Michigan State hockey comes up short at Notre Dame in opener

Michigan State hockey fell 4-1 to Notre Dame in South Bend to open the weekend series after a disappointing third period.

The No. 8-ranked Michigan State hockey (17-6-3) team traveled to South Bend on Friday night to take on Notre Dame (13-11-2) to start their second series this season against the Irish. The previous series was a sweep by the Spartans back in early December in East Lansing.

The Spartans are currently sitting on top of the Big Ten Standings with 37 points and looking to improve their lead in the conference. Unfortunately, they fell short, 4-1.

First-period highlights

This game started in a situation that the Spartans are very used to this year, on the penalty kill. Forward Gavin O’Connell was charged with a two-minute penalty for staying on the ice too long during warmups. According to NCAA regulations, players must be off the ice 23 minutes before the start of the game. O’Connell missed this cutoff by about five seconds. Luckily though this didn’t affect the team as they killed the penalty.

The story of the first period was the goaltending for both teams. That should not be a surprise to anyone who knows these two teams because Trey Augustine is currently on the watchlist for the Mike Richter Award for the best goaltender in college hockey. He is also in the running for the best goaltender in the Big Ten. The second-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings last year took on last year’s Big Ten Goalie of the Year, Ryan Bischel.

Each side registered nine shots in the first and the goalies put on a show. Augustine needed to make several amazing stops including two shots that he stopped back-to-back on a rebound. Bischel, on the other side, held one of the best offenses in college hockey scoreless to leave us scoreless at the end of the first.

Second-period highlights

The second period started very well for the Fighting Irish. They opened the first eight minutes of the second period without allowing the Spartans to get off a single shot. It was not until almost halfway through the period that Karsen Dorwart won a faceoff deep in the offensive zone that he passed to Isaac Howard who then ripped a shot from his position and got it past Bischel to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. This was Howard’s seventh of the season and gave Michigan State hockey a big goal on the powerplay.

Unfortunately, the Spartan lead didn’t last for too long. Only 27 seconds later, on a broken play defensively, Ryan Seidem redirected a shot that went through Augustine’s five-hole. The goal was only his third of the season and swung the momentum towards the Irish for a 1-1 tie.

Penalties continued to be an issue as well for the Spartans. Even though MSU has one of the best powerplays in the entire country, the penalty kill is top 10 for most penalties allowed. Joey Larson happened to get in a scrum with another player that resulted in two roughing minors and a 4-on-4. Not long after that, Levshunov got a penalty to give the Irish a rare 4-on-3 penalty kill. Even though the Spartans let up a lot of penalties, their penalty kill is productive and killed off the penalties. This led to the game heading into the third with a 1-1 tie.

Third-period highlights

Highlight may be the wrong term to use for the third period. The first 10 minutes of the third period were similar to the previous two. The final 10 minutes of the third period is where the wheels fell off for the Spartans. In the final 10 minutes, the Irish got past Augustine three times with goals by Bavaro, Knuble, and Janicke to make the score 4-1. The team came out flat for the last portion of the game and could not capitalize on two powerplays late in the third.

Final thoughts

Overall, the first 2.5 periods were very similar to how the Spartans have played this season. They were fast, getting shots off, and creating opportunities. Unfortunately, Ryan Bischel was up to the task tonight and Augustine was not able to hold the line against the Irish late.

The team did do better though when it came to managing their penalties. They only ended up allowing two which is much better than many games this season. The Spartans have taken more penalties than any team in the Big Ten. This is a big issue that needs to be addressed if this team is going to make a run. In games where they have not allowed a penalty, they are undefeated. If the team can stop getting in their own way, the sky is the limit.

As far as the Saturday game goes, look for Augustine and Bischel to go toe-to-toe again. Augustine has been good this season in bounce-back games. If the Spartans are going to win on Saturday, though, the key is going to be to pepper Bischel and prevent him from getting into a rhythm.

Michigan State hockey will have another chance to take on the Irish on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on Peacock.