Neil’s Notebook: Joshua Progressing and Making an Impact for Spartans
1/28/2021 9:57:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – As Jagger Joshua's career at Michigan State has progressed, he's found a way to make in impact in all sorts of ways.
First, as a freshman last year, he found a spot in the lineup on a regular forward line and made his presence felt with his physicality. He made some bone-crunching hits and took some penalties along the way.
Joshua also earned a spot killing penalties and had pretty good success.
This year, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound, left-hand shot left wing from Dearborn has improved his overall game and worked his way on the Spartans' power play.
MSU coach Danton Cole loves what he's seeing and getting from Joshua, and Joshua welcomes more ice time and the opportunity to make more of an impact.
"It comes down to working hard. There's no other way to explain it,'' Joshua said. "It's staying after practice, getting stronger. This is my second year in college hockey and I'm getting more confidence with the puck and it's made everything easier.''
Joshua, 21, has three goals in 16 games, including one on the power play, and has made dozens of big hits. He made two huge checks in the first shift of Sunday's 2-0 win over Ohio State, setting the tone early and getting a big reaction from teammates on the bench.
He's been penalized 10 times for 20 minutes this season. As a freshman, he was second on the team in penalties and penalty minutes with 16 and 35, respectively.
"It's definitely hard, the way I play, to stay out of the penalty box. I focus on my game and that's all I can really control,'' Joshua said. "If I hit a guy a little too late or maybe too hard, those things might happen.
"I play on the edge but I don't really think about it. I just try to be me and hopefully the referees like me that day.''
Jagger and the Spartans are coming off an impressive 2-0 win over Ohio State and hope to duplicate their energetic play this weekend against third-place Wisconsin.
MSU (6-8-2 overall, 5-8-1-2-1-0 Big Ten) and the No. 13/13 Badgers (9-7-0, 7-5-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) meet at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wisconsin. Friday's game will be televised by Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday's by Fox Sports Detroit Plus.
"We're definitely excited about this weekend. We missed out on the chance to play Wisconsin (in December),'' Joshua said of the MSU-Wisconsin series at Munn Arena that was postponed because of the Badgers' Covid-19 issues.
"It'll be a hard test for us. They play a good, well-skilled game. That's something we're going to have to adjust to and, hopefully, come out with two wins.''
Once again, Joshua will be playing a regular line, killing penalties and getting some power-play time, and, of course, looking to crunch some Badgers with solid, legal hits.
"I think if you ask DC (Danton Cole), one of my biggest contributions to the team is I can play up and down the lineup,'' Joshua said. "So, when Charlie (Combs) goes down, it's next man up, so I got the chance (last weekend) to play with a great player like (Mitchell) Lewandowski and Nico (Muller).
"I get to be the forechecker and get them the puck and they can make some things happen.''
Joshua has been able to make things happen, too. He's been good at killing penalties and he's making an impact on the power play around the net, winning puck battles, not giving up the puck and being a force in front of the net.
And it all starts with using his size, strength and eagerness to play physical.
"I love hitting people. There's definitely something about contact that I definitely enjoy,'' he said. "I take pride in it. I don't think about it, I just go out and do it.''
Asked how he would describe his game to someone who has never seen him play, Joshua said:
"I would say I'm a power forward with skill in my game. I think I'm a little unique. You don't see many people that move pretty well and can skate for as big as I am. You don't see may guys with the tenacity that I play with. And add a little skill to that, that's a big contribution.''
MSU coach Danton Cole said Joshua had very good freshman season, then added to his game in the offseason and has evolved into a versatile player.
"His ceiling is pretty high. He skates better, he got in the weight room and he's stronger, he's worked on his shot and his puck protection is better,'' Cole said. "Probably the most improved part that I've seen is the mentality of how to work through the game.
"He's a guy that's going to get under the other team's skin. What those players have to learn is that if you let the other team get under yours as much as you get under theirs, it's really a net negative. You can control that situation. You either control your emotions or they control you.
"He's doing that and that's leading him into a bigger leadership role.''
Cole loved Joshua's game in MSU's victory over Ohio State and thought he was one of the Spartans' best players all weekend, including in Saturday's 5-1 defeat.
"I've talked to a lot of NHL teams and said 'Don't sleep on this kid,''' Cole said of Joshua, who is a free agent after not being drafted when he was 18-20 years old.
