Michigan State hockey preview: No. 4 Spartans hit road to face Canisius

After having only one game last week, an exhibition against the University of Windsor, the Spartans (3-1-0) are looking to get back to work. This week, Michigan State hockey will be heading to Buffalo, N.Y., to take on the Golden Griffins of Canisius College (1-4-0) for a weekend series.

With the extra rest, it should be a good weekend for Spartan hockey to have a good showing against an AHA (Atlantic Hockey America) opponent.

Matchup history

There is not much history to write about for this matchup. This weekend will be only the third and fourth time that these two schools have played each other. The two teams had a weekend last season in East Lansing. Canisius was swept by the Spartans in 6-3 and 4-3 decisions. It will be interesting to see this year how the returning members of both schools will respond to the matchup from last season.

Though the Golden Griffins have had a rough start, that doesn’t mean they won’t try to play tough on the Spartans. The biggest standout from the series last year was Daniel Russell. He scored in both games including a hat trick in the first game. The games were also very chippy considering that there were a bunch of penalties on both sides of the ice. It seems safe to say that that play will likely continue into this weekend series.

Canisius College overview

So far, this season has been a struggle for the Golden Griffins.

The team has only managed to get a single win against Mercyhurst last weekend. That game resulted in a 6-3 win. This is the most goals scored by the team all season. The team is rating low in most ratings including scoring defense (42nd), scoring defense (59th), and power play percentage (47th).

The players to watch out for on this team include defenseman Jack Budd (1-5-6), forward Oliver Tarr (1-4-5), and forward Grant Porter (3-0-3). These players all have the most points as far as individual statistics on the team. Look for this team to struggle against the Spartans. On paper, this should be a sweep for the Spartans. The teams are in two very different places, one has championship aspirations, the other is looking to have a decent season.

Michigan State overview

As far as this Spartan team, the team needs to come out strong and take care of business against a much weaker team. The biggest thing that this team needs to work on is limiting penalties and turnover opportunities. As Adam Nightingale alluded to last week, this team is very mature, they just need to remember that. If the team can do that, this should be a great weekend for Spartan hockey fans.

Players that you should expect to have big weekends include goalie Trey Augustine, forward Daniel Russell, and forward Isaac Howard. The latter two both had a good series last year including a hat trick from Russell. Howard also was getting a number of great looks last weekend against Windsor. Expect him to put the biscuit in the basket this weekend to make up for the chances last weekend. Augustine just needs to remain steady as he is in order to have a good weekend.

Where to watch/listen

Unfortunately, this weekends game will not be aired on BTN+ of Big Ten Network. If fans are looking to watch these games live, they will need to buy a subscription to FloHockey. The game will also be on the airways at WJIM 1240 AM for Friday and WVFN 730 AM. The audio will also be streaming online at the Spartan Media Network. Both games will start at 7 p.m. ET from the LECOM Harborcenter.

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