When No. 11 Miami (13-8-3, 10-6-2 CCHA) enters this weekend’s series with MSU, it won’t come in with a No. 1 ranking, but still offers the same offensive punch and deep talent and will test the Spartans as they hope to climb up the CCHA rankings.

“It was eye-opening as a freshman to play a team like that,” Krug said. “It seemed like every one of their forwards was a little stronger than previous teams’.”

After earning the overtime victory and splitting the Miami series last season, MSU (9-11-4, 5-9-2 CCHA) went unbeaten in its next six games and helped jump-start a successful regular season in which MSU finished in second place in the CCHA.

This year, the Spartans look to continue their 3-1-1 mark in their past five games and make a run to climb up from 10th place in the conference standings.

The two games come before the RedHawks — who currently occupy third place in the CCHA standings — square off with first-place No. 8 Notre Dame and second-place No. 6 Michigan the next two weeks. The Spartans have 12 games remaining to climb out of 10th place in the league and put together a run before the CCHA tournament, which starts March 4.

“A good showing this weekend can help build confidence, and as a team, that’s what we need right now,” Krug said. “Any time a national powerhouse comes into your rink, it’s exciting.”

Miami forwards Andy Miele, Carter Camper and Reilly Smith rank as three of the most prolific scorers in the CCHA. The three all have tallied at least 30 points and rank at the top of the conference statistical standings.

“They’re a very mature team, they have excellent senior leadership, they’re battle-tested,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “They have no weaknesses and they compete very well. Notre Dame makes you play that way from start to finish, Michigan gives you that great speed coming at you and Miami gives you talent and toughness.”

MSU leads the all-time series against the RedHawks, 67-26-5, but is only 2-6 in the last eight games against the RedHawks.

MSU will look for continued scoring from its top players, such as junior forward Brett Perlini, who scored two goals in last weekend’s 1-0-1 showing against Lake Superior, and try to negate the RedHawk weapons.

Game times are set for 7:35 p.m. Friday and 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Munn Ice Arena, where MSU hopes to use the home crowd to its advantage.

“It was a great crowd for the home game against U-M,” Perlini said. “I was really excited to see a packed building, especially when school didn’t come back yet, and I hope to see more of the same thing this weekend.”