Spartans Make Final Regular Season Road Trip to No. 4 Minnesota

Games 21-22: Michigan State (7-11-2, 5-10-1-2-1-0 B1G) at No. 4/4 Minnesota (17-5, 13-5-0-0-0-0 B1G)
Dates | Times: Friday, Feb. 19 | 8 p.m. ET // Saturday, Feb. 20 | 6 p.m. ET
Location: Minneapolis, Minn. | 3M Arena at Mariucci
TV: Saturday – FS Detroit Plus
Web Stream: BTN +
Radio: TCF Bank Spartan Media Network | MSUSpartans.com & MSU Spartans app | Local: WJIM 1240-AM
Game Notes: Michigan State | Minnesota | Big Ten

On The Fly…
• Michigan State is making its final regular season road trip as it heads to Minneapolis to meet No. 4 Minnesota.

• The Spartans are coming off a 2-1 win over Arizona State and a series split, while Minnesota shut out Notre Dame twice on the road.

• This weekend's games will be the second half of four contests in a span of seven days for the Spartans, marking the second time this season MSU has done so.

• Goaltender Drew DeRidder has played a Big Ten-high 93.5% of his teams' total minutes this season and leads the nation in both saves (632) and shots faced (678) … His. .932 save percentage ranks third in the Big Ten, while his 2.43 GAA is fourth best.

• DeRidder is one of 35 goaltenders to be named to the Mike Richter Award watch list ... The award is presented annually to the nation's top netminder.

• Mitchell Lewandowski enters Saturday's game with points in each of the last three games (2-1--3), tying a season-best streak … Lewandowski is also one point shy of 100 for his career.

• The line of Lewandowski (0-1--1), Nico Muller (1-0--1) and Jagger Joshua (1-1--2) combined for four points the last time out in a 2-1 win over Arizona State.

• Michigan State is second in the Big Ten and ranks sixth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage at .536 … Three Spartans rank in the top 10 in the Big Ten in winning percentage – Kristof Papp (1st; .629, 56-33); Tommy Apap (7th; .561, 199-156); and Josh Nodler (10th; .562, 188-149);

• Dennis Cesana is tied for third among Big Ten defensemen in assists (10), while ranking fifth in points (11).

• Tommy Miller ranks second in the Big Ten and third in the country in both total blocked shots (56) and blocks per game (2.8) … Miller is three blocks shy of passing Jerad Rosburg for third most in program history.

• Freshman defensemen Nash Nienhuis (0-3--3) and Aiden Gallacher (0-1--1) have combined for four points over the last three games.

• Kyle Haskins leads all Spartan freshmen with five points (1g, 4a) … Haskins and defenseman Aiden Gallacher are the two Spartan rookies that have played in all 20 games.

About Minnesota
Big Ten-leading Minnesota is coming off a sweep on the road of Notre Dame, winning both games 3-0 … Minnesota is 6-2 over its last eight games … Minnesota leads the country in total goals (84), while leading the Big Ten goals per game (3.82), goals allowed per game (1.86) and penalty kill (.857) … Minnesota's .219 power play conversion rate ranks fourth in the Big Ten … Sampo Ranta leads the team in goals (14) and tied with Sammy Walker for the lead in points (22) … Jack LaFontaine leads the Big Ten in GAA at 1.56 and is second in save percentage at .943.

matchup at minn

The Matchup
Minnesota won each of the first two meetings between the teams in early December, 3-1 and 4-2 … The Spartans have won a game at Minnesota in each of the last two seasons … Mitchell Lewandowski is the Spartans' active leader in points against Minnesota with 13 (8g, 5a) in 14-career games … Lewandowski, Gianluca Esteves and Brody Stevens all have game-winning goals against the Golden Gophers.

