“The way I’m looking at things is that we have a lot to prove,” junior forward Corey Tropp said. “I think a lot of the guys in the locker room believe that, too. A lot of the guys from last year weren’t pleased and I personally don’t see that ending anytime soon. It’s early in the season and I know a lot of us want to get back in the national picture.”

After being suspended midway through last season, Tropp is leading the team and nation in goals so far this season, with six. He said the biggest difference in the team so far is the mood in the locker room.

“It was like a sunken ship,” Tropp said of last year’s locker room. “I think it’s been a complete 180 from where it was last year to the start now.”

The Spartans (4-2-0 overall, 1-1-0-0 CCHA) are averaging 3.67 goals a game this season — good for a tie for second place in the CCHA — much to the credit of the new systems implemented by MSU head coach Rick Comley.

“It’s firmly in place,” Comley said of the systems, which focus on entering the offensive zone, pursuing the puck and recovery through the neutral zone. “The systems have helped us a lot, for sure.”

And with the team being able to produce offensively, the pressure has been lifted off the Spartans’ netminders, who know the team can battle back from a deficit.

“It’s nice that if we go down by a goal or two, (sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano) and I know that we always have the ability to come back,” senior goaltender Bobby Jarosz said. “It’s definitely a comfort factor to know they have your back.”

Saturday’s win against Miami — which Comley called “the most physical team in the country” — helped the Spartans’ confidence and showed the team they can beat anyone.

“We have a lot of energy in the locker room right now,” freshman forward Zach Golembiewski said. “Every day, we go out to practice and we know it’s going to be a battle.”

Grassi returns

Comley was tempted to play freshman defenseman Matt Grassi on Saturday night.

But he decided against it, as Grassi wasn’t completely recovered from a broken thumb he injured his first day on campus.

“I didn’t want to put him against the No. 1 team in the country in his first game,” Comley said. “But we have to get him into the lineup.”

Comley said Grassi will play this weekend in the home-and-home series against Western Michigan. But with the defense playing solid so far, Comley isn’t sure who he will scratch in place of 6-foot-3, 215 pound, Grassi.

“There’s nobody that deserves to come out,” Comley said. “But (Grassi) adds so much more size to us.”