No. 3 Men's Hockey Set For B1G Battle Against No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing

THIS WEEK’S MATCHUP

• This week marks the 51st and 52nd meetings all-time between the two programs with Penn State holding the slim 22-20-8 edge in the series. The Nittany Lions won the season series last year taking 7-of-12 points winning a pair of shootouts after dropping the opening game and then securing a 3-2 victory in the series finale to take 5-of-6 points last February in East Lansing.
• MSU holds the 12-10-4 record at Munn Ice Arena where, excluding empty-net goals, 10 of the last 11 meetings have been decided by a single goal with five advancing to extra time including three shootouts. Those five games have seen each team win once in extra time and Penn State holding the 2-1 advantage in the shootout.
• Despite the series victory for the Nittany Lions last season, the Spartans hold a 6-2-4 record against Penn State since the start of the 2022-23 season.
• Michigan State enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in both national polls just as they did in all four meetings last season. Penn State is 3-6-2 all-time against the top team in the country and became the only team in the history of college hockey to defeat separate No. 1 teams in back-to-back weeks when they downed Michigan and Minnesota to open the month of November in 2022.
• Last week Penn State swept Ohio State to begin conference play marking the first sweep to open B1G play since the 2022-23 season. It was the sixth Big Ten opening sweep all time for Penn State and the third on the road in the 13th year of the conference.
• The Nittany Lions rank second in the Big Ten and sixth in the nation averaging 4.10 goals per game while their 41 goals scored are the second-most nationally behind the 53 of Michigan. MSU ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 10th nationally averaging 3.83 goals per game.
• Senior Ben Schoen leads all Nittany Lions with seven points (1G, 6A) in 10 career games against the Spartans while fellow senior Jarod Crespo has one goal and four assists for five points in 11 games. Junior Aiden Fink leads all skaters with five goals in eight career games against Sparty.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS

• The Spartans enter the weekend at 5-1-0 and ranked No. 1 in both polls, and are coming off a bye week after road sweeps at then-No. 1 BU and Northern Michigan. MSU returns to Munn Ice Arena to begin Big Ten play for the first time since a split against UNH on October 9-10.
• Michigan State is paced by the backend with returning All American defenseman Matt Basgall and goaltender Trey Augustine. Basgall has two goals and three assists for five points in six games this season while Augustine has started five of the six games posting a 4-1-0 record with a 1.78 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. Those numbers are good for fourth and fifth in the Big Ten, respectively.
• Michigan State ranks second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation allowing just 1.83 goals per game.
• Sparty is without three of their top six scorers from a season ago with the departures of Hobey Baker Award winner Isaac Howard (26-26--52), Karsen Dorwart (13-18--31) and Joey Larson (10-14--24), however, they do return Charlie Stramel and Daniel Russell to accompany Basgall as key offensive pieces.
• MSU is paced on offensive by freshman and the sixth-overall selection by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2025 NHL Draft Porter Martone with three goals and six assists for nine points. Tommi Mannisto has also been a force to open the season with five goals and seven points through six games after scoring just three goals with 11 points in 37 games last season.
• Blueliner Matt Basgall is tied for third on the team in points (22) and has career bests in all three offensive categories, tied for third among Big Ten defensemen in points (22), third in assists (17), and fourth in goals (5).
• The Spartans are peppering opponents nets this season averaging 38.0 shots per game to rank tied for fourth in the nation and just shy of Penn State’s Big Ten best 38.2 which ranks third nationally.
• On special teams, Michigan State ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 19th nationally with an 83.3 percent (25-for-30) penalty kill, while its powerplay is middle of the pack nationally converting at 21.1 percent (4-for-19), a mark good for fifth in the Big Ten.

THE YOUTH OF COLLEGE HOCKEY

• Six of the seven programs in the Big Ten are ranked among the 20 youngest teams in the nation.
• Penn State is the fourth youngest team in the Big Ten and 13th youngest in the nation this season with an average age of 21 years and eight months while Michigan State is the second youngest in the Big Ten behind Michigan and the fourth youngest in the country with an average age of 21 years and one month.

ROAD WARRIORS

• Penn State is 4-0-0 on the road to begin the season with all four wins coming against ranked opponents. This marks the first time in the 14-year history of the program the Nittany Lions have won their first four road contests, and it ties the program record for longest road winning-streak set during the 2016-17 season.
• Penn State is 11-2-1 in its last 14 true road contests dating back to a January 5 win at Notre Dame with all but one of those games (the ND victory) coming against ranked opponents.

ISN’T THAT SPECIAL

• Penn State has opened the season with strong special teams play registering at least one PPG in all 10 games going 15-for-56 (26.8 percent) on the man-advantage to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation while the 15 man-advantage tallies are good for third in the nation behind the 18 of Michigan and 17 for St Cloud.
• The penalty kill unit is also off to a hot start going 46-for-51 (90.2 percent) in the first month to rank first in the Big Ten and eighth nationally.

THIRD PERIOD THEATRICS

• Penn State is 4-0-0 this season when trailing entering the third period after going 0-10-2 in such contests a season ago.
• The Nittany Lions are outscoring opponents 17-5 over the final 20 minutes with multiple third period goals in five of 10 games so far this season. Of the five third period goals allowed, three came in a 6-4 loss to Clarkson in the home opener.