Hockey Heads West For Air Force Series

Thursday, October 12

USAF Academy, CO

9 pm ET/ 7 pm MT

Michigan State University

Air Force

Photo by: TakeYourShotPhotography

10/10/2023 12:00:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

No. 8/8 Michigan State (2-0-0) at Air Force (1-1-0)
Dates/Times	Thursday, Oct. 12 2023, 9 pm ET/ 7 pm MT Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, 9 pm ET/ 7 pm MT
Location	Cadet Ice Arena \| Bag Policy \| Cadet Arena FAQ
Tickets	Air Force Ticket Office
Television	none
Radio	WJIM 1240 AM (Thursday) WVFN 730 AM (Saturday) Listen Online: Click "Spartan Media Network" Scott Moore (pxp) and Rob Woodward (analysis)
Webstreams	FloHockey (Thursday) \| FloHockey (Friday)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Air Force
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

THE ORIGINAL SIX
What you need to know about Spartan Hockey
Click "Game Notes" above to see the entire notes packet for the weekend.

• Michigan State heads west to Colorado Springs and will tangle with the Air Force Academy. MSU owns a 7-1-0 record against the Falcons in the all-time meetings, and will take on Air Force in Colorado Springs for the first time in 50 years - the last games came in the 1973-74 season. MSU is 2-0 on the road in this series. The teams last met in the 2021-22 campaign, and split the games at Munn Ice Arena. The Falcons earned an overtime victory in the season opener (3-2), and MSU came back to win the second game, 5-1.

• The Spartans opened the season with a pair of victories: 5-2 and 4-2 over visiting Lake Superior State University. MSU never trailed in either contest and had stretches of dominance, outshooting the Lakers by a combined 86-59 margin. MSU got its nine goals from eight different players and 17 of 19 skaters had at least a point in the series.

• The Spartans have started 2-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 season, when it downed Clarkson by 6-1, 4-3 scores. MSU also sold out both of its season-opening weekend games, extending its sellout streak to 10 consecutive home games.

• Fifth year senior Nicolas Müller led the Spartan offense with four points last weekend, scoring the first goal of the season for the squad and assisting on three others over the two games. He was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week. Müller ranks second among early Big Ten scoring leaders with four points, and is also second in assists (3).
The line of Müller centering Reed Lebster and Jeremy Davidson featured the three oldest forwards on the roster. They have combined to play 345 collegiate hockey games at MSU and UMass. Davidson and Lebster were freshmen teammates in Amherst (2019-20) and reunited this season in East Lansing when Lebster joined the Spartans as a graduate transfer. The trio has started off the season with a 2-5-7 scoring in the two games against LSSU.

• Junior Red Savage had an impressive Michigan State debut, as he potted a pair of goals, added an assist, and was a team-best +4 on the weekend. Savage was also just that in the faceoff circle - he won 20 of 31 faceoffs (64.5%). Savage played last weekend with sophomore Joey Larson on his right wing and freshman Gavin O'Connell on the left side, the only MSU line which consists entirely of newcomers.

• Artyom Levshunov picked up his first collegiate goal in Sunday's game, added an assist, and led all Spartans in shots on net (12) and plus-minus (+4) over the two-game series. He is the third-youngest player in college hockey this year - he does not turn 18 until the end of October.

BONUS: Three Spartans are on opening-night NHL rosters: Mason Appleton (Winnipeg), Torey Krug (St. Louis) and Jeff Petry (Detroit).