Jeff Jackson and the Notre Dame hockey team (5-5-0, 1-3-0 Big Ten) travel to East Lansing this weekend to take on the No. 4 Michigan State Spartans (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) in their third conference series of the season. Puck drops at Munn Ice Arena are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The Irish are coming off three consecutive losses (2-1 vs. Wisconsin, 2-1 in overtime at Michigan, 4-2 at Michigan) after starting the season 5-2-0. The Spartans, fresh off a 2024 Big Ten title and NCAA Tournament Regional Final appearance, look even better this season, with their only loss in eight games coming to No. 2 Boston College. They recently swept Ohio State in a home series.
Last season, Michigan State defeated Notre Dame three of four times, including twice at Munn.
This will mark the second of three straight weekend series for Jackson’s group against top-five teams via the USCHO Poll, with four of those six games on the road. The Irish picked up one point against No. 5 Michigan thanks to their overtime loss and will have to pull off an upset to top that mark this weekend at Michigan State. The following weekend (Nov. 22-23), the Irish will finally return home to host No. 3 Minnesota. No other school envies that schedule.
With junior Owen Say between the pipes, Notre Dame rarely fails to win the goaltending battle: however, the same could be said for Trey Augustine of the Spartans. Augustine has saved 174 of 185 shots across his seven starts this season – good for a .941 save percentage. The matchup in the crease is very even.
Michigan State possesses a clear edge offensively, with 3.25 goals per game (21st in NCAA) compared to Notre Dame’s 2.6 (35th). The Spartans have scored 23 goals in their last five games (4.6 per game), which excludes a 5-0 beatdown on Windsor in an exhibition game. The Irish have nine in their last five contests.
Isaac Howard (five goals, 10 points) and Daniel Russell (six goals, nine points) lead the way for the Spartans, while nine other players have four points or more. The team has managed to churn offensively despite a struggling powerplay (3 for 22, 13.6%).
Defensively, Michigan State is using a balanced top six to try to fill the gap left behind by Artyom Levshunov (second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, now with the Chiago Blackhawks organization). Four blueliners have a rating of at least +4, highlighted by Matt Basgall (four assists, +7) and Maxim Strbak (five assists, +5). All seven defensemen who have dressed this year have a +1 rating or better. For context, the Irish have only four defensemen with a positive rating (senior Ryan Helliwell at +7, junior Axel Kumlin at +3, junior Michael Mastrodomenico at +2 and sophomore Henry Nelson +1) and two in the negatives (sophomore Paul Fischer at -4 and graduate student Zach Plucinski at -1).
Splitting this series would be a great result for Notre Dame. Anything better is terrific. Anything worse is expected.
