Michigan State University Athletics
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Neil’s Notebook: Strong Third Period Helps Spartans Earn Tie With Wisconsin
2/3/2019 9:38:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – For two periods on Saturday, Michigan State was badly getting outplayed by Wisconsin.
The Spartans were outshot 39-12, including 23-4 in the second period. Still, the Badgers, who could have been up 3-1, 4-1 or even 5-1, led only 2-1 after 40 minutes.
MSU could have easily lost this second game of a Big Ten series. And with a strong third period and overtime, the Spartans came close to coming away with a stunning victory, despite not being at their best.
Instead, Michigan State and Wisconsin battled to a 2-2 tie at Munn Arena, and the Badgers skated off with the extra point in the Big Ten with a 1-0 victory in the shootout.
The Spartans elevated their game in the third period, tying the game on Mitchell Lewandowski's power-play goal 37 seconds into the period, and dominated the 5-on-5 overtime, outshooting the Badgers, 6-1.
With Friday's victory and Saturday's come-from-behind tie, MSU (10-13-5 overall, 6-8-4-2 Big Ten) took four of six points from Wisconsin (9-12-5, 5-6-5-2) and moved into a tie for fourth place with Michigan each with 24 points. U-M has one game in hand on the Spartans.
"Even when we don't have our greatest game, we still give ourselves a chance to win, and at the end of the day, that's all you can ask for,'' MSU junior left wing Taro Hirose said
"We did a lot of good things, but they played a really good game, and I think that's a sign of a good team, to pick up points in each game, no matter how we played.''
MSU freshman goalie Drew DeRidder, the game's No. 1 star, made a career-high 52 saves. Without a standout night from DeRidder, the Spartans would have been saddled with a loss and series split.
Wisconsin goalie Jack Berry stopped 29 shots, and was at his best in the third period and overtime, stopping 12 and six shots, respectively.
"It was a good battle. If that was a playoff game, we still might be playing,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "I liked the atmosphere tonight. They came really hard and I thought our guys kept battling, and we came from behind twice, so it's a big point to get and get four of six against the team we were tied with. Overall, lots of good stuff for us.''
But things didn't look promising in the second period in which the Spartans tied the game early on Hirose's 15th goal of the season 55 seconds into the period, and then went down 2-1 on Linus Weissbach's goal on a rebound at 9:36.
The middle period got especially physical with lots of big hits and scrums after the whistle and seven penalties called by the officials.
Despite Wisconsin's huge edge in shots (23-4), DeRidder kept his team in the game, and a late Wisconsin penalty led the MSU tying it 2-2 on a power play in the first minute of the third period.
"It was not the way we want to play. They were doing a good job of pressuring and putting pucks on net from all over,'' Cole said. "I'll be interested to see how many were from the interior. I didn't think we defended poorly but we didn't do as good of a job deflecting the rush tonight as we did last night.
"I give Wisconsin credit because they were stretching some things. And they attacked with speed. I think we dealt with it. We killed penalties really well. There were a lot of positive things, so we have to keep pushing forward.''
The Badgers scored the only goal of the first period – at 3:29 - on a pinpoint shot by Will Johnson from the right circle that caught the left top corner,
The Spartans tied it early in the second period on another goal by the KHL line as Lewandowski won a puck-possession battle along the right boards. He fed an open Hirose in the slot, and the nation's top scorer didn't miss, with a quick-release shot that eluded Berry.
Wisconsin regained the lead on Weissbach's goal midway through the second period. The Badgers had several great opportunities to increase their lead but they didn't have any puck luck and a busy DeRidder stopped shot after shot and gobbled up loose pucks.
Michigan State survived the period and found its game in the third period and overtime, coming close on two late power plays that might have given the Spartans their second sweep in the last three series.
"We talked to the guys after the second period and said that we've played five really hard periods of hockey so let's dig down and get something and win the third period, one way or other,'' Cole said.
"We had more shots in the five minutes of overtime than we did in the whole second period. I give the guys a lot of credit. There's not a bend in there and no break in them.''
