Red-hot MSU hockey climbing in poll, Pairwise rankings: 'We have to earn a lot of respect back in college hockey'
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EAST LANSING – The college hockey world is beginning to take notice of Michigan State.
Following MSU's 4-2 and 4-3 wins over 10th-ranked Ohio State this past weekend, the Spartans are ranked No. 17 in this week's United States College Hockey Online poll.
MSU received some top-20 votes the previous week after sweeping Wisconsin, but remained on the outside before facing the Buckeyes.
"It's so early, obviously it's nice to be ranked, but it really doesn't mean anything," MSU coach Adam Nightingale said Monday. "I want our team's focus to always be getting better today. We have to earn a lot of respect back in college hockey and I think our guys have started to do that. We still have a ways to go, but we don't look too much into the polls."
More importantly, MSU finds itself in 10th in the NCAA Pairwise rankings — the rankings that determine the 16-team NCAA tournament field at the conclusion of the regular season. The sweep of the Buckeyes jumped the Spartans up the ladder, but important non-conference wins over a ranked UMass Lowell team and a road win over Bowling Green, as well as beginning Big Ten play by battling Notre Dame to a tie (after losing 5-0) are all important variables that have MSU in a strong early position.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to look at (Pairwise) and say 'now we have to do this.' And that's what I've enjoyed about this group, is that they really understand it's not about any of that. That stuff will take care of itself," Nightingale said. "We've got to keep our pedal down and get better as a team and individually and I think we'll find out more about this team this weekend."
There hasn't been enough data for the Pairwise rankings to truly matter yet, but it shows the value of MSU's hot start (8-3-1 overall, 4-1-1 Big Ten). MSU's next three Big Ten opponents are ranked sixth (Penn State), second (Minnesota) and third (Michigan) in the USCHO poll.
MSU's recent ranking, while premature, should create some early buzz in Nightingale's tenure. As is MSU's goal-scoring output, with the Spartans scoring four or more goals in four straight games for the first time since 2018-2019.
Nightingale has been consistent with not wanting his players to get too high or low — even with MSU winning four straight games in the Big Ten for the first time since the conference's inception in the 2013-2014 season.
"We have a confident group of guys, but confidence can be fleeting if it's just based on the results of a game," Nightingale said. "I think you need to get your confidence in the way you prepare. They way you practice. The way you train. Then you get a real confidence instead of riding a wave. I've said before, you can get away with winning games but not being the better team in hockey. We want to be a team that judges themselves not on the scoreboard but on the quality of play."
MSU's penalty kill has been a major factor in the hot start, too, with the Spartans ranked eighth nationally in that category, killing off 39 of opponents' 45 power-play opportunities — 86.7 percent.
"There are times where we've been in the box and we've addressed that we don't want to spend the whole night in the box," Nightingale said. "But, also, our game is a physical game. Jared DeMichiel runs our penalty kill and does a really good job and our guys understand what they need to do and have bought in to how we want to do it. And then the old saying, your best penalty killer is your goalie and (St. Cyr) has been pretty good."
Statistics point to St. Cyr being great so far. Among goaltenders who have made at least 10 starts, St. Cyr has the seventh-best goals against average at an even 2.00.
Only Northeastern's Devon Levi — last season's Mike Richter award winner, given to the country's best goaltender — has a better save percentage at 94.1 percent. St. Cyr's save percentage of 93.6 percent is tied for second with Michigan Tech's Blake Pietila among goaltenders with double-digit starts and is sixth nationally among all goaltenders.
MSU hits the road for a weekend series at No. 6-ranked Penn State this weekend, with Friday's 7 p.m .start and Saturday's 7:30 face-off coming at one the country's most difficult places to play in Pegula Ice Arena.
Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @Nathaniel_Bott
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU hockey climbing up USCHO, Pairwise rankings, earning back respect
