B1G Series On Tap as Minnesota Visits Munn

Friday, January 26

6 PM

Michigan State University

Minnesota

1/24/2024 8:56:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

No. 8/7 Michigan State (16-5-3, 10-2-2 B1G) vs. No. 9/9 Minnesota (14-6-4, 7-4-3 B1G)
Dates/Times	Friday, January 26 - 6 pm Saturday, January 27 - 4 pm
Location	Mason Rink at Munn Ice Arena \| Bag Policy
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Television	Big Ten Network (Saturday) Ben Holden (pxp) and Fred Pletsch (analysis)
Radio	WVFN 730 AM (Friday) \| WJIM 1240 AM Listen Online: Click "Spartan Media Network" Scott Moore (pxp) and Rob Woodward (analysis) ^{Sirius XM - B1G Channel 372}
Webstreams	B1G+ (Friday) \| Fox Sports App (Saturday)
Game Program	Download Digital Game Program
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Minnesota
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 welcomes Minnesota to Munn Ice Arena to complete the four-game season series. The November games in Minneapolis between the teams both went to overtime: a 3-3 tie with the Spartans earning a shootout victory, followed by a 6-5 overtime win for the Gophers. Minnesota is 14-6-4 on the year and 7-4-3 in B1G play, and sits in fourth place (23 points). MSU leads the league with 34 points, four points ahead of Wisconsin.

• MSU earned a split last weekend with Michigan, with each team earning a win on road ice. The Wolverines took 7-1 Friday win in a game marred by 168 combined penalty minutes, but the Spartans returned the favor with a 7-5 victory at Yost in which it scored six straight goals to overcome a 4-1 deficit. It was the largest comeback victory for a Spartan team in Ann Arbor in series history and its most goals scored at Yost since Nov. 11, 1986 (7-6 W).

• The Spartans are 3-1 since the start of the 2024 portion of the schedule and with 16 victories, MSU has more total wins than in 9 of its last 11 seasons. At 10-2-2 in Big Ten play, this is MSU's strongest start since the start of the conference a decade ago. MSU is one win away from matching its previous best of 11 B1G wins (2014-15 and 2019-20).

• The veteran line of Reed Lebster-Nicolas Müller-Jeremy Davidson was MSU's top-producing line against Michigan, with a combined 10 points (four goals, six assists). Müller had 3-2-5 and earned Big Ten Third Star of the Week honors. He had MSU's only goal on Friday, and then two goals and two assists in Saturday's rally. Davidson had a goal and two assists on Saturday at Michigan and assisted on Muller's Friday marker to finish up with a four-point weekend.

• The line of Gavin O'Connell-Red Savage-Joey Larson produced five points last weekend against Michigan and has 34-39-71 in 24 games (+43). Larson owns a 15-13-28 line on the season and ranks fourth in the B1G in goals, and he and O'Connell each had a goal and an assist in Ann Arbor. O'Connell and Larson each have nine goals in Conference play, which is tied for second in the B1G - behind Minnesota's Rhett Pitlick (12).

• Senior captain Nash Nienhuis (+20) owns a career-best seven goals and his 17 points is rapidly approaching his career-best 19 he had as a junior. He is paired with Artyom Levshunov on the blueline, who followed his five-point effort in the Penn State series with a goal and an assist in the second game at Michigan. Levshunov averages more than a point per game (7-19-26) and is ninth in the Big Ten in points. He is second nationally in scoring among freshmen defenseman, and he is seventh among freshmen overall in scoring. He is a team-best +24, the best of any player in the country through Jan. 22. Levshunov is MSU's top-scoring freshman defenseman since AJ Thelen's 11-18-29 in 2003-04.