 4-2-2-1) are 0-3-1 in their last four games. They got swept by Bowling Green last weekend, 5-2 and 5-2.
In the only Big Ten series next weekend, Penn State is at Notre Dame.
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