"It's a real interesting maturation process that he's going through. On the ice, he worked himself onto the penalty kill last year and did a great job. He's really good at it – his angles, his stick, his recoveries are tight - and we can't keep him off the power play.''
In MSU's first seven games, Joshua was on left wing on a shut-down line with Tommy Apap and Brody Stevens. He moved to a unit with Nico Muller and Mitchell Lewandowski for the second Notre Dame game in late December.
This month, Joshua was paired with Muller and Austin Kamer and Muller and Jake Smith in the first PSU series, then moved to right wing with Mitchell Mattson and Kristof Papp for the first Michigan game and stayed at right wing and joined Muller and Smith for the 3-2 overtime win over the Wolverines
At Penn State two weeks ago, Joshua was paired with Muller and Smith and then Muller and A.J. Hodges.
Last weekend, with left wing Charlie Combs out of the lineup, Joshua took his spot on left wing with Muller and Lewandowski. He scored MSU's only goal – on a power play – in Saturday's loss to OSU.
"Not a lot of guys are 5-on-5, penalty kill and power play guys. He's worked himself into that,'' Cole said. "He's an impact player and it's not always on the scoresheet. That doesn't have a lot to do with his game but those things will start coming.
"What I want to see out of him is to continue to focus on understanding the details of the game.''
Joshua's brother, Dakota, played four seasons at Ohio State and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. After a trade in 2019, Dakota, who also plays a physical style, is now in the St. Louis Blues system and will start this season with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
Jagger says his love for the physical part of hockey started at an early age and ignited by his battles with his brother.
"Ever since I was a little kid, ever since I started playing hockey, you'd always find me as the physical one,'' he said. "That's because of my brother. We were always physical with each other.
"I also knew that would be something that would separate myself from other players. I wasn't the most skilled guy but I had an edge to my game.''
So, which players in the NHL does Joshua model his game after? How about Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals and Wayne Simmonds of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"If I had to say who I try to play like would be Tom Wilson, a power forward who can play with skills guys, and maybe Wayne Simmonds. I just like the fire they both play with, which is what I try to play with, as well.''
THE MSU-UW RIVALRY: The Spartans lead the series 59-56-4 and were 3-1 against the Badgers last season. Over the last five years, Wisconsin holds a 10-9-1 edge and it's 6-4 vs. MSU at home.
In 2019-20, Michigan State swept Wisconsin, 3-0 and 5-4 in overtime, in December at Munn Arena. The teams split their series in Madison in mid-January – the Spartans won the opener 4-0 and the Badgers captured the second game, 3-1.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin has swept three series (at Notre Dame, Penn State and Arizona State), has been swept twice (Michigan, Arizona State) and split three series (at OSU, Minnesota, at PSU).
The Badgers started the season 5-5 and 5-3 in the Big Ten and since returning from the holiday break, they're 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference. They're coming off a 4-1 victory and 5-4 loss at Penn State last weekend.
Wisconsin is the third-highest scoring team in the Big Ten, averaging 3.56 goals-per-game. The power play is converting on 24.5% of its chances, second in the conference.
Defensively, the Badgers are fourth in the Big Ten, allowing 2.88 goals-per-game. Their penalty killing is at 80.9%, fourth in the conference.
Wisconsin is led by pair of future NHL forwards – sophomores Cole Caufield (Montreal draft) and Dylan Holloway (Edmonton draft). Caufield, who played on the 2021 U.S. gold-medal winning World Junior Championship team, leads the Badgers in scoring with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. He's the top scorer in the Big Ten and second in the nation.
Holloway has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in only eight games. He missed eight contests starting in mid-November after leaving to join the Canadian National Junior Team's training camp.
Wisconsin's top five scorers have accounted for 29 goals and 70 points in 16 games. Senior Linus Weissbach is second in team scoring with 18 points (7-11), and he's followed by sophomore Owen Lindmark (2-8-11), Brock Caufield (6-4-10) and Holloway (3-7-10).
"They return their leading scorer in Cole Caufield, who is a heck of a player and he's proven everywhere he's been that he's an elite scorer,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Some of the records he broke with the national team were pretty impressive.''
Caufield, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound right wing from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, holds USA Hockey's record for most goals in a single season with 72 in 2018-19 and most goals in a career with 126 from 2017-19 during his two years with the National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan.
