Michigan State men’s ice hockey will play two games against rival Michigan this weekend, starting on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. Earlier in the season, MSU defeated Michigan 2-1 at home, followed by a 2-1 loss in Ann Arbor the following night.

MSU is ranked No. 15 in the USCHO poll and No. 14 in the new Pairwise rankings. Michigan is No. 5 in the poll and No. 4 in the Pairwise.

This series also has major Big Ten Tournament seeding implications. Heading into the weekend, there is a four-way tie for second place between Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State — all of which have 30 points.

1. Minnesota, 43 points

2. Michigan, 30 points

Ohio State, 30 points

Penn State, 30 points

Michigan State, 30 points

6. Notre Dame, 26 points

7. Wisconsin, 9 points

Michigan State only has four games left, so stealing two from Michigan would give the Spartans a huge edge against the teams that have six games left to play. The good news for MSU is that the Spartans end the season by playing last-place Wisconsin.

Seeding is hugely important because being ranked No. 4 or higher means getting the entire first round (best-of-three series) at home. Minnesota — at No. 1 — is the only team that is untouchable.

This week, Michigan State goaltender Dylan St. Cyr was named the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week after his performance against his old team, Notre Dame. St. Cyr allowed two goals between both nights, including a shutout performance on Friday. MSU swept Notre Dame over the weekend.

Additionally, freshman Karsen Dorwart was announced as being on the Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year watch list. Dorwart has nine goals and 16 assists on the season. He’s tied with Nicolas Müller for most points on the team.

As we noted in our Notre Dame preview last week, Michigan State struggled in transition previously against Minnesota. It seems that it was a big focus in practice. MSU was better on the back-check in the series against the Fighting Irish.

Dorwart has been one of MSU’s most impressive players all season and could do wonderful things for the Spartans in future years. He has led the top line, alongside teammates Daniel Russell and Jagger Joshua, to be MSU’s top line. Stepping up against Michigan will be critical.

That power play line consisting of Dorwart, Russell and Joshua, along with Matt Basgall and Müller, has really improved MSU’s chances of scoring with the man-advantage.

While Dorwart and Müller are tied for the team’s lead in points (25), Russell has 24 points and Joshua has 21. The star of the season for MSU may be St. Cyr, however, who has a save percentage of .917 and has three shutouts on the season.

He stood on his head in the series earlier this season against Michigan. The Spartans will need more of that.

The edge this weekend goes to Michigan State, which has been playing phenomenal at home. If you take away both games against powerhouse Minnesota in early December, MSU has not lost a home game since Oct. 14 against UMass-Lowell.

Karsen Dorwart

Dorwart, Joshua and Russell have anchored the top line, but Dorwart has been the biggest playmaker. The three of them complement each other very well. Watching Dorwart on the power play is really nice to see. The way that he’s able to feed the puck around the ice and distribute it is next-level.

Against Minnesota, he sent an awesome saucer pass to Müller. The play eventually led to a goal after Müller missed wide on the shot.

Dorwart has quick hands and can feed the puck anywhere on the ice. The way that Russell and Joshua are able to complement him can cause a lot of issues for Michigan.

Nicolas Müller

Müller has spent most of his time as MSU’s second-line center, along with Jeremy Davidson and either Miroslav Mucha or Erik Middendorf. Müller’s points-total has skyrocketed since Middendorf joined the line.

This line is gritty, fights for the puck and causes chaos in front of opponents’ net.

Dylan St. Cyr

We spend a lot of time talking about St. Cyr, who has been the biggest surprise in college hockey this season. St. Cyr is having one of the better seasons among Big Ten goalies and he might be better this season than former teammate Ryan Bischel who has been better statistically for Notre Dame.

St. Cyr has received numerous accolades for his play this season, even being added to both the Hobey Baker and Mike Richter watch lists.

After dealing with injuries and illness early in the season, Michigan is back to being the second-best team in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have won five consecutive games coming into this series. These teams last met on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 this season. Since then, Michigan has won six of its eight games.

Michigan even defeated the Team USA National Development Team under-18 squad in an exhibition contest.

Most notably, Michigan brings star forward Adam Fantilli to East Lansing this weekend. If he were born a month earlier, Fantilli would’ve been eligible for the 2022 NHL Draft and likely would’ve gone No. 1 overall. In the upcoming draft, he’ll likely go No. 2, which is less to say about Fantilli’s draft stock and more to say about fellow Canadian Connor Bedard.

In December, Fantilli was away at Team Canada’s World Junior Championship preliminary camp. MSU had the benefit of avoiding him for both games.

Adam Fantilli

Fantilli leads Michigan’s high-scoring offense this season with 45 points. He’s averaging almost two points in every game he plays at Michigan. Not only does he lead Michigan in points, no one is even close. The next-most on the Wolverines is Luke Hughes at 32 points. Fantilli has also played four less games than Michigan has played.

MSU will need to make it as difficult as possible for Fantilli to be on the ice.

Luke Hughes

Hughes is an opportunistic defenseman who is always looking to create scoring chances. Sometimes, it’s gotten him into trouble with him skating up and down the ice like he’s playing against subpar opponents. It’s led him to turning the puck over needlessly. This was exploited by opposing teams in the World Junior Championships back in late-December and the early part of January.

Despite that, he’s still one of the best defenseman in the league. He isn’t as superior as Minnesota’s Brock Faber, but he has 32 points, amassing almost as many assists as MSU’s top scorer has points.

Rutger McGroarty

McGroarty is one of Michigan’s best players both in skill and physicality. McGroarty has a lot of skill, often dicing up opponents. He’s also highly physical. This archetype often reminds me of what Pavel Datsyuk was — very skillful on the ice, but was hard to knock down or force into a turnover.

McGroarty — like Datsyuk — won’t impress you with his statistics, but he will when you tune in to watch him.

This series is huge for both teams in regards to how the NCAA Hockey Tournament shakes out, but also seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. Ideally, a sweep would go a very long way for MSU because it increases the likelihood of the team snapping up the second seed, meaning the team would face Wisconsin.

A No. 3-seed team would likely play Notre Dame, which doesn’t control its own destiny right now. A lot needs to happen for the Fighting Irish to move up, especially as Notre Dame only has four games remaining.

Michigan could also use this series to its advantage. This is the first of two consecutive neutral-ice weekends. Saturday’s game against MSU will be at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Next weekend, Michigan faces Ohio State at FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns.

Game 1

Time: 7 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan

TV: Bally Sports Detroit

Stream: B1G+

Listen: WJIM 1240 AM

Prediction: Michigan State 3, Michigan 2

Game 2

Time: 8 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan

Watch: ESPNU / TSN 2

Listen: WJIM 1240 AM

Prediction: Michigan 4, Michigan State 1