No. 20 Notre Dame, No. 17 Michigan State meet in major series

By TYLER REIDY sports Writer

much has changed since notre dame hockey hosted m ichigan state back in late o ctober. r anked 12th at the time, the Irish had hoped to solidify themselves among the nation’s top 15; they now sit on the edge of the Top 20, according to Uscho rankings. The spartans opened the season as an unproven bunch on the heels of a rocky season; they now have eyes on an nc AA tournament berth.

This weekend, a huge notre dame-m ichigan state series looms in e ast Lansing. The Irish (13-12-3, 8-8-2) and spartans (13-13-2, 7-9-2) will each have an opportunity to alter their postseason prospects significantly on a number of levels.

What’s at stake

Thanks to the last two weekends, notre dame has returned to contention after a largely unimpressive november and d ecember.

The Irish earned a key split at Penn state and followed it up with a home sweep of Wisconsin. notre dame currently occupies the big Ten’s 4th place spot with 26 points, one behind both Penn state and ohio state.

Though the bearers of second place rank well above the Irish nationally, the Irish can reasonably hope to pass both in the conference standings. With the nittany Lions visiting the buckeyes this weekend, both teams cannot go 2-0. Also, even though osU has two games in hand on notre dame, the Irish host them next weekend and have been playing much better at home.

The spartans have engineered an epic turnaround after last season’s struggles, but there are still questions regarding their competitiveness against the big dogs. since early d ecember, the big Ten’s top three teams have outscored m ichigan state 4014. however, msU will play each of its next three series against bottom four conference teams, including two at home. With a swift jump from 5th place to 4th or higher, the spartans would position themselves to host in the big Ten’s opening playoff round. m ichigan state is 9-4-1 at munn Ice Arena this season and 4-9-1 elsewhere. In the national picture, all major rankings outlets place nd and msU somewhere between 14th and 20th. The country’s top 16 teams receive an nc AA tournament berth, so series such as this one are intensely magnified. s aturday’s game proved that m ichigan state, if not pressured quickly, can be a very difficult out. The spartans picked up the opening goal and battled the Irish to a 1-1 tie and shootout win.

Why is that important?

Takeaways from o ctober notre dame secured four of the six possible points against m ichigan state o ct. 28 to o ct.

29. In Friday’s 5-0 victory, the Irish looked as comfortable as they have against any opponent all season. notre dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and rode senior goaltender r yan bischel’s shutout the rest of the way. When the spartans lose, they often lose badly, so another fast start could make a difference for notre dame.

Graduate student goalkeeper d ylan st. c yr starred in earning the extra point, denying 39 of 40 shots faced. Though he started the campaign at a magnificent pace (.934 save percentage through 15 games), the Quinnipiac University transfer has slumped as of late. h is save percentage has flipped to .886 since early d ecember, and he was yanked early twice in January. Time is running out for st. c yr to get hot again, and there is no better time to do it than against notre dame, his other former team.

Promise on the power-play

For most of the season, notre dame’s power-play has struggled to generate momentum. however, the Irish struck gold on the man-advantage last weekend. After posting two power-play goals at Penn state, notre dame burned Wisconsin for five in 12 attempts.

The recent success has helped the Irish set the tone early in games. They have scored four first period power-play goals in the last three games, including two in Friday’s 5-3 win. d ifferent personnel have gotten the job done as well. e ight separate players have accounted for notre dame’s last eight power-play goals dating back to Jan.13. The Irish will look to keep thriving against a m ichigan state penalty kill unit which has surrendered 11 goals in the last nine games.

Team notes notre dame’s most potent weapon continues to reside between the pipes. Goaltender r yan bischel has played to a .949 save percentage over his last four games, catapulting himself into a hobey b aker Award nomination. he leads the nation in saves (879 by a wide margin), and his .928 save percentage paces the big Ten.

In front of him, a few especially reliable offensive weapons have emerged from the woodwork. Junior forward r yder rolston and graduate student forward c hayse Primeau have each registered five points over the last two weekends. With 20 and 18

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con TIn Ued From PAGe 15 under four minutes into the third quarter from Townsend, threatened to blow the game wide open. The bucket extended s aint mary’s lead to 36-27. They extended their largest advantage of the night to 12 points on a s chutz three-point play. o n the night, Kalamazoo shot just 10% (1-10) from three-point points, respectively, they sit in the top three of notre dame’s points list alongside senior forward Trevor Janicke. s enior defenseman nick Leivermann (16 points) also made an instant impact upon return from injury, collecting three assists against Wisconsin.

Though m ichigan state has one hobey nominee ( d ylan st. c yr) to notre dame’s three, the spartans’ top forward line cannot be overlooked.

Freshmen Karsen d orwart, daniel russell, and senior Jagger Joshua are among msU’s top four point scorers. e ven in sparty’s 6-3 loss to m innesota on s aturday, the three combined for five points. Joshua has been especially dangerous, leading the team with 11 goals, five power-play goals, and two hat tricks. Fifth year defenseman c ole Krygier has also displayed a high capacity for offense. h is nine goals are the most scored by an msU defenseman since 2012-13 (Torey Krug). notre dame and m ichigan state will drop the puck at 7 p.m. e T on Friday and 4 p.m. e T on s aturday. Friday’s game will be available on big Ten network Plus, while s aturday’s contest will be aired on big Ten network, and both will be on the notre dame r adio network.

The Irish hold an all-time record of 57-66-16 against msU, with a 23-37-5 mark in e ast Lansing. b oth teams will play two additional regular season series following this weekend. n otre d ame will host o hio s tate, take a week off, then visit m ichigan. The s partans host the Wolverines before hitting the road for Wisconsin and concluding the season on a bye week.

Contact Tyler Reidy at treidy3@nd.edu range, and they struggled to maintain extended stretches of cohesive offensive basketball. While a 12-point lead looked to have the b elles in good position, they again went freezing cold on the offensive side of the court. They didn’t score in the final three minutes and seven seconds of the quarter, allowing the hornets to creep within three at 43-40. The b elles’ scoring drought continued into the fourth quarter, and the 12-point advantage officially evaporated. With 8:42 to play, the h ornets connected on a jumper to surge back into the lead, 44-43. With 5:25 to go, Kalamazoo drilled their lone three-pointer to go up four points, 51-47. h owever, the h ornets tacked on just one free throw the rest of the way. r zepka tied the game on a layup and pushed the b elles ahead 54-51, draining her sole triple of the evening. s aint m ary’s closed strong, hitting nine of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win, boxing the h ornets out of any comeback attempt. They prevailed, 61-52, keeping hopes of a winning conference record alive.

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