Last season, he led the Badgers with 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points, second in the Big Ten. He was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
"A lot (of their offense) starts with Caufield, but they attack and come at you hard and do a nice job in the offensive zone,'' Cole said. "You have to be prepared for that and to be able to play with pace, similar to when you play Penn State.
"You have to make sure you keep your speed coming back and you're taking care of the puck going forward. If we decide that we're going to turn over pucks at the red line and blue line, we're going to be constantly turning around and chasing them coming the other way.
"Wisconsin's going to create enough on their own and we don't have to create any extra ones for them. They're a good team, they play hard and they've been playing well.''
Wisconsin was the first team to defeat previously-No. 1 Minnesota three weeks ago when it topped the Gophers 3-1 in Madison, ending their 10-game winning streak. Minnesota rebounded the next night and won 5-3 for a series split.
In goal, senior Robbie Beydoun, a transfer from Michigan Tech, started the season as the No. 1, but freshman Cameron Rowe (19, 6-foot-3, 212 pounds) has started five of the last seven games, including the last four.
Beydoun (24, 6-0, 185) has a 5-6-0 record, a 3.21 goals-against average and a .907 saves percentage. Rowe, who played at the U.S. NTDP for two years and one in junior hockey before landing in Wisconsin, is 4-1 with a 1.69 GAA and a .946 saves percentage.
Tony Granato is in his fifth season as Wisconsin coach and has a career record of 71-79-12.
Granato was a high-scoring Badgers' forward from 1983-87 with 100 goals and 225 points. After playing in the NHL for 13 seasons, followed by a 13-year coaching career, including three as a head coach in Colorado, Granato earned his degree from Wisconsin in 2017, while he was in his first year as Badgers coach.
THRIVING VS. BADGERS: For whatever the reason, MSU senior forward Mitchell Lewandowski loves to play against Wisconsin. In 12 games over the last three seasons, Lewandowski has 10 goals and five assists for 15 points. He has five power-play goals.
Only four other Spartans have scored goals against the Badgers. Forwards Tommy Apap, Brody Stevens and Jagger Joshua and defenseman Tommy Miller have one goal apiece. Defenseman Dennis Cesana is second in points with five – all assists.
Goalie Drew DeRidder is 1-1-1 vs. Wisconsin with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .931 saves percentage.
BACK IN THE LINEUP? Left wing Charlie Combs got banged up two weeks ago at Penn State and sat out last week's series with Ohio State. Defenseman Cole Krygier left last Sunday's game in the second period and did not return.
Coach Danton Cole is hopeful both will be available to play against Wisconsin this weekend.
"My plan is both of them will be on the bus Thursday morning,'' he said. "So, that's where we're at. They've progressed through. I'm hopeful. I'd like to see both of them in there.''
Combs is MSU's leader in goals with five and he's tied for third in points with nine. Krygier is the highest goal-scoring defenseman with two.
IRISH HOST B10 TOURNEY: When the regular season ends, the seven Big Ten teams will converge on South Bend, Indiana, for the 2021 conference tournament, March 18-20.
Notre Dame confirmed on Tuesday that it would be the host for the three-day tourney at the Compton Family Arena.
In the past three seasons, the tournament was at campus sites over three weekends with the first round a best-of-three series. In the first four years of Big Ten hockey, the tournament rotated between Excel Energy Arena in St. Paul, Minn., and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The format was single-game elimination with the first-place team earning a bye in the quarterfinals.
That's what the format will be for the 2020-21 tournament at Notre Dame. The regular-season champion earns a bye, and on March 18 there will be three games – the No. 2 seed vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No 4 vs. No. 5.
The teams will be re-seeded according to regular season points for the semifinals on March 19. The No. 1 seed plays No. 4 and No. 2 meets No. 3. The title game is set for March 20 with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
BIG TEN THIS WEEK: First-place Minnesota, ranked No. 4 in both polls this week, is at 6th place Ohio State on Friday and Saturday and 5th-place Penn State plays host to 4th-place Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday.
No. 7/7 Michigan has a bye this weekend and its home series against Penn State next Wednesday and Thursday has been postponed because of the U-M shutdown of all its athletic programs for 14 days due to confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in Washtenaw County.
