After a weekend off, and a 5-1 start to their season, the #3 ranked Michigan State Spartans hockey team returns to the ice tonight, beginning Big Ten play hosting #13 Ohio State.

As this weekend begins, the seven-team Big Ten Conference has six teams in the national top 20, so get used to these previews having ranked matchups this season. Protecting home ice will be vital in the league title race, as season sweeps are going to be difficult to count on for anyone in this league.

The next two weekends present the Spartans with four games in conference play at home - Ohio State and then Notre Dame - and a quick start is there for the taking.

While the Spartans were off last weekend, the Buckeyes hosted the Lake Superior State Lakers, a common opponent with the Spartans. The Buckeyes had an offensive explosion, sweeping the series 9-3, 6-2 and saw eight players score in the 9-3 victory on Friday.

The pair of sophomore forwards - Max Montes (6G, 1A) and Riley Thompson (3G, 7A) - have been the most consistent threat on the season so far. Thompson, a transfer from Alaska-Anchorage, leads the team in points and is a product of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) in the Ottawa Valley, a league where I worked as a scout for the Pembroke Lumber Kings, so I am excited to see Thompson in action.

Goals should be much harder to come by this weekend for the Buckeyes, and likely at a premium for both teams given their record so far. The Spartans have surrendered 1.5 goals against per game, good for 5th best in the country, while the Buckeyes are only slightly lower at 1.6 goals per game against, 6th-best.

In net, expect to see senior Logan Terness, as he started both games last weekend. Terness started both games for Ohio State in Ohio last season, surrendering five goals in each game, and rebounded for a 34-save win in East Lansing in February. Terness was also excellent in the Big Ten semifinal game at Munn Ice Arena, stopping 36 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Spartans. The senior has put up his best save percentage of his career to start this season (.919) and his 2.1 goals against average is a huge improvement from his 3.1 GAA last year.

Under 12th-year head coach Steve Rohlik, the Buckeyes have been known to have big guys up front who play a physical brand of hockey. Their forecheck will be heavy below the hash marks, with every forward finishing their checks. Look for this to put pressure on Spartan defenders Matt Basgall and Maxim Strbak, who at times have struggled with turnovers. The Buckeyes will want to muck up the games this weekend, slow down the MSU transition play, and look to get out of town with an ugly 2-1, 3-2 type of game.

Turnovers

I will continue to harp on this until it is no longer a worry. Last season, the early games showed the Spartans struggled to stay out of the box, and this year it is turnovers, especially from their defenders, that have plagued them in the early going.