Michigan State Hockey: Spartans Complete the Sweep Against Notre Dame

Michigan State Hockey, Break Out the Brooms!

Michigan State hockey completed the sweep on Friday night in an outpouring of offense. After playing a tight game with the Fighting Irish on Thursday night, the Spartans wanted to establish dominance. The team did that to the tune of an 8-2 rout of Notre Dame. Michigan State Hockey looked much more in control of the play and played their game. That game is hard-nosed, skilled, and very physical. More importantly, this allowed the Spartans to keep pace and put more pressure on the Wolverines as the Big Ten Conference race. Let’s take a look at some of the things that stood out in the series finale against the Fighting Irish.

Rubbing Elbows in the Penalty Box

Up until the third period, the biggest thing that stood out in the series finale was the penalties. This is not to critique the number of penalties called because it was in fact a very tough game. There was a total of eighteen penalties called in this game. Penalties were evenly split between the two sides with nine a piece. This allowed for both sides of the special teams to get a lot of work in. Michigan State took advantage of their extended time on the powerplay by converting on three of their powerplay advantages. Notre Dame would also get both of their goals on the powerplay.

This is not to say though that the penalties were all bad, per se. One in particular arguably shifted the momentum in the game for the Spartans. In the 2nd period there was a goal by Eric Nilson that was called back by a challenge. The Irish did not challenge the goal, they decided to challenge a hit made by Cayden Lindstrom over 40 seconds prior to the goal. The challenge was successful, the goal was taken off the board, and the Spartans were assessed a 5 minute major with the freshman forward ejected. There was also another penalty on the Spartans later on during this PK which led to around 40 seconds of 5 on 3 for the Irish in a 2-1 game. The Spartans PK unit stood tall for 6:14 and kept the score at 2-1. The energy in Munn Ice Arena during that powerplay helped drastically shift the favor to the Spartans.

Offensive Explosion

After the never-ending penalty kill, as stated, the favor drastically shifted to MSU. It started with Porter Martone getting his second goal of the night. He went through center ice, stole the puck and fought off defenders to attempt the one handed tuck on Pearson. He was helped by the defender who, in an effort to get the puck out of harms way, pushed it into the net. Tommi Mannisto soon joined in with a coast-to-coast play where he faced Pearson alone and buried the puck while the Spartans were shorthanded. At that point, it was clear that a switch flipped and the Spartans remembered their game. The onslaught continued with goals from Owen West, Ryker Lee, Griffin Jurecki, and Martone once again to complete the hat trick.

Martone in the press conference commented on the fact that, “Nobody is a freshman in the 2nd half of the season.” That statement that he heard from Coach Adam Nightingale could not be any more right. Martone has taken that personally. Since he returned from the World Juniors tournament, he and his linemates have been on another planet. One reporter even asked Martone to argue why he was playing on the best line in college hockey. While he wouldn’t go as far as agreeing with that, he praised his linemates Daniel Russell and Charlie Stramel for all that they have done to teach and push him. He also discussed the importance of the leadership that the Spartans have on their team.

Steady Leadership Between the Pipes

When discussing veteran leadership for Michigan State Hockey, there are plenty of examples. The one who gets a lot of rightful praise though is Trey Augustine. The junior goaltender has continued his stretch of dominant play this season. He is leading the nation in wins for a goaltender and is in the top 5 for almost all other goaltending statistics. On top of that, he is providing clutch play like he did on Friday night. There were so many chances that the Irish generated early, especially on the extended power play, that could have sunk the Spartans.

It is not a stretch to say that Augustine is easily the best goaltender that the Spartans have had since Ryan Miller was guarding the pipes in the early 2000’s. He actually has a chance to pass Ryan Miller this season for the win record and winning percentage by a goaltender. This play by the team is all the more important now, especially considering that this is likely Augustine’s last season with the Spartans.

That will depend on the goalie situation with the Detroit Red Wings though. It seems likely that Augustine will help the Grand Rapids Griffins on a playoff push. All of that will have to wait though until the season officially comes to a close.

Coming Up Next

The Spartans will now prepare for Senior Weekend at Munn Ice Arena. Michigan State Hockey will be taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes in their final regular season home series. The Spartans are on track to host games at Munn throughout the Big Ten Tournament though. It will be a Friday and Saturday series. Both games will be on the Big Ten Network with the Friday game starting at 8:30 p.m. EST and the Saturday night game being at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Keep checking in with me @ikerss98 and @MSUShadowsPod for all your Spartan Hockey content.