ASU Series Recap, Feb. 14-15
The Spartans split their final non-conference series of the year with Arizona State at Munn … With MSU trailing in the final two minutes of game one, 2-1, Mitchell Lewandowski scored on a one-timer from the right circle with 1:06 to play, however it was not ruled a goal on the ice and teams played until the horn to end the third period sounds … The officials then reviewed the play and determined the puck went in … With 1:06 back on the clock, ASU was then able to get the tie-breaker with 40 seconds to play to earn a 3-2 win … Michigan State won game two, 2-1, on a goal by Nico Müller with 3:57 to play … MSU went 1-for-5 on the power play in the series and killed 6-of-7 ASU power plays … MSU had 38 shots in the opening game, its most since Nov. 29.

DeRidder Dominant
Junior Drew DeRidder has been a workhorse for the Spartans this season, having faced more shots (678) and made more saves (632) than any goaltender in the nation. He enters the weekend third in the Big Ten in save percentage at .932 and is fourth in GAA at 2.43.

On the season, DeRidder's save percentage has never dipped below .930 in starting all 20 games. The 2018-19 Big Ten All-Freshman team selection picked up his second shutout of the season Jan. 24 vs. Ohio State, turning away all 28 shots he faced in the 2-0 win.

DeRidder garnered two straight Big Ten First Star of the Week accolades earlier this season (Dec. 23 and Jan. 6). In going 1-0-1 at Notre Dame, Dec. 19-20, DeRidder made 89 total saves, making 47 and 42 stops, respectively.

Lewandowski Nearing 100 Career Points
After picking up a goal the last time out, senior Mitchell Lewandowski is one point away from reaching 100 for his career, entering Friday's game with 49 goals and 50 assists in 128 games. So far this season, the native of Clarkson has six goals and five assists.

Lewandowski, the last remaining member of MSU's high-powered KHL line that also included Taro Hirose (33-83--116; 2016-19) and Patrick Khodorenko (54-66--120; 2016-20), is looking to become the third member of that trio to reach 100 career points.

Miller's Block Party
Senior defenseman Tommy Miller is one of the nation's top shot blockers. He is third in the nation in total blocks (56) and blocks per game (2.8).

His season high in blocks is seven, which he recorded Dec. 20 at Notre Dame – a game in which he also scored the game-winning goal in overtime and set up the game-tying goal in the third period.

For his career, Miller has a total of 258 blocked shots – two shy of tying Jerad Rosburg for third most in Spartan history (since 2005-06).

Combs Contributing
Graduate transfer Charlie Combs ranks second on the team lead in goals with five. Combs scored 36 goals in three seasons at Bemidji State, the 10th highest total among NCAA returners entering the year. He enters this weekend with 68 career points (41g, 27a).

The Spartans are 3-2 when Combs scores; his three goals in Spartan wins have all been MSU's first of the game.

Spartans Sign Five for 2021-22
MSU announced the signing of five players to NLIs on Feb. 9 for the 2021-22 season: Jeremy Davidson (Kalamazoo, Mich./Fargo Force), David Gucciardi (Toronto, Ontario/Waterloo Black Hawks), Tanner Kelly (San Diego, Calif./Muskegon Lumberjacks), Erik Middendorf (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chicago Steel) and Jesse Tucker (Longlac, Ontario/Green Bay Gamblers).

Three of the newly signed Spartans currently rank in the top 11 in the USHL in points as Middendorf (21-22--43) is third, while Kelly (12-13--25) and Davidson are tied for 11th (8-17--25). Tucker sits just outside the top-20 in the league in points (4-17--21), while Gucciardi leads Waterloo (4-12--16) and is seventh among all USHL defensemen.

Spartans Make Final Regular Season Road Trip to No. 4 Minnesota

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Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Charlie Combs

Gianluca Esteves

Aiden Gallacher

Kyle Haskins

Taro Hirose

Jagger Joshua

Patrick Khodorenko

Mitchell Lewandowski

Tommy Miller

Nash Nienhuis

Josh Nodler

Kristof Papp

Jerad Rosburg

Brody Stevens