“Notre Dame is a proud program, great coach. Jeff Jackson is one of the greatest of all time in college hockey,” MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said at a press conference Wednesday. “They’re very good, very well-coached, good on both sides of the puck. They are way better offensively than people give them credit for and I think it’ll be a really good test.”

After a bye week, MSU swept unbeaten Ohio State at home, outscoring the Buckeyes 8-3 across two games and taking a conference sweep to start the season for the second year in a row.

“We’re very confident in the group we have. I think it just shows what work we’ve put in and what we continue to put in. Hopefully we can get better next week and the week after,” junior forward Joey Larson said.

With the Spartans starting conference play at home on back-to-back weekends, Larson said the opening weekend sweep was a momentum-builder for the rest of the season.

“Obviously every day is a new day, but it gives us a lot of confidence going into next weekend and going into the rest of the season,” Larson said. 

MSU's depth has been on display in the first few weeks of the season, making a standout appearance in game two of the Ohio State series with the Spartans' fourth line shining en route to a 4-1 win.

“The structure of our team is deep and we have to list the line, we can call it the fourth line, but I don’t really see it that way, our staff doesn’t see it that way,” Nightingale said.

On defense, taking over what last season's first line built are large shoes to fill for MSU. But defensemen Patrick Geary and Maxim Strbak, both sophomores and Buffalo Sabres draftees, have really grown, Nightingale said.

“Going from their freshman year, there’s an adjustment. They both were young defensemen last year. Towards the second half of the year they were consistent defensemen that we had on the team,” Nightingale said. “Taking that next step this year, we lost Nash and Arty, we need some guys to play some more minutes and they’ve done a great job.”

The Spartans were left with a sour taste after the final period of their first game against Ohio State, when they didn't play to their identity. MSU made a statement 24 hours later, sending the Buckeyes back to Columbus with nothing to show for the weekend. Nightingale and company have built off their wins thus far.

“I think that’s been our mindset the last two and a half years,” Nightingale said. “It’s not about the result, it’s about getting better and the standard here is high. You cannot play well and win games and I may be messed up that way. I'd rather play well and lose than steal a game. . . For long-term and for team development, we have to go out and play our best hockey."

Puck drop between MSU and Notre Dame is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Munn Ice Arena.