The Spartans headed into the weekend with big possibilities and equally large expectations and managed to take 4 of the 6 points available to put them ahead in the conference by one point with 6 games
remaining. The frustrating fact, is they had 6 completely within reach and let it slip away. Over the two games MSU looked the more dominant team aside from around 5-7 minutes of game time on Friday. Fellow TOC writer, O, and I agreed about most things on Friday nights tough loss and it was great to see them rebound Saturday so dominantly.
Friday night started off just as MSU would want by an early goal from Stramel and two assists from his top line mates. Michigan had a stretch in the first that was about 1:30 in actual time, but as a fan felt like an eternity, where they were just moving the puck and dictating action in the zone that MSU could just not answer. MSU struggled to clear the zone and fortunately, Augustine came up big and did not score. When Michigan did even the score at 1, it was off a crazy redirect that Augustine could not do anything about. I would have liked to see a closer replay of the redirect as it was very close to a high stick.
The second period is one where Michigan normally dominates opponents and both games saw MSU returning that favor. The Spartans had two goals within two minutes of each other one from Vansaghi and one from West. West has successfully cemented himself with more ice time as he’s been playing some really strong hockey. Last year and the start of this year he was the extra defensemen, but he’s recently made it impossible to not give more ice time his way. Things were looking good for MSU heading into the second intermission up 3-1. The refs were letting them play too as there was a duel penalty in the second and that was it.
The third period had another 1:30 of a Michigan dominant attack. Both of those stretches had wolverines skating circles around the Spartans. Once again Augustine came up big and shut it down. There was ten minutes left and the Spartans were up by two when the wheels came off. Barnett pulled the wolverines to within 1 on a shot that was over the right shoulder of Augustine. Shortly after, MSU went on the power play and then gave up a game equalizing shorty to Draper. One thing O mentioned when we spoke was something I too have noticed as a trend in the last few series. Augustine has been getting beat on his right side and specifically over the right shoulder. I’m not sure what is going on there but it is definitely something to keep an eye on. The shorty was scored on an ugly turnover. MSU seemed to have most of their turnovers on plays where players were making that extra pass and playing too unselfishly. The period ended 3-3 and went to overtime.
Overtime was ugly. MSU did not get a shot on goal and was sent to the box on a tripping cal on Nilson that seemed suspect. Perron sealed the Spartans fate scoring the game winner on the power play. It was a very frustrating defeat to have a two goal lead with 10 left in the game and to lose in overtime. MSU seemed the better team for most of the game and handled the hostile environment well. The shorty and the OT penalty were the two lapses that cost everything.
Saturday night faired much different for MSU. The Spartans were looking to three peat as Iron D Trophy winners and it was a must win if they wanted a chance to three peat as B1G champs. Gavin O’Connell struck first as he was coming on from a line change and had a great angle on a pass from Romani to slap the first goal of the night home. Speaking of passing, this game was a passing clinic by MSU. Where Friday there was that one too many pass, Saturday had some beautiful passes that set up Spartan goals.
The Spartans headed into the second and played one of their best periods of hockey all year. Martone connected on a power play and showed great patience as he waited for Stramel to get into place and block Ivankovic’s view. Later MSU scored two more within 1:30 of each other. The first was started by a great pass from Strbak that pushed the puck into the zone to Russell who fed a dime to Stramel who was easily able to collect and slap it in on the right side as Ivankovic was covering the left. The other goal was also set up by a great defensemen pass from Basgall who pushed the puck to center ice where Männistö found Jurecki who found Tiernan Shoudy for the one timer. The Spartans had three goals on thirteen shots in the second and just missed on a couple of those. They also managed to this with 6 minutes worth of penalty minutes against them. The Spartan PK held Michigan shot-less on the power play.
The third period saw Michigan get a couple to pull the score 4-2. The first one was early in the period by Moldenhauer and MSU did a great job of preventing any momentum from developing. Michigan pulled Ivankovic early with about three minutes left and that developed into one of my favorite plays of the year. MSU cleared the zone and as Michigan skated into their zone to collect, Männistö, turned on the burners as he was a good 6 steps behind. He caught up with the Michigan player, muscled the puck away and slapped on towards the empty net as the Michigan defender took him down. That goal defines Spartan hockey. That is the blue collar work. The out hustle, out maneuver, and wanting it more is what an Adam Nightingale team is all about. Remember that play. That is one that propels momentum, even when you win 5-2.
The Spartans were much better on the dot Saturday as they took the face off lead after getting dominated the night before. MSU has the week off before Notre Dame come into Munn on Feb 19. With ND, OSU and Minnesota left and 4 of 6 games at home, MSU is in control of the three peat aspirations. Michigan has PSU and Wisconsin left, even if PSU may grant Michigan the luck of not having to face Gavin McKenna as his off ice altercation may have team consequences. I am curious to see what happens in the polls. I would say that while MSU looked the better team for almost the entire weekend and took the majority of points available, the rankings likely won’t change. I am curious to see if they get any votes though for the top spot as they absolutely deserve them. So, here we are TOC Nation, right where we were hoping to be. On top of the conference, control in our own hands, and a team that is playing just as it should be this late in the season. At least one of the athletic teams was able to take care of the enemy. Go Green!
