Spartans Visit Michigan on Thursday to Start Home-and-Home Series

Games 9-10: Michigan (3-5-2, 0-3-1-0 B1G) vs. Michigan State (3-5, 1-1-0-0 B1G)
Thursday: Ann Arbor, Mich. | Yost Ice Arena | 6:30 p.m.
Saturday: East Lansing, Mich. | Munn Ice Arena | 7 p.m.
Go Green, Wear White on Saturday at Munn!
Tickets: MSUSpartans.com
TV: BTN (Thursday)
Video Stream: FOX Sports app (Thursday) // BTNPlus.com & BTN + app (Saturday)
Radio: Spartan Sports Network (Listen Live) | Local: WJIM 1240-AM & 106.9-FM
SSN Mobile App: iPhone/iPad | Android
Game Notes: Michigan State | Michigan | Big Ten

On The Fly…
• The Spartans meet Michigan on Thursday and Saturday this week in college hockey's most-played rivalry … The two teams have met a total of 324 times entering this home-and-home series.

• Michigan State is coming off a Big Ten opening series split at No. 6 Penn State last weekend (W, 2-0; L, 6-4).

• Patrick Khodorenko had four points (3g, 1a) in the series at Penn State and was named the Big Ten's First Star of the Week on Tuesday … His four-point weekend extended his point streak to five games, which ties a career best … Khodorenko has 10 points (4g, 6a) over the last five games.

• In leading the Spartans in goals (4), assists (7) and points (11) this season, Khodorenko enters Thursday's game just two points shy of 100 for his career (42-56--98).

• The Michigan State power play ranks fourth nationally entering Thursday's game as the Spartans have converted 31% of their chances (9-for-29) … MSU is 6-for-16 (37.5%) on the man-advantage over the last four games.

• Three (1g, 2a) of Mitchell Lewandowski's six points this season came last weekend at Penn State, including his first multi-point game of the year on Saturday (1g, 1a).

• Dennis Cesana is tied for second on the team and leads all Spartan defensemen with six points (3g, 3a) … His three goals, which have come over the last four games, have already tied his total from last season.

• Spartan blueliners have combined for 16 points (6g, 10a) so far this season, which equates to 29% of MSU's total points.

• Michigan State ranks fourth in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .559 (287-226) … MSU won the faceoff battle in both games last weekend and has won more faceoffs than its opponent in six of eight games this season.

• Danton Cole enters the series with 499 career wins in his 19 seasons as a head coach … Cole won a combined 244 games, including playoffs, in six years as a professional coach in the AHL and UHL; 205 wins in seven seasons with the NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams; and 50 victories in his five-plus seasons in college hockey (Alabama Huntsville and MSU).

• The Spartans extinguished 5-of-6 Penn State power plays last weekend, including all four in the 2-0 victory.

• John Lethemon has started each of the last two games and four of the last five in goal ... He has a .926 save percentage and 2.62 GAA so far this season.

About Michigan
Michigan is coming off a 1-1 tie (3-on-3 OT loss) and 3-1 loss to Minnesota last weekend in Ann Arbor … Freshman Johnny Beecher leads the Wolverines in points (5) and is tied for the lead in assists (4) … Three Wolverines have three goals each to lead the team – Jack Becker, Nick Pastujov and Will Lockwood … Michigan ranks 48th in goals per game (2.0), while the Wolverines are ninth in goals allowed per game (2.0) … Goaltender Strauss Mann has started all 10 games is tied for second in the Big Ten in GAA (1.89) and save percentage (.935) … Michigan swept Lake Superior State at home (Oct. 18-19) and then topped Western Michigan (Oct. 25) before going 0-4-1 over its last five games.

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Against Michigan
Patrick Khodorenko is the Spartans' active leader in points (10) and goals (6) against Michigan … Mitchell Lewandowski has nine points (4g, 5a), including game-winning goal vs. U-M … Drew DeRidder started all five games against U-M last season (2.72 GAA, .927 Sv. %).

