MSU’s opponent was unknown until Wednesday night, when No. 5-seeded Ohio State upset No. 4-seeded Wisconsin 7-1. The Spartans secured the No. 1 seed and a bye in the tournament’s first round after winning the regular-season title last week. 

Their competition with Ohio State is a semifinal of the tournament, in which No. 2-seeded Michigan and No. 3-seeded Penn State are also remaining.

The Big Ten tournament previously included a best-of-three quarterfinal round. The switch to single-elimination rounds is meant to shorten the tournament and prevent teams from having long bye periods, especially before NCAA tournament games. The last time the Big Ten won a national championship in men’s hockey was in 2007, when MSU brought home the title.

“When you win the league, you sit for two weeks,” MSU coach Adam Nightingale said last week. “You're trying to set it up for your top team to have success in the tournament. We got to win one of these (NCAA tournaments) as a conference. I think that's the thought process behind it, to try to keep teams going, especially if you're a team that was on the bye.” 

Nightingale said the team has never lost in the NCAA tournament because it's been rusty, though.

MSU emphasized a focus on itself leading up to the Big Ten semifinals, like each game of the season. Unlike the other Big Ten teams, MSU had four potential opponents prior to Wednesday. 

“You're going to play a good team that's going to be hungry,” Nightingale said on Tuesday. “If you want to have success, you got to be at your best. And that doesn't — that's not going to change with who we're playing.”

MSU has been preparing to face anyone, but Ohio State is one of the last teams Spartan fans wanted to host at Munn. 

MSU is 1-2-1 against the Buckeyes this season, making them the only Big Ten opponent the Spartans haven’t beaten twice. Ohio State has depth, can execute on the rush and plays detailed defense, making it difficult for MSU to generate offense inside. The Buckeyes also consistently keep three defenders back.

The Spartans split their road series with Ohio State in January, executing well offensively but lacking effort the following day. MSU also hosted the Buckeyes two weeks ago, losing the series opener in what Nightingale called one of the toughest games of his tenure. The team responded with a tie and a 13-round shootout win the next day.

MSU also faced Ohio State in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament last season, winning 4-3 after 15 minutes of double overtime. It was a thrilling contest that made program history, and kept fans on the edge of their seats. The Spartans had a home advantage last year, too.

“I think any rink we play in, we're going to play to the best of our capabilities,” freshman center Cayden Lindstrom said on Tuesday. “Playing here in front of the Munnsters and our home crowd of East Lansing is really special, especially for the first game of playoffs. I think it'll set the tone for us really well.”

A tournament win over Ohio State will require MSU to play smart, detailed hockey. The team will need to execute offensively, work hard on defense and manage frustration to pull off responses.

The Spartans can look to their leading scorers, freshman forward Porter Martone and senior center Charlie Stramel, as well as their bench depth. MSU’s power play unit is also converting at 28% and has improved with reps as of late. 

Junior goaltender Trey Augustine is expected between the pipes after taking a game off last Friday, when freshman goaltender Melvin Strahl got reps in the team’s final game of the regular season. Augustine’s .930 save percentage and 2.059 goals-against average are the best in the Big Ten.

The defense in front of Augustine is one of the most improved areas of the team, Nightingale said on Tuesday. 

MSU will look to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship with the same approach its voiced all season, one day at a time.  

“These are the best times of year, and I think our team's ready for it and ready for the challenge,” Lindstrom said. “We've been working really hard in practice and getting ready for this time … just going in the game like how we go into every other game.”