In the shootout, Hirose took the first attempt but his bid to go five-hole was stopped by Berry. Max Zimmer skated in close and beat DeRidder with a wrister to give Wisconsin the shootout win and extra point
The Badgers, who didn't like their game in Friday's 4-1 loss, came out strong Saturday, and it was their mission to be aggressive and get as many shots on goal as possible. That didn't come as a surprise to the Spartans.
"They came out trying to shoot more and Drew (DeRidder) did a great job saving a lot of them. He was a rock for us back there,'' junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg said. "After scoring one goal on Friday, I think that was their game plan – to get shots on net, and we have to do a better job of eliminating those chances.
"A lot of the shots were from the outside and what they did get (from close in), Drew did an excellent job of swallowing them up.''
Despite being outplayed for the first two periods, Rosburg said his team was confident it could win the game with a strong third period.
"There's adversity in any sport and when you get down in a game, what a good team is able to do is battle back, showing poise and dedication,'' he said. "For us, it's definitely an improvement from the past few years. Guys believe that if we get down, we just stick to the game plan and our confidence doesn't waver.''
The Spartans converted on one of four power-play opportunities and were solid with their penalty killing, skating off four Badgers' manpower advantages.
DERIDDER EXCELS AGAIN: Rookie goaltender Drew DeRidder has put together three solid games in a row and has allowed only four goals - a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame and a 4-1 win and a 2-2 tie against Wisconsin. He made 34 saves vs. the Irish and 27 and 52 in the two games against the Badgers.
DeRidder, a 5-foot-10, 167-pound freshman from Fenton, made several clutch saves on Saturday to keep his team in contention to win and prevent Wisconsin from winning.
"He was great. He just competes,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "The nice thing about Drew is he probably didn't like the first goal he gave up, but that doesn't bug him. He just goes back and plays. The kid has a lot of confidence.
"I know he's ticked off because we lost the shootout. Those are tough. You get one shooter. We don't score, they score, so that's an interesting way to do it, but that's the way it is.
"It kind of stings, but in the bigger picture he should take away a lot of confidence with the last three games.''
DeRidder's previous highest number of saves in a game this season was 45 against Michigan in a 2-2 tie in the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit on Dec. 31. He's also had one other game with more than 40 saves. He stopped 43 shots in a 4-3 victory over Michigan on Nov. 30.
DeRidder said the last time he made 50 saves or more was probably with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the U.S. Hockey League.
"I don't thing about that stuff. It's all about going out stopping the next shot,'' he said.
DeRidder sounded like he was satisfied with his play through the first 60 minutes, then the 5-on-5 overtime and the 3-on-3 OT, but was a bit frustrated by giving up a goal in the shootout for the second straight Saturday night.
"I thought we played a pretty good game. It stinks that we couldn't have come away with five out of the six points,'' he said. "If I would have saved (the shootout shot by Wisconsin's Max Zimmer) … That wasn't the best goal (to give up).
"I know what I'm working on next week in practice.''
DeRidder, undefeated in his last three games at 1-0-1, has lowered his goals-against average to 2.99. He has a save percentage of .914 and an overall record of 3-5-5.
DeRidder and Wisconsin goalie Jack Berry are from small towns about five miles apart, south of Flint and northwest of Detroit. DeRidder is from Fenton while Berry grew up in Holly.
"I really don't know him. He's a little bit older,'' DeRidder said. "I've ran into him a couple of times and I saw him on Friday at the pre-game skate. He was sitting on the bench, when I was on the ice, talking with John Lethemon and Spencer (Wright)."
DeRidder is 18, turning 19 on May 1. Berry is 22, turning 23 on Feb. 18.
Berry and Wright were goalie partners with the New Jersey Titans of the North American Hockey League in 2015-16. And Berry is good friends with MSU junior defenseman Anthony Scarsella and senior forward Cody Milan from their youth hockey days in metro Detroit.
THE BADGERS' VIEW: Wisconsin has been a much better team on Saturday than it has in the first game of a series on Friday. Early in the season, the Badgers lost at Clarkson on Friday and then won at St. Lawrence on Saturday. The next weekend, they lost to Michigan Tech in the series opener but bounced back to win the Saturday series finale.
It's happened in both series against Minnesota – a series-opening loss followed by a second-game victory on Saturday.
And Wisconsin followed the script this weekend against the Spartans. They didn't play well in Friday's 4-1 loss but rebounded with a strong game on Saturday, coming close to winning but settling for a 2-2 tie and 1-0 win in the shootout.
"As much as you don't want to be result-focused, the way the season's going we have to be,'' Badgers coach Tony Granato said. "But the bottom line is we played a great game. We deserved three points, not two.
"We just didn't get any breaks around their net. We made great plays, we played the game the right way. We defended really well. Their power play again came back to bite us. Our power play was great and we had great chances. It just didn't go in for us.
"The game from start to finish was played the way we were supposed to play. It's kind of been the pattern of our season. Friday, somehow doesn't go great, but we were able to respond and play great on Saturday. We've played great on Saturday all year.''
SPARTANS POTPOURRI: Michigan State has picked up at least a point in the last five series with Ohio State (2 points, shootout win), Penn State (3, win), Minnesota (6, series sweep), Notre Dame (1, shootout loss) and Wisconsin (4, win and shootout loss)…
The KHL Line has scored all of Michigan State's goals in the last three games. Taro Hirose scored the Spartans only goal in the 1-1 tie last Saturday and Patrick Khodorenko (2), Mitchell Lewandowski and Hirose scored all four in Friday's 4-1 victory over Wisconsin. On Saturday, Hirose and Lewandowski each had a goal in the 2-2 tie vs. the Badgers…
Hirose has a point in eight straight games – six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Lewandowski is also on an eight-game scoring streak. He has seven goals and five assists for 12 points.
Khodorenko, who had an assist on Saturday, has four goals and eight assists for 12 points in the last eight games…
Hirose continues to lead the nation in scoring, now with 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points. He has a seven-point lead on Mercyhurst defenseman Joseph Duszak (14-25-39). Hirose also leads the nation in assists (31) and points-per-game average at 1.64...
The Spartans are 4-1-2 in their last seven games and unbeaten in three (1-0-2).
UP NEXT: Michigan State has six games remaining in the regular season, starting with two games against Michigan next weekend. The Spartans and Wolverines, tied for fourth in the Big Ten, meet at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor and at 7 p.m. Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
MSU is 1-0-2 vs. Michigan. The Spartans won the first game of the battle of the in-state rivals, 4-3, at Munn Arena on Nov. 30. The teams tied 1-1 the next night in Ann Arbor with Michigan State winning the shootout 1-0. In the third meeting, MSU and U-M tied 2-2 in the GLI third-place game on Dec. 31. There was no shootout since this game was a non-conference contest.
IN THE BIG TEN: In three conference series this weekend, one ended in a sweep (Ohio State and Notre Dame), one was a split (Minnesota and Michigan) and one ended in a win and a tie (MSU and Wisconsin).
The first-place Buckeyes completed a sweep of the Irish with a 2-0 victory on Saturday in Columbus with Tommy Nappier earning his fourth shutout. Nappier, the Big Ten's leading goalie in goals against (1.64) and saves percentage (.945), made 30 saves. He's No. 2 in the nation in GAA and saves percentage.
No. 4 Ohio State (17-5-4 overall, 10-3-3-2) won the series opener, 4-2, on Friday in Columbus.
Minnesota rebounded from Friday's 4-2 loss to Michigan and edged the Wolverines, 4-3, on Saturday to salvage a series split. The Gophers led 3-0 early in the second period only to see U-M score three goals in 4 minutes and 38 seconds.
Minnesota (11-12-4, 8-7-3-0) broke the 3-3 tie on Tommy Novak's power-play goal at 6:18 of the third period.
Ohio State, with 35 points, has an eight-point lead over second-place Minnesota (27), which is two points up on third-place Notre Dame (25).
Fourth-place MSU and Michigan are tied for fourth with 24 points, one behind the Irish and three in back of the Gophers.
Wisconsin is in sixth place with 22 points, two behind MSU and U-M. Penn State is seventh with 20 points.
Seven points separate second-place Minnesota and seventh-place Penn State.
With four weekends left in the regular season, Michigan State and Minnesota have played 18 games and have six left. Notre Dame and Michigan have played 17, with seven left.
Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State have played 16 and have eight games remaining.
