By Jacob Messing

Mitchell Lewandowski can’t stop scoring.

The freshman’s four-game point tear has fueled the Michigan State Spartans to a three-game winning streak, on which they’ll look to build against the spiraling Penn State Nittany Lions this weekend.

The Spartans, 7-5-0, are riding a recent a sweep of Ferris State and visit Pegula Ice Arena to take on the 7-7-0 Nittany Lions, fresh off a sweep of their own versus Arizona State.

Penn State began the season ranked No. 10, but has steadily declined, dropping in the polls five times in seven weeks, to that point where, now, they enter this weekend unranked.

Even with the consecutive victories over ASU, the Nittany Lions will be up against a wall with the Spartans running on all cylinders.

Lewandowski recorded three goals and an assist on an OT winner last weekend, earning him Big Ten Second Star of the Week and NCAA Third Star of the Week.

Another 4 point weekend for the national freshman scoring leader & Mitchell Lewandowski is the NCAA Third Star of the Week! pic.twitter.com/EeriLwbb73

— MSU_Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 21, 2017

During his four-game point streak, Lewandowski has six goals and two assists as he and linemates Patrick Khodorenko and Taro Hirose have accounted for 49 percent of the team’s goals this season.

“[Lewandowski’s] done a great job, again I’ll give him a ton of credit,” coach Danton Cole said during his weekly press conference, noting the freshman’s dedication to the weight room and consistent improvement.

But the Spartans will need more than just their top line this weekend as their inner-conference record, and visiting record, place them as underdogs on paper.

Michigan State is 1-4-0 away from East Lansing and 1-3-0 against Big Ten teams compared to the Nittany Lions mark of 3-3-0 on home ice with a 2-4-0 Big Ten record.

MSU’s single Big Ten win came November 11 in the form of a shutout over No. 7 Wisconsin. The Spartans will need to duplicate that defensive approach to keep the Lions from adding to the second-best offense among all Division I teams.

The Lions have tallied 52 goals on the season, which is second to only Wisconsin with 53. The offense runs through Andrew Sturtz and Denis Smirnov, the 2016-17 leading scorer for freshmen, who could return against MSU after a five-game absence. Brandon Biro, the Big Ten Third Star of the Week, nearly doubled his season totals over the weekend.

Sophomore @bbiro22 named @B1GHockey Third Star of the Week after leading the conference and tying for the national lead with a five-point weekend against ASU! #WeAre #HockeyValley

Read ➡ https://t.co/OhCFNI8doG pic.twitter.com/UdoKNoC2kw

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 21, 2017

But Penn State has also surrendered 47 goals this year, tied for fourth-worst in the division. An inconsistency to outscore their mistakes has developed into a .500 record.

Neither team believes their overall record truly characterizes their skill, which will make for an intense Thanksgiving weekend matchup.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob Messing? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.