Spartans Head East to Meet Penn State

Games 13-14: Michigan State (5-5-2, 4-5-1-2-0-0 B1G) at Penn State (5-7, 3-7-0-0-0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Jan. 15 | 6 p.m. // Saturday, Jan. 16 | 4 p.m.
Location: University Park, Pa. | Pegula Ice Arena
Web Stream: BTN +
Radio: TCF Bank Spartan Media Network | MSUSpartans.com & MSU Spartans app
Local: WJIM 1240-AM
Game Notes: Michigan State | Penn State | Big Ten

On The Fly…

• Less than two weeks after meeting in East Lansing, Michigan State and Penn State complete their season series this Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m.) in University Park, Pa. … MSU and Penn State split the previous series in East Lansing and are 5-5 against each other over the last 10 meetings.

• MSU is coming off a series split with No. 9 Michigan, while Penn State also split its last series on the road at Ohio State … MSU is tied with Michigan for fifth in the Big Ten standings with 11 points, while PSU is in seventh with 9 points.

• Josh Nodler's game-winning goal vs. Michigan on Saturday was his first of the season and he now leads the team with eight points (1g, 7a) ... Nodler's eight points are equal to that of his total from last season (36 games).

• Charlie Combs (4g, 3a), Mitchell Lewandowski (3g, 4a), Dennis Cesana (1g, 6a) and Nico Müller (1g, 6a) all had points the last time out and are tied for second on the team with seven points apiece.

• Drew DeRidder remains second in the Big Ten in both GAA at 2.03 and save percentage at .940, which is sixth best nationally among goaltenders that have played at least six games.

• MSU is still atop the Big Ten in faceoff winning percentage at .552, which ranks sixth nationally … Three Spartans rank in the top 10 in the Big Ten in winning percentage – Kristof Papp (1 - .655); Tommy Apap (4 - .596); Josh Nodler (10 - .558).

• Michigan State killed all four Michigan power plays the last time out and has erased 17-of-20 (.850) opponent power plays over the last six games … On the season, MSU is second in the Big Ten in penalty kill percentage at .822.

• Tommy Miller leads the Big Ten in blocked shots at 37 and blocks per game 3.08 – both rank third in the country as well … Miller's 239 career blocks are fourth most in program history (since 2005-06).

• Kyle Haskins leads all Spartan rookies with five points (1g, 4a) … He earned an assist on Cole Krygier's tying goal the last time out.

About Penn State
The Nittany Lions are coming off a 5-2 win at Ohio State, following a 6-3 loss … PSU leads the NCAA in shots on goal per game at 39.92 … The Nittany Lions are 19th nationally and fifth in the Big Ten in power play percentage at .231 (9-for-39), while they're seventh in the league in penalty kill percentage at .706 (24-of-34) … Alex Limoges (7-4--11) and Kevin Wall (5-6-—11) share the team lead in points … In goal, junior Oskar Autio has started the majority of the games, including each of the last two … He owns an .878 save percentage and 3.25 GAA.

at psu matchup

The Series
The Spartans and Nittany Lions have split the last 10 meetings in the series … Mitchell Lewandowski, who scored an empty-net goal in the last series vs. PSU, is the Spartans' active leader in points vs. PSU with 10 (5g, 5a) … In goal, Drew DeRidder has a 2.02 GAA and .943 save percentage in his three appearances.

The Last Time Out: Michigan
The Spartans responded from a 9-0 defeat on Friday with a 3-2 win on Saturday at Munn … UM took a 2-1 lead with 4:38 to play, but Cole Krygier tied it with 2:01 to go and Josh Nodler's one-timer with 37 seconds to play put MSU ahead for good … The goal was Nodler's first of the season and his assist on Charlie Combs' goal gave him his second two-point game … Pierce Charleson saw his first action in goal, taking over in the first period of game one … MSU killed all four UM power plays in game two.

From the Last Penn State Series
Three players – Jagger Joshua (2g), Brody Stevens and Gianluca Esteves – scored their first goals of the season in the 5-1 win … Michigan State became the first team to hold Penn State to two total goals in a two-game series in nearly three years (UM, Jan. 19-20, 2018) … The Spartans didn't take a penalty in the 1-0 loss, marking the first time they stayed out of the box in a game since Feb. 1, 2007 vs. UNO … Drew DeRidder posted a .970 save percentage in the series … Michigan State went 34-19 in the faceoff circle in game one.

