MSU (5-7, 0-0 BIG) will welcome the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers to the banks of the Red Cedar for the inaugural Big Ten hockey game and series on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday’s game begins at 4:00 p.m. with both being played at Munn Ice Arena.

MSU is entering the historic weekend series off a couple of its best outings last week, sweeping the Princeton Tigers and scoring 12 goals in the two games.

Minnesota comes into East Lansing winning six of its last seven games, including a weekend sweep of then No. 12 Wisconsin to kick off their Big Ten tenure.

Head coach Tom Anastos said the No. 1 ranking tag on the Golden Gophers only adds excitement to the programs first ever Big Ten matchup.

“Its been talked about for so long now, we’ve had a chance to watch some of the teams open their Big Ten season and ours happens to fall on the weekend where there’s another big Big Ten deal going on and that’s exciting,” Anastos said. “We’re playing the No. 1 team in the country so it probably couldn’t have lined itself (up) any better.”

Minnesota has earned its top ranking through stout offense and defense, ranking 2nd nationally in goals per game with 4.14 and 8th in goals against with 2.14. The Golden Gophers are led offensively by junior forward Sam Warning, who ranks 9th in scoring in the country with 20 points.

“They’re a really skilled team, they’re without a doubt the most skilled team to date that we’ll play,” Anastos said. “We really respect their skill level and they compete hard too, they’re not just skilled, they compete hard so they have a very dynamic team. They’re No. 1 in the country for a reason — that’s because they’re a really good team.”

Anastos added that the one area Minnesota currently is struggling in is the power play. The Golden Gopher power play is 10 of 70 on the season, ranking 46th in the country. While Minnesota’s power play unit is one of the team’s lows, it still has a higher scoring percentage then MSU.

For MSU to contend with Minnesota, Anastos said the team will have to play smart and prevent turnovers because of Minnesota’s ability to take advantage of those mistakes and find the back of the net.

Finding the back of the net themselves and transitioning from offense back to defense are a few other areas the Spartans will have to execute with excellence to experience success, Anastos said.

The Spartans most likely be without one of its top defensemen, sophomore Travis Walsh, who Anastos considered “doubtful” with an upper body injury. Walsh has played in all 12 games this year and has five assists, including three last Sunday.

This weekend’s series already has plenty of significance with it being the first in the newly formed Big Ten hockey Conference and against the No. 1 team in the country, but it also has a personal touch for sophomore defenseman John Draeger, who is from Faribault, Minn.

Draeger said plenty of family will be coming to East Lansing for the home state matchup and is excited about the increased opportunities to play the Gophers in the Big Ten.

“It’s a big deal to me, a big deal to my family (and) obviously to every guy out here playing,” Draeger said. “It’s a good deal if my family gets to watch all the games now and see me play more often so that’s a big part of it. It’s also really exciting to start off playing one of what I think best teams in the big ten right off the bat.”