At the very least, MSU needed a split this weekend against the number 1 ranked weasels. Thankfully, a gritty road performance on Saturday secured that split. In a weekend that was just really well played hockey, MSU faced something they hadn’t faced before and found a way to make the adjustments in game two. Let’s explore each game real quick.
Friday night at Munn was a rough one for the Spartans. The weasel defense was very good. um played with quick sticks, blocking lanes, and took away a lot of
MSU’s specialties. After a period and a half of play MSU was down 1-0 and had only 9 shots on goal. The second period had MSU only getting four shots on Ivankovic. The game had a strange feel to it. It wasn’t lopsided, as MSU went into the third down 2-0. Obviously, not ideal, but also not insurmountable given the roster of talent. With the Spartans inability to get the puck on net, it felt much more lopsided. The weasels added an empty netter to shut the Spartans out 3-0. MSU spent more time in the penalty box and actually did a great job of killing them. The weasels had two shots on goal in four opportunities but did manage a goal on the very last one. Augustine didn’t even see the puck on the shots that got through. There was another shot in the second period that ricocheted off a weasel face, hit the post and went in. Nightingale challenged the call and the goal was taken away as the players stick was high and it looked as if the puck did hit a bit of stick. At the time, this was a huge reversal that looked to give MSU some momentum but the Spartans could just not get anything going.
Saturday night the Spartans were in a must win and had to get more shots on goal. MSU did exactly that by jumping out with 17 shots on goal in the first period to the weasels 4. The problem? MSU finished the first down 1-0. Lots of power play opportunities for both teams in the first but MSU finished the weekend scoreless on the power play and gave up a goal each night. The rest of the game saw the Spartans out shot even though the game final had MSU up 33-31 in that statistic. Anthony Romani ended up the start of the game as he tied the game late in the second and scored again to give MSU it’s first lead of the weekend early in the third. The refs let both teams play a bit more in the second and third and that pace played to MSU’s advantage. Augustine made a spectacular save when the Ivankovic was pulled and it was 6 on 5. The puck was cleared and Martone skated in with the dagger on the empty net. Martone made sure to let the rivals and their fans know how he felt about it too.
Interesting weekend that I think shows MSU some areas to improve on. While both games were close and played relatively well, the fact that the weasels defense found a way to really shut everything down for MSU and their puck movement makes that a glaring spotlight on how to beat MSU. Nightingale will be looking for creative answers as MSU is obviously at its best when they are over 35 shots on goal a game. The sweep would have been nice, the reverse sweep would have been crushing, but the split was mandatory. With a bit of a break until the GLI on Dec 28, the Spartans will have the time to rest up and prepare for the New Year’s push with a very tough B1G schedule ahead. Go Green!
