The Spartans are set to be tested again. After dropping two spots in the USCHO polls from No. 1 to No. 3, MSU heads back on the road to face a powerhouse hockey program at the University of Minnesota — ranked No. 1 — for its tallest task since mid-October. 

After dropping night one to the Badgers in shutout fashion, MSU reflected on its early-season matchup against Boston College, when it bounced back from a shutout to take a statement win the next night. The Spartans know they can continue to build off of their ability to respond for the remainder of the season. 

"There is a response from game to game, but you’ve got to be able to respond during games," head coach Adam Nightingale said. "Our guys have to put that in their back pocket and remember that we can do that."

It's hard for other teams to keep up when MSU is playing its style, senior forward Red Savage said.

"You can't really take a night off, everyone's really got a target on your back," Savage said. "It is important we go in there and give it our all."

The motto of the Spartan locker room through the first half of the season has been to play Nightingale's "Spartan hockey." But on night one of the matchup in Madison, Nightingale said his team did a lot of chasing the scoreboard and got away from being a good hockey team. MSU had the chance to turn that around once again. 

"We didn't play our game, we weren't playing hard enough, we weren't winning enough battles, getting on the forecheck enough," junior forward Tiernan Shoudy said. "That was a big emphasis in the morning was just doing that, getting back to our game. That’s what makes us really good."

The Golden Gophers moved up to the No. 1 spot in the country, knocking MSU off its throne. Minnesota earned the spot after shutting out the Michigan Wolverines 6-0 and 2-0 at home. 

"The Spartans know they need to treat Big Ten games, especially those against teams on a hot streak like the Gophers, like playoff games. 

"This is a really good conference, and every weekend feels like a playoff game. So, it’s important to keep the past in the past, Savage said. "Each day is a new day, and you can't really dwell on the games where you're not playing your best."

The Spartans will head to Minneapolis for their two-game series against the Golden Gophers at Mariucci Arena on Friday, Dec. 13 at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 14 at 6 p.m.