In addition to the MSU-Michigan series this weekend, Ohio State is at Wisconsin and Penn State comes off its bye week and plays host to Minnesota.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – For two periods on Saturday, Michigan State was badly getting outplayed by Wisconsin.
The Spartans were outshot 39-12, including 23-4 in the second period. Still, the Badgers, who could have been up 3-1, 4-1 or even 5-1, led only 2-1 after 40 minutes.
MSU could have easily lost this second game of a Big Ten series. And with a strong third period and overtime, the Spartans came close to coming away with a stunning victory, despite not being at their best.
Instead, Michigan State and Wisconsin battled to a 2-2 tie at Munn Arena, and the Badgers skated off with the extra point in the Big Ten with a 1-0 victory in the shootout.
The Spartans elevated their game in the third period, tying the game on Mitchell Lewandowski's power-play goal 37 seconds into the period, and dominated the 5-on-5 overtime, outshooting the Badgers, 6-1.
With Friday's victory and Saturday's come-from-behind tie, MSU (10-13-5 overall, 6-8-4-2 Big Ten) took four of six points from Wisconsin (9-12-5, 5-6-5-2) and moved into a tie for fourth place with Michigan each with 24 points. U-M has one game in hand on the Spartans.
"Even when we don't have our greatest game, we still give ourselves a chance to win, and at the end of the day, that's all you can ask for,'' MSU junior left wing Taro Hirose said
"We did a lot of good things, but they played a really good game, and I think that's a sign of a good team, to pick up points in each game, no matter how we played.''
MSU freshman goalie Drew DeRidder, the game's No. 1 star, made a career-high 52 saves. Without a standout night from DeRidder, the Spartans would have been saddled with a loss and series split.
Wisconsin goalie Jack Berry stopped 29 shots, and was at his best in the third period and overtime, stopping 12 and six shots, respectively.
"It was a good battle. If that was a playoff game, we still might be playing,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "I liked the atmosphere tonight. They came really hard and I thought our guys kept battling, and we came from behind twice, so it's a big point to get and get four of six against the team we were tied with. Overall, lots of good stuff for us.''
But things didn't look promising in the second period in which the Spartans tied the game early on Hirose's 15th goal of the season 55 seconds into the period, and then went down 2-1 on Linus Weissbach's goal on a rebound at 9:36.
The middle period got especially physical with lots of big hits and scrums after the whistle and seven penalties called by the officials.
Despite Wisconsin's huge edge in shots (23-4), DeRidder kept his team in the game, and a late Wisconsin penalty led the MSU tying it 2-2 on a power play in the first minute of the third period.
"It was not the way we want to play. They were doing a good job of pressuring and putting pucks on net from all over,'' Cole said. "I'll be interested to see how many were from the interior. I didn't think we defended poorly but we didn't do as good of a job deflecting the rush tonight as we did last night.
"I give Wisconsin credit because they were stretching some things. And they attacked with speed. I think we dealt with it. We killed penalties really well. There were a lot of positive things, so we have to keep pushing forward.''
The Badgers scored the only goal of the first period – at 3:29 - on a pinpoint shot by Will Johnson from the right circle that caught the left top corner,
The Spartans tied it early in the second period on another goal by the KHL line as Lewandowski won a puck-possession battle along the right boards. He fed an open Hirose in the slot, and the nation's top scorer didn't miss, with a quick-release shot that eluded Berry.
Wisconsin regained the lead on Weissbach's goal midway through the second period. The Badgers had several great opportunities to increase their lead but they didn't have any puck luck and a busy DeRidder stopped shot after shot and gobbled up loose pucks.
Michigan State survived the period and found its game in the third period and overtime, coming close on two late power plays that might have given the Spartans their second sweep in the last three series.
"We talked to the guys after the second period and said that we've played five really hard periods of hockey so let's dig down and get something and win the third period, one way or other,'' Cole said.
"We had more shots in the five minutes of overtime than we did in the whole second period. I give the guys a lot of credit. There's not a bend in there and no break in them.''
In the shootout, Hirose took the first attempt but his bid to go five-hole was stopped by Berry. Max Zimmer skated in close and beat DeRidder with a wrister to give Wisconsin the shootout win and extra point
The Badgers, who didn't like their game in Friday's 4-1 loss, came out strong Saturday, and it was their mission to be aggressive and get as many shots on goal as possible. That didn't come as a surprise to the Spartans.
