Spartans Play USNTDP Thursday In Exhibition Tilt

No. 2/2 Michigan State at US National Team Development Program
Dates/Times	Thursday, Nov. 21, 7 pm
Location	USA Hockey Arena \| Parking Information
Tickets	USA Hockey Ticket Office
Television	none
Radio	none
Webstream	USAHockeyTV.com (free stream)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Press Conference	Adam Nightingale Weekly Availability
Game Notes	Michigan State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

From the Point ...
What you need to know about Spartan Hockey

• Michigan State heads to Plymouth and USA Hockey Arena for an exhibition game against the US National Team Development Program. This will be the 19th game between the squads and MSU holds a 11-7 edge in previous matchups. The teams are playing in Plymouth for the third time - the teams also played there in 2017 and 2021.

• Five Spartans played their junior hockey in the Program: Sophomore goalie Trey Augustine, juniors Isaac Howard and Charlie Stramel, senior captain Red Savage, and freshman Shane Vansaghi. In addition, Adam Nightingale was the head coach for Team USA (2020-22), and Will Morlock served as the strength coach at the same time.

• The Spartans are sponsoring their third annual Spartans Full Strength program in the month of November. The month-long observance puts a spotlight on cancer awareness and honor those who have been affected by the disease.
This season, MSU hockey is partnering with the Stephen Swistak Memorial Fund, as well as supporting the family of Matt and Kelly Deschamps. Steve Swistak played for the Spartans for four seasons (2000-04) completed his medical degree in 2008 at MSU's College of Human Medicine. He passed away June 11, 2015 from recurrent esophageal cancer. Matt Deschamps is an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, and his wife Kelly was recently diagnosed with Stage III inflammatory breast cancer. A portion of every ticket for Thursday's game will be donated to the Deschamps family.

It's about more than hockey.

A reminder that $5 from each ticket for our game at the @usahockeyntdp on Thursday will go to the Deschamps family to help defray costs of Kelly's cancer treatment.

Let's support the Spartans and the USNTDP as well as the Deschamps family WITH A… pic.twitter.com/4wsTto8Gph
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 20, 2024

• Michigan State opened Big Ten play with a four-game homestand over the last two weekends, sweeping both Ohio State (4-2, 4-1) and Notre Dame (8-3, 4-3). It is the first time that the Spartans have opened B1G play with a 4-0 mark since the league began in 2013-14.

• MSU's seven-game winning streak is its longest since 2007-08 when it won eight consecutive games after losing the season opener at No. 1 North Dakota. Before that, MSU last won nine straight in the 2000-01 season – The Spartans won nine consecutive games beginning in mid-February before falling to North Dakota in the NCAA Semifinals.

• MSU's winning percentage (9-1, .900) is the best in the Big Ten and third nationally behind Denver (12-0) and Dartmouth (5-0-1, .917). MSU's 3.8 goals per game is second in the Big Ten and fifth nationally, MSU's 1.8 goals per game allowed is the best team defense in the B1G and eighth among Division I programs.

• Seventeen players had at least one point in the Notre Dame series, with 11 having two points or more. MSU's 12 goals were scored by 11 players - only Karsen Dorwart had more than one goal (2-1-3). Shane Vansaghi (1-3-4) and Nicklas Andrews (0-4-4) led the Spartans in scoring. Trey Augustine made 55 saves in the series.

• MSU's offense is distributed nearly equally among its lines and defensive pairs. The Daniel Russell-Dorwart-Joey Larson trio has 13-9-21, Isaac Howard-Charlie Stramel-GavinO'Connell 10-13-23, Tiernan Shoudy-Red Savage-Tanner Kelly 7-12-19, and Tommi Männistö-Mikey DeAngelo-Vansaghi 3-10-13. Among D pairs, the Buffalo pair (Patrick Geary and Maxim Štrbák) have 0-9-9, the David Gucciardi- Andrews duo 4-7-11, and Owen West- Matt Basgall 1-8-9.

• Daniel Russell's Saturday game-winner was not only an impressive individual effort, but was also his team-best seventh of the season, his national-best fifth game-winner of the season, and also the 10,000th goal in Spartan program history. Saturday was also Russell's 23rd birthday.

• Shane Vansaghi was named the Big Ten Third Star of the Week on Tuesday after his four-point effort against the Fighting Irish - and his goal was of the highlight-reel variety. The draft-eligible freshman is the only Spartan with points in all four Big Ten games, and has all eight of his points (2-6-8) over the last six contests. He had two-point efforts in both games against the Irish, with two assists in the opener and a goal and an assist in the second game.

• Trey Augustine owns a 1.89 GAA and .931 save percentage. A candidate for his third World Junior Championship appearance in late December, Augustine was the youngest starting goaltender in Division I hockey a year ago - and looks like he may be again in 2024-25. Only two goalies younger than Augustine have played in games so far this season - Hampton Slukynsky split the team's eight games at Western Michigan, and Nicholas Kempf has played four (of 12) at Notre Dame.

• The Spartans return to Munn Ice Arena for a Friday-Sunday series next weekend against Lindenwood. MSU will play a pair of Big Ten series in December prior to holiday break, on the road at Wisconsin (Dec. 6-7) and Minnesota (Dec. 13-14).

Players Mentioned

Nicklas Andrews

Trey Augustine

Matt Basgall

Mikey DeAngelo

Karsen Dorwart

Patrick Geary

David Gucciardi

Isaac Howard

Tanner Kelly

Joey Larson

Daniel Russell

Red Savage

Tiernan Shoudy

Charlie Stramel

Shane Vansaghi

Owen West

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