For six Spartan seniors, this weekend marks their final regular-season series at Munn Ice Arena.

“Four years goes by really quickly,” said senior defenseman and captain Matt Basgall. “Very excited to play again in front of our fans. It's always a blast at Munn ... We got a couple months left, so gotta take care of it.”

No. 1 Michigan State hockey will host Ohio State this weekend, opening play Friday at 8:30 p.m. The series finale will be Saturday at 8 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

The Spartans are second in the Big Ten with 45 points and a 15-5-0 conference record (24-6-0 overall). No. 2 Michigan leads the conference by one point but has played two more games than MSU. The Spartans are in prime position to clinch the regular-season title for the third straight year.

The Buckeyes are fifth in the Big Ten with a 7-13-0 record (11-18-1 overall) and 23 points. They were swept by, then, No. 6 Penn State last week in an 11-4 loss and a 5-4 overtime loss.

Last Meetings

The teams last met in early January and split the series. In the opening game, MSU executed at a high level offensively, highlighted by three goals in about 40 seconds. While the Spartans took the first game 6-2, their effort was lackluster the following night, and Ohio State won 2-1.

Competing at a high level after successful games remains a challenge, which head coach Adam Nightingale reiterated after the January series. The Spartans scored their season high in goals last weekend in an 8-2 defeat of Notre Dame, but have emphasized their “one day at a time” mentality throughout the season.

“The previous 30 games don't even matter right now,” Basgall said. “It's just Friday, and then once Friday takes care of itself, we'll get on to Saturday. It's always just a day by day mentality.”

Scouting the Buckeyes