Surging MSU hockey stays even-keeled entering Big Ten showdown with No. 4 Minnesota

EAST LANSING – It's been a long time since Michigan State's hockey program has had this kind of buzz heading into December, when it'll kick off the month by hosting No. 4 Minnesota in a battle of the top two teams in the Big Ten standings.

MSU (11-4-1 overall, 5-2-1 Big Ten) is up to No. 13 in the latest United States College Hockey Online poll and, more importantly, sits seventh in the NCAA Pairwise rankings, which determine the NCAA tournament field at the end of the season.

The Spartans enter the weekend on a red-hot streak, coming off two nonconference road wins over Miami (Ohio) to cap a blazing November with a 7-1 record — their lone loss coming on the road, 4-3, to then-ranked No. 6 Penn State.

"It was a good weekend for our team, and going on the road is never easy in college hockey, but we did a lot of good stuff on both nights and had guys contributing at different times," MSU coach Adam Nightingale said. "We've had a good week of practice so far and really looking forward to this weekend."

The series against the Golden Gophers will be another chance to prove this MSU team belongs with the upper tier of the Big Ten. Minnesota (11-5, 6-2) sits in first place in the league standings with 18 points, just one ahead of the second-place Spartans, who have finished last in the conference in five of the past six seasons.

MSU's rise in the rankings and its opportunity to take over first place in the conference against a national powerhouse sets up, arguably, one of the Spartans' biggest home series in the past several years.

Yet despite the excitement, MSU has been intent on staying even-keeled in its preparation.

"I think the guys understand (the excitement), but we are trying to keep that same mindset," Nightingale said. "We don't need to change who we are, we just need to keep getting better. Our focus is always on that. Every weekend we play we want to take a step and play the best hockey that we've played. That'll be the focus heading into this weekend."

The Gophers rank third in the NCAA in goals per game and shots per game and have the conference's second best power play. Both teams are 4-1 in their past five games.

Minnesota's defense corps — led by seniors Jackson Lacombe and Ryan Johnson and junior Brock Faber — is one of the best in the country.

Up front, sophomore forward Matthew Knies is one of the elite talents across the country. He's joined by two top-tier freshman forwards in Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud — both of whom Nightingale coached with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Cooley was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and Snuggerud leads the Gophers with 10 goals and 20 points.

"I feel fortunate to have coached those guys, and we know they are really good, but we try not to make too big of a deal about our opponent and be the best version of us," Nightingale said. "(Minnesota) has a lot of depth. They have a lot of speed and a lot of skill throughout their lineup and they play a brand of hockey that can be very taxing.

"They're really good away from the puck, and when you look at them you can put their talent up with anyone in the country. It'll be a really good test for our group and we're excited for it."

Putting MSU's November in perspective

MSU's 7-1 record in November is the Spartans' best for a month since the Spartans went 6-0-1 in February of 2006.

They began November with two emphatic wins over Wisconsin – 5-0 and 5-1 — and followed up by sweeping then-No. 10 Ohio State.

After a split at Penn State, which currently sits No. 1 in the Pairwise rankings, MSU stayed on the road for two convinving wins over Miami, 5-3 and 4-0.

"I think our team should be pretty confident all around, and I think (the confidence) is pretty high heading into this weekend," MSU goalie Dylan St. Cyr said, who was in net for Saturday's shutout of the Redhawks. "There's a lot of outside factors that people are putting a little more emphasis on this weekend, but we are a very process-driven team and each weekend we have the same mentality no matter who we are playing."

The winning has brough plenty of individual recognition as well, led by St. Cyr, who was the Big Ten's first star of the week following both the Wisconsin and Miami series. Senior forward Nico Muller was the Big Ten's first star after the two wins over Ohio State. Freshman Karsen Dorwart was the conference's second star after the PSU series and the third star from this past weekend. And senior forward Erik Middendorf was the conference's third star following his four-goal game against Wisconsin.

"I think we've been able to bring some recognition to the work we've done so far, but we aren't satisfied by any means in where we want to be," St. Cyr said. "We're still striving to continue to get better."

Through the eight November games, MSU averaged 4.625 goals per game — good enough to lead the NCAA for the month. MSU’s 3.63 goals per game overall is fourth in the Big Ten and eighth nationally. MSU allows just 2.31 goals per game, and that 1.31 goal differential margin ranks second best in the conference and seventh nationally.

The Spartans are on pace to score 130 goals for the season. Since 2009, MSU has scored 100 goals in a season just twice with 115 in 2009-10 and 111 in 2011-12.

MSU ranks fifth nationally in both goals scored with 58 and shots on goal with 539. The Spartans were 44th in shots a year ago, finishing with 989 for just 27.47 per game. They ranked 49th in total goals scored with 76, just 2.11 per game.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @Nathaniel_Bott

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Surging MSU hockey staying even-keeled before hosting No. 4 Minnesota