Spartans Welcome Ohio State, Celebrate Seniors

No. 4/4 Michigan State (20-7-3, 14-4-2 B1G) vs. Ohio State (11-15-4, 3-15-2 B1G)
Dates/Times	Friday, Feb. 23 - 7 pm Saturday, Feb. 24 - 6 pm - Senior Celebration to Follow
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) Saturday: Sirius/XM Channel 372
Webstreams	B1G+ Friday \| Saturday
Game Program	Download Digital Game Program
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Ohio State
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 plays its final two home games of the regular season, hosting Ohio State. MSU is 98-56-13 all-time in the series, which dates back to 1957. The Spartans earned their first Big Ten sweep of the season when the teams met in the first conference series of year in November, (6-0,6-4). MSU is 46-22-7 against the Buckeyes in East Lansing, and swept OSU in the series at Munn last November (4-2, 4-3).

• MSU is coming off a bye week, and holds a four-point advantage atop in the B1G standings. With 46 points, the Spartans cannot finish lower than second place thanks to a nine-point lead over third-place Minnesota (37), which has played two more games and is idle this weekend. Wisconsin, MSU's opponent next weekend, trails the Spartans by four points (42). With two weeks to go and still in the hunt for a Big Ten title, the Spartans are in search of their first regular-season league crown since 2000-01, which was its seventh (and final) CCHA regular-season championship.

• With a 20-7-3 record, MSU has its first season with 20 wins since the 2007-08 team went 25-12-5. At the time, that was MSU's 17th consecutive season of 20+ victories (1991-92 to 2007-08). MSU is 14-4-2 in Big Ten play, the most league victories for the program since the start of the B1G in 2013-14. MSU holds the No. 4 slot in both the USCHO poll and the USA Hockey survey, MSU's highest ranking in the USCHO poll since Nov. 12, 2007.

• MSU's fourth linewas the catalyst for the Spartans sweeping Michigan in their last series, combining for nine points (3-6-9). Tanner Kelly had two goals (one in each game) and an assist, (+4). Tiernan Shoudy added a goal and two assists, which included a goal and an assist in the game at LCA. Freshman Tommi Männistö produced his highest weekend point total of the season with a three-assist effort in the two games against the Wolverines. He had assists on each of his linemates' goals at LCA for his second career multiple-point game.

• MSU's lineup, in addition to having two freshmen goaltenders (Trey Augustine and Luca Di Pasquo), has four freshmen defensemen (Artyom Levshunov, Maxim Štrbák, Patrick Geary, and Austin Oravetz), and three upperclassmen (sophomore Matt Basgall, junior David Gucciardi, and the senior captain Nash Nienhuis.). Nienhuis (+20, second B1G) owns a career-best seven goals, which matches his three-year career total entering the season. D-partner Levshunov has points in 19 of 30 games and owns a 8-20-28 scoring line, and is second in the country and atop the B1G with a +27. He ranks in a tie for ninth among defensemen nationally in scoring, fifth in defenseman goals, and second among first-year rearguards behind Denver's Zeev Buium (8-29-37).

• Augustine is one of 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award as the nation's top goaltender. In his most recent outings, he stopped 65 of 68 shots he faced against Michigan (.957), allowing three goals and earning Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors. He owns a .917 save percentage, 2.87 GAA, and 18-6-2 record. Despite missing time with World Juniors, he ranks fifth nationally in saves (844), fifth in winning percentage (.731) fourth in shutouts (3), and 14th in save percentage among D1 goalies.
Fight For The Only Colors Splash Page

PROMOTIONAL INFORMATION
• Fans can have their picture taken with the Duel in the D Trophy on both Friday and Saturday evening in the Hall of History (South Entrance)
• The Spartans will honor their seniors (captain Nash Nienhuis, alternate captain Nicolas Müller, James Crossman, Jeremy Davidson, Reed Lebster, Jon Mor, and student manager Sam Rozema) in a post-game ceremony on Saturday evening. Fans are asked to stay in their seats to support our senior class as we send them off with appreciation for all they have done for the Spartan hockey program, and our alumni will be on the ice to welcome them into the alumni fraternity.
• For Saturday's game, MSU fans are asked to wear the color that corresponds to your ticket section (above) to "Fight for the Only Colors". Wear Green! Wear White!

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Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Matt Basgall

James Crossman

Jeremy Davidson

Luca Di Pasquo

Patrick Geary

David Gucciardi

Tanner Kelly

Reed Lebster

Artyom Levshunov

Jon Mor

Nash Nienhuis

Austin Oravetz

Tiernan Shoudy