Michigan State vs. Penn State, Jan. 3 2021

Michigan State vs. Penn State, Jan. 3 2021

Combs Contributing
Graduate transfer Charlie Combs leads the Spartans in scoring so far this season with four goals and is tied for second in points with seven. Combs scored 36 goals in three seasons at Bemidji State, the 10th highest total among NCAA returners entering the year.

The Spartans are 3-1 when Combs scores; his three goals in Spartan wins have all been MSU's first of the game. The last time out, Combs scored 54 seconds into the first period of the 3-2 win over Michigan.

Lewandowski Nearing 100 Career Points
Senior Mitchell Lewandowski is five points away from reaching 100 for his career, entering Friday's game with 46 goals and 49 assists in 120 games. So far this season, the native of Clarkson has three goals and four assists.

Lewandowski, the last remaining member of MSU's high-powered KHL line that also included Taro Hirose (33-83--116; 2016-19) and Patrick Khodorenko (54-66—-120; 2016-20), is looking to become the third member of that trio to reach 100 career points.

A Busy Month
The Spartans have 20 games on the schedule in the new calendar year and just finished playing four games in a span of seven days. The month of January includes 10 contests, which is the most for the program in the month since 2005-06 when MSU also played 10 games.

DeRidder Dominates
Junior Drew DeRidder enters the weekend second in the Big Ten in both save percentage at .940 and GAA at 2.03. DeRidder garnered two straight Big Ten First Star of the Week accolades (Dec. 23 and Jan. 6). In going 1-0-1 at Notre Dame, Dec. 19-20, DeRidder made 89 total saves, making 47 and 42 stops, respectively. This past week vs. Penn State, he helped hold a Penn State team that was averaging 3.38 goals per game to one tally in each game, posting a .970 save percentage in the series.

On the season, DeRidder's save percentage has always been above .930 in starting all 12 games. The native of Fenton, Michigan, was voted to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2018-19.

Penalty Kill Trending Up
The Spartan penalty kill has erased 17-of-20 opponent power plays (.850) over the last six games. The Spartans' .822 penalty kill percentage on the season is second in the Big Ten.

Highlights over the six-game span include killing all or portions of three major penalties. MSU erased 2:50 of a major penalty in a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame on Dec. 19, then the following night, 4:55 of another major penalty in 4-3 win. In the 5-1 win over Penn State on Jan. 4, the Spartans extinguished an entire 5:00 power play while leading 3-1 late in the second period.

Against No. 9 Michigan - which had the nation's fourth-ranked power play, MSU erased all four UM power plays in a 3-2 win.

Stingy Defensively
A year after posting the program's best goals against average (2.44) in five seasons, MSU is again proving to be stout defensively. MSU's 2.58 goals against per game average is third in the Big Ten. The one goal allowed through the first two games was the fewest surrendered by the Spartans in the opening two contests of the season since 2005-06 when MSU topped Wayne State, 5-1, and North Dakota, 3-0, respectively.

Owning The Dot
Michigan State continues to be one of the top teams in the nation in the faceoff circle as the Spartans' .552 winning percentage leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the country. Tommy Apap, who is 121-82 (.596) in the dot and led the league in faceoff winning percentage last season, is one of three Spartans that rank in the top 10 in the league winning percentage. Kristof Papp is first at .665 (38-20), Apap is fourth at .596 and Josh Nodler is fifth at .558 (120-95).

Get Them on the Ice in OT
Sophomore Nico Müller and senior Tommy Miller have been involved in both OT goals for the Spartans this season. Miller set up Müller's OT-winner from the MSU end at Ohio State on Nov. 28, while Müller returned the favor, also in the Spartans' end, at Notre Dame on Dec. 20.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Pierce Charleson

Charlie Combs

Gianluca Esteves

Kyle Haskins

Taro Hirose

Jagger Joshua

Patrick Khodorenko

Cole Krygier

Mitchell Lewandowski

Tommy Miller

Josh Nodler

Kristof Papp

Brody Stevens