"They came out trying to shoot more and Drew (DeRidder) did a great job saving a lot of them. He was a rock for us back there,'' junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg said. "After scoring one goal on Friday, I think that was their game plan – to get shots on net, and we have to do a better job of eliminating those chances.
"A lot of the shots were from the outside and what they did get (from close in), Drew did an excellent job of swallowing them up.''
Despite being outplayed for the first two periods, Rosburg said his team was confident it could win the game with a strong third period.
"There's adversity in any sport and when you get down in a game, what a good team is able to do is battle back, showing poise and dedication,'' he said. "For us, it's definitely an improvement from the past few years. Guys believe that if we get down, we just stick to the game plan and our confidence doesn't waver.''
The Spartans converted on one of four power-play opportunities and were solid with their penalty killing, skating off four Badgers' manpower advantages.
DERIDDER EXCELS AGAIN: Rookie goaltender Drew DeRidder has put together three solid games in a row and has allowed only four goals - a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame and a 4-1 win and a 2-2 tie against Wisconsin. He made 34 saves vs. the Irish and 27 and 52 in the two games against the Badgers.
DeRidder, a 5-foot-10, 167-pound freshman from Fenton, made several clutch saves on Saturday to keep his team in contention to win and prevent Wisconsin from winning.
"He was great. He just competes,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "The nice thing about Drew is he probably didn't like the first goal he gave up, but that doesn't bug him. He just goes back and plays. The kid has a lot of confidence.
"I know he's ticked off because we lost the shootout. Those are tough. You get one shooter. We don't score, they score, so that's an interesting way to do it, but that's the way it is.
"It kind of stings, but in the bigger picture he should take away a lot of confidence with the last three games.''
DeRidder's previous highest number of saves in a game this season was 45 against Michigan in a 2-2 tie in the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit on Dec. 31. He's also had one other game with more than 40 saves. He stopped 43 shots in a 4-3 victory over Michigan on Nov. 30.
DeRidder said the last time he made 50 saves or more was probably with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the U.S. Hockey League.
"I don't thing about that stuff. It's all about going out stopping the next shot,'' he said.
DeRidder sounded like he was satisfied with his play through the first 60 minutes, then the 5-on-5 overtime and the 3-on-3 OT, but was a bit frustrated by giving up a goal in the shootout for the second straight Saturday night.
"I thought we played a pretty good game. It stinks that we couldn't have come away with five out of the six points,'' he said. "If I would have saved (the shootout shot by Wisconsin's Max Zimmer) … That wasn't the best goal (to give up).
"I know what I'm working on next week in practice.''
DeRidder, undefeated in his last three games at 1-0-1, has lowered his goals-against average to 2.99. He has a save percentage of .914 and an overall record of 3-5-5.
DeRidder and Wisconsin goalie Jack Berry are from small towns about five miles apart, south of Flint and northwest of Detroit. DeRidder is from Fenton while Berry grew up in Holly.
"I really don't know him. He's a little bit older,'' DeRidder said. "I've ran into him a couple of times and I saw him on Friday at the pre-game skate. He was sitting on the bench, when I was on the ice, talking with John Lethemon and Spencer (Wright)."
DeRidder is 18, turning 19 on May 1. Berry is 22, turning 23 on Feb. 18.
Berry and Wright were goalie partners with the New Jersey Titans of the North American Hockey League in 2015-16. And Berry is good friends with MSU junior defenseman Anthony Scarsella and senior forward Cody Milan from their youth hockey days in metro Detroit.
THE BADGERS' VIEW: Wisconsin has been a much better team on Saturday than it has in the first game of a series on Friday. Early in the season, the Badgers lost at Clarkson on Friday and then won at St. Lawrence on Saturday. The next weekend, they lost to Michigan Tech in the series opener but bounced back to win the Saturday series finale.
It's happened in both series against Minnesota – a series-opening loss followed by a second-game victory on Saturday.
And Wisconsin followed the script this weekend against the Spartans. They didn't play well in Friday's 4-1 loss but rebounded with a strong game on Saturday, coming close to winning but settling for a 2-2 tie and 1-0 win in the shootout.
