WATCH: MSU's Adam Nightingale Previews Big Ten Tournament Championship
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State hockey continues to build on another stellar season, now looking to earn a second-straight Big Ten Title to go along with its regular season conference title.
The No. 1-seeded Spartans defeated No. 7-seeded Notre Dame in the semifinals last Saturday and will be looking to take down No. 3-seeded Ohio State on their home ice this coming Saturday.
Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale previewed the upcoming matchup and more when he addressed the media on Wednesday.
You can watch below:
Below is a transcript from Nightingale's opening statement of his presser:
Nightingale: "Well, it was a good weekend. I thought, obviously, Munn was rocking, and we were playing a team that was hot and playing some really good hockey. And I think our guys stayed with it; I think that's the message to our guys is playoff hockey's hard, and so, you know you can't expect offense to be easy. And we had to work for it to stay with it.
"I didn't think we deviated. And that's a good reminder for us down the stretch and how we need to play. And obviously, playing a really good Ohio State team coming into Munn here. Ton of respect for their team, their program. And I think they're really well-coached. They're built really similar to us [with] the depth. They have good goaltending.
"But excited about our guys getting an opportunity to play another game at Munn, right? That in order to do that, you got to win the regular season, which we did, and they got to win another game, so now, we got a chance to play another game in front of our home crowd."
As the No. 1 seed, the Spartans earned a first-round bye and, as Nightingale mentioned, also got home ice advantage all the way through the tournament.
Their meeting with the Fighting Irish was a defensive slugfest, one that didn't see a goal scored -- the game's only goal -- scored until the third period when Isaac Howard sent one through.
Michigan State went 3-1 against Ohio State in the regular season, including a series sweep at Munn.
Saturday's game is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
