MSU Hosts Irish In 2023 B1G Finale

No. 7/7 Michigan State (10-4-2, 5-1-2 B1G) vs. No. 20/20 Notre Dame ((8-6-2, 4-2-2 B1G)
Dates/Times	Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, 7pm Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, 6pm
Location	Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena \| Bag Policy
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Television	none
Radio	WJIM 1240 AM Listen Online: Click "Spartan Media Network" Scott Moore (pxp) and Rob Woodward (analysis)
Webstreams	B1G+ (Friday) \| B1G+ (Saturday)
Game Program	Download Digital Game Program
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Notre Dame
Promotions	Rally Towel Giveaway (Friday) Star Wars Night (Saturday)
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

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

• • Michigan State gets back to work after a bye weekend, and will host Notre Dame for two games at Munn Ice Arena. MSU holds a 70-58-16 record in the series between the two schools, and is 39-23-5 against the Irish in games played at Munn. The teams met seven times last season - in addition to the two-game series at each school during the regular season, MSU played at Compton Family Ice Arena in the Big Ten Quarterfinals. MSU was 2-1-1 against the Irish in the regular season and took a 2-1 series victory in the postseason.

• MSU has five invitees to World Junior Camps coming up in mid-December. Invited to US camp is goalie Trey Augustine, forward Isaac Howard, and defenseman Patrick Geary; blueliner Maxim Štrbák will be in camp with Slovakia, and forward Tommi Männistö will skate in Finland's camp. The WJC is Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Gothenberg, Sweden.

• MSU most recently took three points out of a trip to No. 8 Minnesota, skating to a 3-3 tie in game one, and then a 6-5 overtime loss in game two. MSU enters the weekend in first place (5-1-2) in the Big Ten standings - MSU's strongest start in B1G play since the start of the conference a decade ago. MSU has won as many or more Big Ten conference games than it did in 2013-14 (5), 2016-17 (3), and 2020-21 (5). MSU's record for Big Ten wins is 11.

• Joey Larson had a combined five points in the Minnesota series: he had a goal in each game, including the game-tying goal in the Sunday finale with 18 seconds remaining in regulation. His 8-10-18 scoring line leads MSU and heshares the team lead in goals with linemate Gavin O'Connell (eighth, B1G). Red Savage centers that line, owns a 5-11-16 scoring line, and is tied for 10th in the Big Ten in assists. Savage has established a new career best in assists and tied his career best for points in a season, set as a freshman at Miami.

• Isaac Howard owns the team lead in assists (13, second B1G/13th nationally). His 17 points is tied for 10th in the B1G. He has surpassed his freshman year total for assists and matched his freshman year point total at Minnesota-Duluth (35 GP, 6-11-17). He ranks 20th nationally and second in the Big Ten in assists per game (0.81), and has points in a team-best 13 of 16 games.

• Senior blueliner Nash Nienhuis (+10) has a three-game goal-scoring streak, scoring third period markers in each of the games at Minnesota to aid Spartan rallies. He now has a career-best six goals and his 13 points is more than halfway to his 19 he had as a junior. Eight of his 13 points have come in the second game of a series. He is aired with Artyom Levshunov on the blueline, who owns a 4-11-15 scoring line, just below a point-per-game average. He is a team-best +14 with 12 blocked shots. Levshunov is the third-youngest player in college hockey this year.

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Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Patrick Geary

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Artyom Levshunov

Nash Nienhuis

Gavin O'Connell

Red Savage

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