Penn State Series Recap
The Spartans' 2-0 shutout was their first since a 2-0 blanking on the road at Wisconsin on Jan. 12, 2018 … The Spartans blocked 31 shots in the 2-0 win – their most since blocking 32 in a tie with Penn State in Nov. 2017 … John Lethemon's 48 saves in the shutout were a career high and marked the fifth time in his career he had at least 40 saves vs. Penn State … The Spartans killed all four Penn State power plays in the win, including a 2-minute 5-on-3 in the second period … Patrick Khodorenko (3a, 1a) had a hand four of six MSU goals … The Spartans won more faceoffs in both games … MSU is now 2-2 in its last four games at Pegula.

Khodorenko the No. 1 Star
For the second time in his career, Patrick Khodorenko has been named the Big Ten First Star of the Week. The conference announced the accolade on Tuesday after Khodorenko had four points in last weekend's split at then-No. 6 Penn State. Khodorenko scored the game-winner in the second period of Friday's 2-0 shutout win. The following night, he scored twice and had an assist in a 6-4 loss. Khodorenko's second goal with 1:07 left pulled the Spartans to within a goal.

Patty Paces the Offense
After one assist through the first three games of the season, Patrick Khodorenko has since put up 10 points (4g, 6a) and brings five-game point streak into Thursday's game, which ties a career long. Khodorenko's five-game streak started with three assists in the Spartans' 5-1 win at Colorado College. He's coming off his seventh career game with at least three points as he had a two goals and an assist the last time out at Penn State. Since the October 26 win at Colorado College, Khodorenko has had a hand in 10 of the Spartans' last 14 goals.

He enters this weekend with 98 career points, including 42 career goals. He's the first Spartan since Matt Berry to register at least 40 career goals as Berry had 48 in 130 games from 2011-15.

Powering Through
The Spartan power play is off to a good start, ranking fourth nationally at 31% (9-for-29). Of teams that have played at least eight games, only Providence (10 games) has a better power-play percentage at 32.6%. The Spartans have scored two power play goals in three of the last four games (did not have a power play Nov. 8 at Penn State) and are 6-for-16 (37.5%) over the span.

Patrick Khodorenko leads the Spartans with six power-play points (2g, 4a). Two of sophomore Dennis Cesana's three goals on the season have come on the power play, while Mitchell Lewandowski has scored both of his goals this season on the man-advantage.

Strong in the Dot
The Spartans rank fourth in the country in faceoff winning percentage at .559. Adam Goodsir leads the Spartans with a .589 winning percentage (33-23). Tommy Apap ranks fifth in winning percentage at .568 (83-63) among players in the Big Ten that have taken at least 50 draws. Patrick Khodorenko is close behind at .561 (83-65).

The Spartans have won more faceoffs than their opponents in six of eight games, including taking 69% of draws in a 5-1 win at Colorado College on Oct. 26.

We'll be Around for a While
Thursday will mark the Spartans' seventh of nine games this season on the road, marking the first time since the start of the 1988-89 season that MSU has played seven of its first nine games on the road. However, the Spartans can settle in for a bit as Saturday's game vs. Michigan will start a string of seven of nine games at Munn. Beyond that, MSU will play in the GLI in Detroit, Dec. 30-31, and then host Minnesota to begin the new calendar year, giving MSU 11 of 13 games in the state of Michigan.

The Spartans started the year with four straight on the road (at Northern Michigan and at Colorado College), before hosting No. 4 Cornell in what was its latest home-opening series since 2005.

Cole Closes in on 500
Coach Danton Cole brings a career record of 499-413-55 into the series against Michigan. Cole's is in the 19th season of his head coaching career, which started with the Muskegon Fury in the United Hockey League in 2001-02. Cole went on to coach three seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL and then spent two more seasons in the UHL with Motor City. In six total seasons, including playoffs, in the AHL and UHL, Cole won 244 games. He won 23 games over three years at Alabama Huntsville and then 205 over six seasons with the NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams. Cole has 27 wins in now his third season at MSU.

Spartans Visit Michigan on Thursday to Start Home-and-Home Series

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Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Dennis Cesana

Drew DeRidder

Adam Goodsir

Patrick Khodorenko

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski