Michigan State hockey gets first Duel in the D win since 2016

Michigan State hockey got its first Duel in the D win since 2016 on Saturday night with a 3-2 win over No. 11 Michigan.

For the first time since 2016, the Iron D Trophy is heading back to East Lansing with Michigan State hockey.

The matchup in downtown Detroit last night was the final meeting of the regular season between these bitter rivals. The No. 8 ranked Spartans (19-7-3) were coming off a big win against the No. 11 Wolverines (14-10-3) the previous night. That game was at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor and ended in a 5-1 final. After winning on Friday, the Spartans were looking to tie their longest win streak against the Wolverines since 2009-2010. Pride and state dominance was on the line in Hockeytown, and these teams did not disappoint.

First-period highlights

Within the first five minutes of the game, these teams showed that they wanted to maintain a gritty style of play. The hits were intentional and rough. That did not stop the No. 5 ranked Spartan offense from doing what they do best, getting high-quality shots. It seemed like almost every two minutes; the Spartans would have a 2 vs. 1 or a breakaway shot against Michigan goalie Jake Barczewski. One from Isaac Howard did everything except hit the back of the net. Both goalies started off strong as they were both being peppered with shots. MSU generated most of its shots by mismatches off the rush, while Michigan got a lot of shots off when they were in the Spartan zone.

The scoring finally opened with about eight minutes remaining in the first. On a good offensive possession with a few chances, it looked like the Wolverines were going to get the puck out of the zone. That was until Tanner Kelly got the puck on his stick from a tipped pass from Tommi Männistö. Kelly won a battle in front of the net in just enough time to flip and get a wrist shot off in the slot and send it past the goalie. This gave the Spartans the early 1-0 lead and Kelly got his seventh of the season.

Second-period highlights

The second period is where things got interesting. Michigan tied it up early in the second period. Dylan Duke added to his season total on the powerplay to tie the game for the Wolverines. The encouraging thing though is that even when the Wolverines scored, they weren’t controlling play. It was evident after the goal that Coach Nightingale’s team was not discouraged; it lit a fire under them. Specifically, defensive standout Artyom Levshunov seemed to be leading the charge as he continued to rip off shots and get great chances.

Barczewski was doing great, but he couldn’t stop them all. About five minutes after the Michigan goal, Michigan State hockey responded to retake the lead. Nash Nienhuis took a rip from the blue line to try and create a rebound chance. That chance was cashed in by Tiernan Shoudy who put the rebound back on Barczewski before he could reset. This was Shoudy’s fourth goal of the year and let the Spartans take a 2-1 lead.

The scoring continued about two minutes later with a play that showed the high IQ and trickery of this offense. The Spartans once again had a strong offensive presence with plenty of shots. Tanner Kelly drew Barczewski to overcommit to a shot which was dropped back to Karsen Dorwart. He then continued his impressive offensive output by putting away his 11th goal of the season to take a 3-1 lead.

At this point, Michigan was becoming frustrated with their effort. The Wolverines increased the intensity to try to stop the bleeding. Philippe Lapointe, son of famed Red Wings enforcer Martin Lapointe, followed in his father’s footsteps by throwing his body around and getting involved in a few scrums as well as getting two penalties in the game. One penalty for roughing and the other for holding late in the second. Also, right at the end of the second period, there was another penalty on the Wolverines after Rutger McGroarty took a shot on Augustine after the horn had sounded. This led to a big scrum along the boards.

Third-period highlights

The third period was mostly a defensive showcase. The physicality carried over into the third period. In one case Michigan forward Kienan Draper, son of Red Wings legend Kris Draper, left the game after being on the receiving end of a huge hit. On top of that, Levshunov continued to show why he will be a high draft pick this June by continuing to be a brutal player to play against.

The real star of this period though was Trey Augustine. Augustine was playing like he was in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Red Wings fans can only hope that that comes true for their second-round pick. He did let one in off a Gavin Brinley shot to make the score 3-2 late, but he stood tall. The most impressive moment was with less than a minute left in the third. Michigan pulled the goalie and had all the momentum. With only thirty seconds left, there was a lot of traffic in front of the net and Augustine got out of position. Just as the puck was about to be put past Augustine, he made a desperate leap and somehow kept the puck out of the net. It was all over after all that and the Spartans won their first Duel in the D since 2016.

Overall thoughts

Being in the crowd, I can say from firsthand experience, that this game was electric. This is everything that college hockey should be. The stakes are high, and so are the tempers. In the end, in front of a Duel in the D record crowd of 18,410 fans, the Spartans got the win. This also secured the first 20-win season for Michigan State hockey since the 2007-08 season. With only four games remaining, the Spartans now control their own destiny as they make the push to win the Big Ten and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012.

Michigan State hockey will now have a week to rest up before it takes on the Ohio State Buckeyes at Munn on Feb. 23-24.