"As much as you don't want to be result-focused, the way the season's going we have to be,'' Badgers coach Tony Granato said. "But the bottom line is we played a great game. We deserved three points, not two.
"We just didn't get any breaks around their net. We made great plays, we played the game the right way. We defended really well. Their power play again came back to bite us. Our power play was great and we had great chances. It just didn't go in for us.
"The game from start to finish was played the way we were supposed to play. It's kind of been the pattern of our season. Friday, somehow doesn't go great, but we were able to respond and play great on Saturday. We've played great on Saturday all year.''
SPARTANS POTPOURRI: Michigan State has picked up at least a point in the last five series with Ohio State (2 points, shootout win), Penn State (3, win), Minnesota (6, series sweep), Notre Dame (1, shootout loss) and Wisconsin (4, win and shootout loss)…
The KHL Line has scored all of Michigan State's goals in the last three games. Taro Hirose scored the Spartans only goal in the 1-1 tie last Saturday and Patrick Khodorenko (2), Mitchell Lewandowski and Hirose scored all four in Friday's 4-1 victory over Wisconsin. On Saturday, Hirose and Lewandowski each had a goal in the 2-2 tie vs. the Badgers…
Hirose has a point in eight straight games – six goals and nine assists for 15 points. Lewandowski is also on an eight-game scoring streak. He has seven goals and five assists for 12 points.
Khodorenko, who had an assist on Saturday, has four goals and eight assists for 12 points in the last eight games…
Hirose continues to lead the nation in scoring, now with 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points. He has a seven-point lead on Mercyhurst defenseman Joseph Duszak (14-25-39). Hirose also leads the nation in assists (31) and points-per-game average at 1.64...
The Spartans are 4-1-2 in their last seven games and unbeaten in three (1-0-2).
UP NEXT: Michigan State has six games remaining in the regular season, starting with two games against Michigan next weekend. The Spartans and Wolverines, tied for fourth in the Big Ten, meet at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor and at 7 p.m. Saturday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
MSU is 1-0-2 vs. Michigan. The Spartans won the first game of the battle of the in-state rivals, 4-3, at Munn Arena on Nov. 30. The teams tied 1-1 the next night in Ann Arbor with Michigan State winning the shootout 1-0. In the third meeting, MSU and U-M tied 2-2 in the GLI third-place game on Dec. 31. There was no shootout since this game was a non-conference contest.
IN THE BIG TEN: In three conference series this weekend, one ended in a sweep (Ohio State and Notre Dame), one was a split (Minnesota and Michigan) and one ended in a win and a tie (MSU and Wisconsin).
The first-place Buckeyes completed a sweep of the Irish with a 2-0 victory on Saturday in Columbus with Tommy Nappier earning his fourth shutout. Nappier, the Big Ten's leading goalie in goals against (1.64) and saves percentage (.945), made 30 saves. He's No. 2 in the nation in GAA and saves percentage.
No. 4 Ohio State (17-5-4 overall, 10-3-3-2) won the series opener, 4-2, on Friday in Columbus.
Minnesota rebounded from Friday's 4-2 loss to Michigan and edged the Wolverines, 4-3, on Saturday to salvage a series split. The Gophers led 3-0 early in the second period only to see U-M score three goals in 4 minutes and 38 seconds.
Minnesota (11-12-4, 8-7-3-0) broke the 3-3 tie on Tommy Novak's power-play goal at 6:18 of the third period.
Ohio State, with 35 points, has an eight-point lead over second-place Minnesota (27), which is two points up on third-place Notre Dame (25).
Fourth-place MSU and Michigan are tied for fourth with 24 points, one behind the Irish and three in back of the Gophers.
Wisconsin is in sixth place with 22 points, two behind MSU and U-M. Penn State is seventh with 20 points.
Seven points separate second-place Minnesota and seventh-place Penn State.
With four weekends left in the regular season, Michigan State and Minnesota have played 18 games and have six left. Notre Dame and Michigan have played 17, with seven left.
Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State have played 16 and have eight games remaining.
In addition to the MSU-Michigan series this weekend, Ohio State is at Wisconsin and Penn State comes off its bye week and plays host to Minnesota.
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