Michigan State Hockey: Recapping Game 1 loss to Boston College

Michigan State hockey drops its home opener to the No. 2 ranked Boston College Eagles in East Lansing Friday night.

It was not the night that everyone was hoping for in East Lansing. While the atmosphere was great, and the crowd was ready for a top-five matchup, Michigan State hockey came up short. The Spartans fell in their home opener to Boston College 3-0. There was a lot left to be desired by the team following the loss, but that doesn’t mean that the entire night was a loss.

Let’s break down game one of this top five showdown.

First period

The first period started out very well for the Spartans. There was a good deal of pressure and a few solid shots on Montreal Canadiens draft pick Jacob Fowler. The defense also started off well by showing off their physicality and ability to finish checks. That matched up very well against a very fast and agile Boston College offense. The BC offense during the first frame was not able to get off too many high quality shots. The shots that did get through were stopped by Trey Augustine. One stop in particular was a shot by Boston College’s Gabe Perreault from the slot. Trey was able to absorb the shot from point blank range and keep the game tied at 0-0.

Another player who made his presence known defensively was graduate transfer Nicklas Andrews who really put the emphasis on the “blue collar” hockey that coach Adam Nightingale is looking for. He also made a great play in the offensive zone that allowed the puck to stay in the zone for an extended pressure. Though it didn’t result in any scoring, the effort from the transfer in his first game at Munn did not go unnoticed.

Second period

The second period is where the gaps between these two teams really showed themselves. That is not to say that the Spartans can’t compete with a team like Boston College, because they did throughout the first period. The two teams just play very different styles of hockey. The Eagles have an offense that is more agile and focused on speed while the Spartans are a very gritty team. Michigan State hockey prides itself on being team that will fight for the puck in the corners and get good positioning in front of the net to get those “greasy” goals. Unfortunately, a different team came out during the second period.

During the second period, the team tried to play too much like Boston College. The issue is that this team was not built to succeed playing that type of hockey. Once the team started getting away from their systems, they struggled. This resulted in a three goal 2nd period.

One thing that stuck out was the way that Boston College was scoring their goals. For two of the three, the plays started on an odd man rush coming off of a transition or a turnover. This left goalie Trey Augustine to practically fight for his life as two pucks went tape to tape across the net and through the back door. The team went away from their strengths and it really ended up costing the team big time. At the end of the second period, it was already 3-0 and a great deal of the energy that had been built up in the first period, was sucked out of the arena.

Third period

The third period provided a bit of a bounce back for the Spartans. The team was able to stop the bleeding and respond well enough to prevent the score from getting any worse. The offense also tried to step it up, but they were unable to get many high quality chances. There were many instances where shots were being taken from outside the faceoff circles at odd angles just to get a puck on net. It makes sense, especially where the team was at in the moment, but sometimes goalies are just too zoned in. Fowler had one of those games where he was not going to allow anything by him that shouldn’t get by him.

Though the Spartans were more competitive, they were unable to capitalize on two powerplays in the third. Credit for this also should go to the Eagle defensemen. That unit in the third did not give up any easy chances and made the night much easier for Fowler.

Overall thoughts

The first loss of the season always hurts. The encouraging thing should be though that the Spartans hung in there for a good portion of the game. Also, the team only had one penalty the entire game. Considering that last year the Spartans were one of the most penalized teams, the lack of penalties only helps. What the team needs to focus on though is staying on script. The team held that tough “blue collar” mentality in the first but tried to play around too much in the second, and it cost them.

The Spartans will be back in action on Saturday at Munn Ice Arena. Puck drop will be at 6 p.m. ET and the game will be available on streaming on BTN+.