After a one-year hiatus, the MSU hockey team is back in the national spotlight when the Spartans face Minnesota-Duluth in the Midwest Regional at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
The winner of this game will play Sunday at 1 p.m. against the winner of the Notre Dame vs. Minnesota contest.
In the only meeting between the Spartans and the Bulldogs this season, on Oct. 11, MSU came back from a 2-0 disadvantage to win, 5-4.
Since then, Minnesota-Duluth has climbed to 26-12-4, drastically improving from its 7-28-4 record in 2000-01, to become the second- highest scoring team in the nation.
"They're an improved team from that loss," junior forward Mike Lalonde said. "From what I remember, (they have) a lot of speed, solid goaltending.
"But if we come out and play physical with them, play down low in the corners - that's where we do our best job and wear teams out."
In Lalonde's freshman season at MSU, the Spartans finished second in the CCHA regular season and had a total record of 27-9-5.
But the following year, MSU's season abruptly ended, as the Spartans missed the postseason.
Minnesota-Duluth forward Junior Lessard said to expect the winner of this game to be decided late in the third period, just as it was back in October.
"It's going to be more defense in this game," Lessard, a Hobey Baker award finalist, said. "We're going to have to move the puck well and just try to outwork them."
Sophomore defenseman Corey Potter can relate the pressure of the NCAA Tournament to when he participated in the World Junior Championships in January. Potter's U.S. National Junior Team won the gold medal there.
"It's a do-or-die situation," Potter said. "One loss and you're gone from the tournament. When you have that mentality, you've got to play with a lot of grit."
Freshman goaltender Dominic Vicari said the key to the game is playing well early.
"We just have to find ways to score more and get off to a better start," Vicari said after the Spartans learned they'd face the Bulldogs in the tournament's first round.
"They're a team we can score on, we can beat. If we play our game, there should be no problem."
