Howard Earns First Star Honors After PSU Series

East Lansing, Mich. -- After a six-point weekend at Penn State, junior forward Isaac Howard (Hudson, Wis.) has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week.

Howard had five goals and an assist in the two-game set in State College. In Friday's 6-4 victory, he had four goals and an assist; he had MSU's first of two goals in a 2-2 deadlock with the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

Howard's four goals was one shy of the school record of five in a game, which was previously accomplished by four players, most recently Mike Donnelly vs. Ohio State in December of 1985. It was also MSU's first four-goal game since Erik Middendorf scored four times against Wisconsin November of 2022; it was the Spartans' first five-point effort since Lee Reimer (3g, 2a) vs. Robert Morris on Oct. 29,2011.

Howard's standout season puts him in the early discussions of Hobey Baker candidates. He currently leads the nation in goals (18), goals per game (0.82), points (33), and points per game (1.5), and ranks ninth in the Big Ten in assists per game (0.68). This ties the most goals for an MSU skater in a season since Patrick Khodorenko had 18 in 2018-19. Mitchell Lewandowski had 19 in 2017-18, and Corey Tropp was MSU's last 20-goal scorer, in 2009-10. All but six of Howard's points this season (27 of 33) have come with the team skating at even strength. He is 2-4-6 while skating on the power play.

Howard and the Spartans have a nine-game unbeaten streak, going back to Dec. 6. In that period – which features a 2-0-1 record against then-No. 1 Minnesota and No. 4 Western Michigan, and all but one game on the road – Howard has a 12-6-18 scoring line. He has goals in each of MSU's last seven games and has scored goals in 13 of MSU's 22 contests (and has points in 18).

With 33 points, Howard is three shy of his sophomore year total of 36 and has a career best 10 multiple-point games this season. Not only has he more than doubled his single season best of eight goals that he scored as a sophomore, he has surpassed his career total of 12 career scores through his first two seasons.

This is the fourth time this season that Howard has earned weekly honors from the Big Ten, tying a school record for most Three-Star designations for a single player in a season. All three who earned them four times are goaltenders – Jake Hildebrand, Dylan St. Cyr, and Trey Augustine.

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Isaac Howard

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