The Wolverines' next game is scheduled for Feb. 9 against Michigan State at Yost Arena.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – As Jagger Joshua's career at Michigan State has progressed, he's found a way to make in impact in all sorts of ways.
First, as a freshman last year, he found a spot in the lineup on a regular forward line and made his presence felt with his physicality. He made some bone-crunching hits and took some penalties along the way.
Joshua also earned a spot killing penalties and had pretty good success.
This year, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound, left-hand shot left wing from Dearborn has improved his overall game and worked his way on the Spartans' power play.
MSU coach Danton Cole loves what he's seeing and getting from Joshua, and Joshua welcomes more ice time and the opportunity to make more of an impact.
"It comes down to working hard. There's no other way to explain it,'' Joshua said. "It's staying after practice, getting stronger. This is my second year in college hockey and I'm getting more confidence with the puck and it's made everything easier.''
Joshua, 21, has three goals in 16 games, including one on the power play, and has made dozens of big hits. He made two huge checks in the first shift of Sunday's 2-0 win over Ohio State, setting the tone early and getting a big reaction from teammates on the bench.
He's been penalized 10 times for 20 minutes this season. As a freshman, he was second on the team in penalties and penalty minutes with 16 and 35, respectively.
"It's definitely hard, the way I play, to stay out of the penalty box. I focus on my game and that's all I can really control,'' Joshua said. "If I hit a guy a little too late or maybe too hard, those things might happen.
"I play on the edge but I don't really think about it. I just try to be me and hopefully the referees like me that day.''
Jagger and the Spartans are coming off an impressive 2-0 win over Ohio State and hope to duplicate their energetic play this weekend against third-place Wisconsin.
MSU (6-8-2 overall, 5-8-1-2-1-0 Big Ten) and the No. 13/13 Badgers (9-7-0, 7-5-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) meet at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wisconsin. Friday's game will be televised by Fox Sports Detroit and Saturday's by Fox Sports Detroit Plus.
"We're definitely excited about this weekend. We missed out on the chance to play Wisconsin (in December),'' Joshua said of the MSU-Wisconsin series at Munn Arena that was postponed because of the Badgers' Covid-19 issues.
"It'll be a hard test for us. They play a good, well-skilled game. That's something we're going to have to adjust to and, hopefully, come out with two wins.''
Once again, Joshua will be playing a regular line, killing penalties and getting some power-play time, and, of course, looking to crunch some Badgers with solid, legal hits.
"I think if you ask DC (Danton Cole), one of my biggest contributions to the team is I can play up and down the lineup,'' Joshua said. "So, when Charlie (Combs) goes down, it's next man up, so I got the chance (last weekend) to play with a great player like (Mitchell) Lewandowski and Nico (Muller).
"I get to be the forechecker and get them the puck and they can make some things happen.''
Joshua has been able to make things happen, too. He's been good at killing penalties and he's making an impact on the power play around the net, winning puck battles, not giving up the puck and being a force in front of the net.
And it all starts with using his size, strength and eagerness to play physical.
"I love hitting people. There's definitely something about contact that I definitely enjoy,'' he said. "I take pride in it. I don't think about it, I just go out and do it.''
Asked how he would describe his game to someone who has never seen him play, Joshua said:
"I would say I'm a power forward with skill in my game. I think I'm a little unique. You don't see many people that move pretty well and can skate for as big as I am. You don't see may guys with the tenacity that I play with. And add a little skill to that, that's a big contribution.''
MSU coach Danton Cole said Joshua had very good freshman season, then added to his game in the offseason and has evolved into a versatile player.
"His ceiling is pretty high. He skates better, he got in the weight room and he's stronger, he's worked on his shot and his puck protection is better,'' Cole said. "Probably the most improved part that I've seen is the mentality of how to work through the game.
"He's a guy that's going to get under the other team's skin. What those players have to learn is that if you let the other team get under yours as much as you get under theirs, it's really a net negative. You can control that situation. You either control your emotions or they control you.
"He's doing that and that's leading him into a bigger leadership role.''
Cole loved Joshua's game in MSU's victory over Ohio State and thought he was one of the Spartans' best players all weekend, including in Saturday's 5-1 defeat.
"I've talked to a lot of NHL teams and said 'Don't sleep on this kid,''' Cole said of Joshua, who is a free agent after not being drafted when he was 18-20 years old.
