Something has to give.
When No. 1 MSU and No. 7 Western Michigan square off in a CCHA showdown tonight at Munn Ice Arena, it will be a battle of two streaking hockey teams with contrasting styles of play.
The defensive-minded Spartans, winners of six straight, will try to tame Western’s offensive juggernaut that has won seven consecutive games.
Combined, the teams are 15-2-2 overall and are two of the hottest teams in college hockey.
“I have a few buddies on their team and they were telling me all summer how good they were going to be,” MSU sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller said. “Our program has a lot of respect for Western.”
The Broncos boast the league’s top scoring offense at 5.40 goals per game, while MSU leads the CCHA in defense, only surrendering 1.56 goals per contest.
Western has not been held to fewer than four goals in a game yet this year, while MSU has only allowed four goals once (a 5-4 win over Alaska-Anchorage on Oct. 13).
Western leads the CCHA in power play success rate (29.2 percent), while MSU’s penalty killing unit is the best in the league at 90.2 percent.
“We’re a good defensive team, and we’re not going to change our approach for this game,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said. “Good offensive teams are going to get their goals. If we’re concerned about shutting them out, it’s probably not going to happen.”
The Broncos, coached by Jim Culhane, possess five of the league’s top 10 scorers.
Western right winger David Gove is averaging more than two points a game and leads the CCHA with 26 points. He has netted 12 goals and 14 assists this season.
Bronco left winger Steve Rymsha leads the league with 13 goals and center Mike Bishai leads the conference in assists with 19 and is second in the CCHA with 24 points.
By contrast, MSU’s leading point scorer is senior right winger Rustyn Dolyny with 10.
“When you’re playing a team with a prolific offense, you really have to buckle down as a defensive corps,” sophomore defenseman John-Michael Liles said. “We have to play Michigan State hockey which means hanging back and burying our chances.
“Hopefully, it’ll be a low-scoring game because that’s the kind of game we want to be in.”
The high-flying Bronco offense will have to find a seam in MSU’s airtight defense, led by Miller.
Miller’s sparkling .943 saves percentage leads the league, but the Broncos are the only team he has not beaten in his Spartan career.
“We have to play to our strengths,” Mason said. “Our game is a patient one. If you change week to week, your team doesn’t develop a personality.”
Western all but knocked MSU out of the regular season CCHA race last year, taking three of four points from the Spartans on Jan. 28-29 in Kalamazoo.
Miller said the Spartans are going to be looking for revenge at Munn tonight. The Broncos have not beaten MSU in East Lansing since 1993.
Western will be the third straight team with a lengthy unbeaten streak to take on the Spartans. MSU ended then-No. 1 Michigan’s run at 6-0-2 on Nov. 4 and stopped Northern Michigan’s 5-0-2 streak last weekend.
The Broncos’ only loss this year was a 6-5 overtime decision to Alabama-Huntsville on Oct. 20. The Chargers are the only team with a winning record (7-1) that Western has played this season.
Game time is 7:05 p.m.
