Head coach Tom Anastos said during his Tuesday press conference that the coaching staff elected to make an adjustment to MSU’s defensive system based on the lack of experience and potential for strong goaltending.

“It’s a pretty inexperienced group, and yet they, as well as the forwards, have worked hard to commit to a team defense concept, and you can see a team identity growing a little bit,” Anastos said.

He said that the success of the team’s defense has been a pleasant surprise.

Part of the improvement defensively is getting both defensemen and forwards to block shots. MSU ranks No. 1 in the country in blocked shots per game, averaging 17.93 blocked shots.

Senior defenseman Jake Chelios has been a key member in the growth of the team’s defensemen. Chelios, who leads the defensemen in points, consistently has been in the lineup, playing in 143 straight games for MSU.

However, Chelios said having sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand in the net has played a large part in the improvement of defense.

“We obviously rely heavily on Hildebrand, he showed and he’s proved to us he’s going to keep us in every game,” Chelios said. “… We obviously have a tremendous amount of trust in him, and I think that’s been helping us out a lot this year.”

Chelios said simplifying the play of the defensemen — and making sure to get the first pass out of the zone — has been another factor in keeping the opponents off the scoreboard.

Hildebrand has proven to be a rock between the pipes for MSU, with the top save percentage in Big Ten games. Hildebrand also ranks No. 6 nationally in save percentage.

However, like Chelios, Hildebrand isn’t taking the credit for the latest stellar defensive play. Hildebrand said the guys in front of him are making his job easier by reducing the number of scoring chances.

“Our defense does a good job keeping shoots to the perimeter, and goalies are supposed to make those saves,” Hildebrand said.