Michigan State hockey started off the 2026-27 season with a bang.
The Spartans rolled past Northern Michigan on Friday night to win its season-opener by the final score of 6-2. The Spartans, who are ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com national poll, built a 3-0 lead in the opening period and never looked back en route to the 1-0-0 start to the year.
Michigan State scoring began less than two minutes into the game thanks to an impressive goal from Anthony Romani. Michigan State would add to that lead with back-to-back power play goals from Cullen Potter and Cayden Lindstrom within a minute of each other. Northern Michigan would respond with their first goal of the game to make it 3-1 heading into the first intermission.
After a scoreless second period,
Northern Michigan would again find the back of the net only one minute into the third period to cut the Spartans lead to just one goal. The Spartans would, however, respond themselves this time with the final three goals of the game to close out the Wildcats. The third period goals from Michigan State came from Gavin O'Connell, Anthony Romani (his second of the night) and Jack Hextall.
With the win, Michigan State improves to 1-0-0 on the season. The Spartans and Wildcats will complete their two-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon. Faceoff from Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich. is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State hockey routs Northern Michigan in season-opener