"It's a real interesting maturation process that he's going through. On the ice, he worked himself onto the penalty kill last year and did a great job. He's really good at it – his angles, his stick, his recoveries are tight - and we can't keep him off the power play.''
In MSU's first seven games, Joshua was on left wing on a shut-down line with Tommy Apap and Brody Stevens. He moved to a unit with Nico Muller and Mitchell Lewandowski for the second Notre Dame game in late December.
This month, Joshua was paired with Muller and Austin Kamer and Muller and Jake Smith in the first PSU series, then moved to right wing with Mitchell Mattson and Kristof Papp for the first Michigan game and stayed at right wing and joined Muller and Smith for the 3-2 overtime win over the Wolverines
At Penn State two weeks ago, Joshua was paired with Muller and Smith and then Muller and A.J. Hodges.
Last weekend, with left wing Charlie Combs out of the lineup, Joshua took his spot on left wing with Muller and Lewandowski. He scored MSU's only goal – on a power play – in Saturday's loss to OSU.
"Not a lot of guys are 5-on-5, penalty kill and power play guys. He's worked himself into that,'' Cole said. "He's an impact player and it's not always on the scoresheet. That doesn't have a lot to do with his game but those things will start coming.
"What I want to see out of him is to continue to focus on understanding the details of the game.''
Joshua's brother, Dakota, played four seasons at Ohio State and was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. After a trade in 2019, Dakota, who also plays a physical style, is now in the St. Louis Blues system and will start this season with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
Jagger says his love for the physical part of hockey started at an early age and ignited by his battles with his brother.
"Ever since I was a little kid, ever since I started playing hockey, you'd always find me as the physical one,'' he said. "That's because of my brother. We were always physical with each other.
"I also knew that would be something that would separate myself from other players. I wasn't the most skilled guy but I had an edge to my game.''
So, which players in the NHL does Joshua model his game after? How about Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals and Wayne Simmonds of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"If I had to say who I try to play like would be Tom Wilson, a power forward who can play with skills guys, and maybe Wayne Simmonds. I just like the fire they both play with, which is what I try to play with, as well.''
THE MSU-UW RIVALRY: The Spartans lead the series 59-56-4 and were 3-1 against the Badgers last season. Over the last five years, Wisconsin holds a 10-9-1 edge and it's 6-4 vs. MSU at home.
In 2019-20, Michigan State swept Wisconsin, 3-0 and 5-4 in overtime, in December at Munn Arena. The teams split their series in Madison in mid-January – the Spartans won the opener 4-0 and the Badgers captured the second game, 3-1.
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin has swept three series (at Notre Dame, Penn State and Arizona State), has been swept twice (Michigan, Arizona State) and split three series (at OSU, Minnesota, at PSU).
The Badgers started the season 5-5 and 5-3 in the Big Ten and since returning from the holiday break, they're 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference. They're coming off a 4-1 victory and 5-4 loss at Penn State last weekend.
Wisconsin is the third-highest scoring team in the Big Ten, averaging 3.56 goals-per-game. The power play is converting on 24.5% of its chances, second in the conference.
Defensively, the Badgers are fourth in the Big Ten, allowing 2.88 goals-per-game. Their penalty killing is at 80.9%, fourth in the conference.
Wisconsin is led by pair of future NHL forwards – sophomores Cole Caufield (Montreal draft) and Dylan Holloway (Edmonton draft). Caufield, who played on the 2021 U.S. gold-medal winning World Junior Championship team, leads the Badgers in scoring with 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. He's the top scorer in the Big Ten and second in the nation.
Holloway has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in only eight games. He missed eight contests starting in mid-November after leaving to join the Canadian National Junior Team's training camp.
Wisconsin's top five scorers have accounted for 29 goals and 70 points in 16 games. Senior Linus Weissbach is second in team scoring with 18 points (7-11), and he's followed by sophomore Owen Lindmark (2-8-11), Brock Caufield (6-4-10) and Holloway (3-7-10).
"They return their leading scorer in Cole Caufield, who is a heck of a player and he's proven everywhere he's been that he's an elite scorer,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Some of the records he broke with the national team were pretty impressive.''
Caufield, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound right wing from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, holds USA Hockey's record for most goals in a single season with 72 in 2018-19 and most goals in a career with 126 from 2017-19 during his two years with the National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan.
