Icers Open 2024 at Penn State

No. 8/8 Michigan State (13-4-3, 7-1-2 B1G) at 20/19 Penn State (10-7-3, 2-5-3 B1G)
Dates/Times	Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, 7 pm Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 4:30 pm
Location	Pegula Ice Arena \| Bag Policy/FAQ's
Tickets	Penn State Ticket Office
Television	Big Ten Network (Saturday) Jason Ross Jr. (pxp) and Paul Caponigri (analysis)
Radio	WJIM 1240 AM Listen Online: Click "Spartan Media Network" Scott Moore (pxp) and Rob Woodward (analysis)
Webstreams	BTN+ (Friday) \| Fox Sports App (Saturday)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| P enn State
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 officially opens the 2024 portion of its schedule with a series on the road at No. 20/19 Penn State. MSU trails in the all-time series by a 17-21-6 margin, but is currently riding a five-game unbeaten streak against PSU, its longest in series history. The two teams met back in November in East Lansing, with the Nittany Lions rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the first game to forge a 3-3 tie (and win the shootout), before the Spartans rebounded with a 5-3 Saturday victory.

• MSU welcomes the return of four players who competed in the IIHF World Junior Championships. Winning a gold medal for team USA was goalie Trey Augustine and forward Isaac Howard, with Howard scoring twice in the gold medal game and earning Player of the Game honors. Slovakian blueliner Maxim Štrbák and Finnish forward Tommi Männistö each were named top-three performers for their national teams in the tournament.

• At 13-4-3, the Spartans are off to their best start since the 2000-01 season when MSU went 14-1-4 prior to the new calendar year. MSU is 7-1-2 in Big Ten play and its only loss came in overtime, and is currently second in the B1G standings (25) points, five points behind Wisconsin with two games in hand on the Badgers.

• The all-sophomore line of Karsen Dorwart centering Isaac Howard and Daniel Russell is nearly tied as MSU's highest-producing trio on the season, with a combined 20-35-55 in 18 games. The all-newcomer line of Gavin O'Connell-Red Savage-Joey Larson has 26-30-56 in 20 games. Larson earned a spot on the Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team with a pair of goals in the championship game, and leads all Spartans with a 11-11-22 scoring line.

• MSU regularly skates four freshmen defensemen (Artyom Levshunov, Maxim Štrbák, Patrick Geary, and Austin Oravetz) and has two freshmen goaltenders, Trey Augustine and Luca Di Pasquo. Senior anchor Nash Nienhuis (+15) owns a career-best six goals and his 15 points is rapidly approaching his career-best 19 he had as a junior. He is paired with Levshunov on the blueline, and the duo are the only two defensemen among the double-digit point scorers on MSU's roster. Levshunov averages just under a point per game (5-14-19) - second nationally in scoring among freshmen defensemen. He is a team-best +17 (second B1G/sixth nationally).

• Di Pasquo played in both games of the GLI, earning a win and a tie with a 1.92 GAA and .923 save percentage. He stopped 48 of 52 shots against. Augustine missed the GLI with his USA Hockey obligations for the World Juniors. He has started 17 games this season, with a .916 save percentage, 2.97 GAA, and 11-3-2 record. He has yet to lose a regulation Big Ten game (7-1-2), with a 2.55 GAA and .929 save percentage in conference contests.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Luca Di Pasquo

Karsen Dorwart

Patrick Geary

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Artyom Levshunov

Nash Nienhuis

Gavin O'Connell

Austin Oravetz

Daniel Russell

Red Savage