No. 17 Penn State will travel to East Lansing to face the No. 11 Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan State is coming off of a sweep in Columbus, Ohio, against Big Ten opponent Ohio State, marking the first time they’ve opened conference play 2-0-0. The Spartans are 7-3–0 on the season and 2-0 in conference games, with their only losses being a one-goal game against Air Force and 6-4 and 5-1 losses against Boston College in Massachusets.

Michigan State lost 16 players from last season and has 15 new players, 10 of whom are freshmen, and the remaining five are transfers. The Spartans kept six of their top seven goal scorers from last season, with the only top-seven loss being Jagger Joshua, who led the team in goals with 13 in addition to his 11 assists.

This season, Michigan State is led by Karen Dowart, who has six goals and eight assists for 14 points through the first ten games, more than halfway to his point total from last season and good for fifth in the Big Ten. Freshman Gavin O’Connell also has six goals on the season, scoring twice in both games against the Buckeyes, earning him the Big Ten First Star of the Week.

O’Connell and Artyom Levshunov are tied for second among Big Ten freshmen in points with nine each, just behind Garrett Shifsky on Michigan, who has 11.

Averaging 4.60 goals per game, the Spartans rank second in the Big Ten and third in the nation only behind Michigan and Denver with 5.0 and 4.9 goals per game, respectively. The Spartans have 17 goal scorers through ten games, with 10 of them having scored multiple times.

The Spartans have some new faces in net this season after the departures of Dylan St, Cyr, and Pierce Charleson. Stg. Cyr started 37 of 38 games last year, recording a .915 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average for a 17-18-2 record. Charleson transferred to Alaska- Fairbanks.

Trey Augustine has started 9 of 10 games this season with a 3.25 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage, and a 6-2-0 record.

Michigan State has been struggling defensively, allowing an average of 3.40 goals per game, which is the 18th highest in the nation. Aside from one game against Ohio State, where they shut out the Buckeyes, the team has allowed at least three goals in the last eight games. In all three of their losses, they have had at least five goals against.

Penn State is currently 5-2-2 overall and 0-0-2 in the conference after taking Notre Dame to a shootout twice this weekend, with each team recording an extra point.

Penn State has averaged 3.33 goals per game while only allowing an average of 2.78 goals per game. The Nittany Lions lead the conference with an average of 42 shots per game, with Michigan State coming in next with 37.2.

The Nittany Lions are led by junior Danny Dzhaniyev, who has 11 points with seven goals and four assists. His 11 points are good for tenth in the Big Ten. The New York native had a career-best four-game goal streak going into Sunday, where he was held scoreless but recorded an assist for a new career-best point streak of five games.

Freshman Aiden Fink has eight points between two goals and six assists, which puts him tied for second on the team with junior Ryan Kirwan. His eight points put him fourth in the Big Ten and tied for tenth in the nation among freshmen.

Junior Dylan Lugris is already having his career-best year with six points in nine games, riding a three-game goal streak tying his previous career-longest. His four goals are tied for his career high.

Lugris’ four goals were right when the Nittany Lions needed them most, including to tie the game at the end of the third period against the Irish to force overtime. He is tied for third in the Big Ten on power-play goals and seventh in the nation with three.

Senior Xander Lamppa has had a hot start to the season with seven points between one goal and six assists. Lamppa played a role in all three of the goals Saturday night against the Irish with two assists and one goal for a career-best three points, then scored the lone shootout goal on Sunday.

Penn State had 26 penalty minutes in Saturday's game in nine penalties, but they remain the least penalized team in the conference and the third least in the nation, averaging 6.4 penalty minutes per game. However, Michigan State is the most penalized team in the conference and fifth in the nation with an average of 14.9 penalty minutes per game.

The Spartans have allowed 52 power-play chances but have only allowed nine power-play goals for an 82.7 penalty kill percentage, which is good for fourth in the Big Ten and 28th in the nation. Penn State has allowed 23 powerplay chances, allowing five goals with a 78.2 penalty kill percentage.

Last season, the teams split in Univesity Park, with Penn State winning 4-3 in game one and Michigan State winning 7-3 in game two. The Spartans won the first game in East Lansing in overtime and the second game in a shootout for the extra conference point. Penn State is 21-16-5 in the 42 games the teams have faced each other, but Michigan State is 11-9-2 in East Lansing.

Penn State will play in East Lansing tonight at 7 p.m. for its first conference series on the road.