Last season, he led the Badgers with 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points, second in the Big Ten. He was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
"A lot (of their offense) starts with Caufield, but they attack and come at you hard and do a nice job in the offensive zone,'' Cole said. "You have to be prepared for that and to be able to play with pace, similar to when you play Penn State.
"You have to make sure you keep your speed coming back and you're taking care of the puck going forward. If we decide that we're going to turn over pucks at the red line and blue line, we're going to be constantly turning around and chasing them coming the other way.
"Wisconsin's going to create enough on their own and we don't have to create any extra ones for them. They're a good team, they play hard and they've been playing well.''
Wisconsin was the first team to defeat previously-No. 1 Minnesota three weeks ago when it topped the Gophers 3-1 in Madison, ending their 10-game winning streak. Minnesota rebounded the next night and won 5-3 for a series split.
In goal, senior Robbie Beydoun, a transfer from Michigan Tech, started the season as the No. 1, but freshman Cameron Rowe (19, 6-foot-3, 212 pounds) has started five of the last seven games, including the last four.
Beydoun (24, 6-0, 185) has a 5-6-0 record, a 3.21 goals-against average and a .907 saves percentage. Rowe, who played at the U.S. NTDP for two years and one in junior hockey before landing in Wisconsin, is 4-1 with a 1.69 GAA and a .946 saves percentage.
Tony Granato is in his fifth season as Wisconsin coach and has a career record of 71-79-12.
Granato was a high-scoring Badgers' forward from 1983-87 with 100 goals and 225 points. After playing in the NHL for 13 seasons, followed by a 13-year coaching career, including three as a head coach in Colorado, Granato earned his degree from Wisconsin in 2017, while he was in his first year as Badgers coach.
THRIVING VS. BADGERS: For whatever the reason, MSU senior forward Mitchell Lewandowski loves to play against Wisconsin. In 12 games over the last three seasons, Lewandowski has 10 goals and five assists for 15 points. He has five power-play goals.
Only four other Spartans have scored goals against the Badgers. Forwards Tommy Apap, Brody Stevens and Jagger Joshua and defenseman Tommy Miller have one goal apiece. Defenseman Dennis Cesana is second in points with five – all assists.
Goalie Drew DeRidder is 1-1-1 vs. Wisconsin with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .931 saves percentage.
BACK IN THE LINEUP? Left wing Charlie Combs got banged up two weeks ago at Penn State and sat out last week's series with Ohio State. Defenseman Cole Krygier left last Sunday's game in the second period and did not return.
Coach Danton Cole is hopeful both will be available to play against Wisconsin this weekend.
"My plan is both of them will be on the bus Thursday morning,'' he said. "So, that's where we're at. They've progressed through. I'm hopeful. I'd like to see both of them in there.''
Combs is MSU's leader in goals with five and he's tied for third in points with nine. Krygier is the highest goal-scoring defenseman with two.
IRISH HOST B10 TOURNEY: When the regular season ends, the seven Big Ten teams will converge on South Bend, Indiana, for the 2021 conference tournament, March 18-20.
Notre Dame confirmed on Tuesday that it would be the host for the three-day tourney at the Compton Family Arena.
In the past three seasons, the tournament was at campus sites over three weekends with the first round a best-of-three series. In the first four years of Big Ten hockey, the tournament rotated between Excel Energy Arena in St. Paul, Minn., and Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The format was single-game elimination with the first-place team earning a bye in the quarterfinals.
That's what the format will be for the 2020-21 tournament at Notre Dame. The regular-season champion earns a bye, and on March 18 there will be three games – the No. 2 seed vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No 4 vs. No. 5.
The teams will be re-seeded according to regular season points for the semifinals on March 19. The No. 1 seed plays No. 4 and No. 2 meets No. 3. The title game is set for March 20 with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
BIG TEN THIS WEEK: First-place Minnesota, ranked No. 4 in both polls this week, is at 6th place Ohio State on Friday and Saturday and 5th-place Penn State plays host to 4th-place Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday.
No. 7/7 Michigan has a bye this weekend and its home series against Penn State next Wednesday and Thursday has been postponed because of the U-M shutdown of all its athletic programs for 14 days due to confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in Washtenaw County.
The Wolverines' next game is scheduled for Feb. 9 against Michigan State at Yost Arena.
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