Michigan Blanks Michigan State Hockey in Rivalry Matchup

Friday's loss firmly puts MSU behind the eight-ball to try and three-peat as Big Ten regular season champions. UM has 20 points in the standings (nine games played); Michigan State has 12 (seven games played).

These two teams will meet again Saturday night, this time at Yost in Ann Arbor, for the second game of this rivalry series.

First Period

Michigan got on the board first. Both the Spartans and the Wolverines had some early chances in the early going, with MSU killing off one power play, but it was Malcolm Spence who rocketed a one-timer past Trey Augustine’s glove from the right circle. It was Spence's seventh goal this year; assists went to Michael Hage (17) and Will Horcoff (9).

The Spartans had to kill off a second power play shortly after it, but they were the one who had the best shot at scoring off of it. Cayden Lindstrom had been called for tripping, and when his two minutes were up, it timed perfectly for a breakaway for him straight out of the box. He was 1-on-1 with UM goalie Jack Ivankovic. Lindstrom tried to go 5-hole, but Ivankovic made a pad save. 

Second Period

Just about halfway through the middle period, it appeared that the Wolverines had taken a 2-0 lead after Hage deflected it past Augustine. Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale challenged, thinking that it was struck above the crossbar. He was right, and that kept the Spartans within one goal. 

It had been a while to this point since it felt like MSU was threatening to score, though. A solid majority of the attacking seemed to be coming from the maize and blue. 

The Spartans’ forecheck didn’t look as strong, though some credit should go to Michigan’s defense that had only allowed 2.11 goals per game entering Friday night. The Wolverines were actually first in goals scored per game entering the game — 5.11 goals per contest — so Michigan State’s third-ranked defense was vital in keeping the Spartans in it. 

Nobody ended up scoring in the second, but the urgency needed to be much higher for MSU in the third. Michigan had held the Spartans to only 11 shots on goal through 40 minutes.

Third Period

The forecheck of the Spartans definitely seemed to be better and more aggressive in the early goings of the final period, but nothing was getting past Ivankovic in net for MSU, who was needed to pick up the pace with the deficit and the zero on the scoreboard. Pretty much the shots the Spartans were taking were not coming from in deep, which didn't help.

Michigan then got its own chance, and sunk what felt like a dagger when Aidan Park's wrister found the net with 9:51 to go. The flow of the game made it feel like the Spartans were already down by more than one goal, but the fact that they were one play away provided some more hope. Park's goal took much of that away.

UM looked to add on, and did just that. Jayden Perron let one loose from near the blue line, and the puck found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to really put the game on ice.

Michigan State tried to get one on the board in the closing moments with an empty net, but could not do so.