By Jacob Messing

The No. 4-ranked Fighting Irish bring a nine-game winning streak into East Lansing this weekend backed by two of the NCAA’s top players.

Senior Jake Evans leads all Division I skaters with 19 assists and 25 points through 16 games. With eight multi-point efforts on the season, Evans is bound to eclipse his 13 goals and 42 points from last year. The Hobey Baker Award — annually handed to the NCAA’s top player — is within his sights, but it may come down to the wire with another player: teammate Cale Morris.

Morris earned his third-straight Big Ten First Star of the Week on Monday, becoming the first player to accomplish such a feat.

Your #B1GHockey Three Stars:

1) @NDHockey G Cale Morris

2) @MSU_Hockey F Mitchell Lewandowski

3) @PennStateMHKY F Brandon Biro pic.twitter.com/LYS3jXE1Yl

— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) November 21, 2017

“[Morris] has been in the zone for the last month,” coach Jeff Jackson told Michael Ivey of The Observer. “He’s very focused. He’s been doing a good job of controlling rebounds.”

The sophomore goaltender holds an 11-1-0 record on the season and leads all goaltenders with a .952 save percentage. His 1.63 goals against average and three shutouts are second to only Clarkson’s Jake Kielly (1.44 GAA, five shutouts).

The Irish, 12-3-1, kick off a four-game road trip this weekend with a visit to conference rival Michigan State, 7-6-1.

The series takes is scheduled for Friday at 7 PM EST and the following day at the same time; the games will be streamed right here on FloHockey.

The Irish are 6-0-0 in conference play and 4-0-0 on the road this season. Even with MSU’s 6-1-0 home record at Munn Ice Arena, the Irish will be a handful for a Spartans team that sits at the bottom of the Big Ten (1-4-1).

“[Notre Dame] will be a heck of a test, they’ve won nine in a row and they’re a good hockey team,” coach Danton Cole said during Tuesday's presser at MSU's Breslin Center.

Michigan State is coming off of a loss and tie with Penn State, as the defense continues to play inconsistently. They’ll need to come out hard, and unlike past weeks the Spartans should focus on the offense and throwing everything they can at Morris; he’s too good and too hot to think a regular shot count will beat him.

A ridiculous shot volume may be the only way to net goals, and it doesn’t hurt MSU in knowing they’re 5-0-0 when outshooting their opponent.

But even shots won’t prove easy, as Notre Dame’s second- and third-leading scorers, defensemen Jordan Gross and Bobby Nardella, are just as reliable in their own end as they are in the offensive zone.

The Spartans should spend extra time in practice this week focusing on getting shots through traffic. Notre Dame coach Jackson has praised his team’s willingness to block shots, which he estimated saved Morris from an extra 10-15 shots in last Friday’s 1-0 win over Minnesota. In a one-goal game, that’s a huge difference.

The Spartans should also spend time bulking up the power play before the Irish come to town. Cole’s team has had success with the man advantage, operating at 20.7 percent. The Irish, meanwhile, have successfully killed 22 straight penalty kills.

If Sparty can find a way to get to Morris and break Notre Dame’s penalty-killing streak, they could have a recipe for a huge upset.

Don’t forget to tune in to the matchup this weekend, which will be streamed right here on FloHockey, along with six other college games.

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