Michigan State hockey still atop Big Ten standings after Notre Dame split

Michigan State hockey got back into the win column Saturday night with a huge 4-0 shutout victory to win the season series 3-1.

The No. 8-ranked Michigan State hockey (17-7-3) team was back at it in South Bend on Saturday night against the No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-11-2). The game was the final regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Spartans went into this game having lost two consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since last season against the Wolverines.

The boys wearing green and white got the job done as they responded and won the game 4-0. The team added a crucial three points to put their total up to 40 which is still first place in the Big Ten. Trey Augustine also had himself a game in which he earned his third shutout of the season.

First-period highlights

The first period of this game started very similarly to the game on Friday night, both sides were peppering each other with shots. This was a key to seeing how the Spartans were playing differently. The MSU offense is at its best when it is shooting at a high volume. That’s the reason that the Spartans are ranked third in the NCAA in shots per game at over 36.

The shots kept piling up for most of the period and the Spartans were the first team to draw blood. With just over two minutes remaining in the first period, Karsen Dorwart built off of his assist and added a goal. The goal was his 11th of the year. Dorwart caught the defenders on a change and ripped one past Bischel to give MSU the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

Second-period highlights

To start the second, the Spartans were making it clear that one goal was not good enough. Considering MSU only held the lead for 27 seconds last night, you can’t blame the team for going hard. In the first six minutes of the second, the Spartans outshot the Irish 12-1. Bischel was definitely earning his keep as one of the best the Irish have.

Having an all-star goaltender can only help you for so long though. Jeremy Davidson, the senior forward, decided to get involved in the scoring. It was not only that he scored though, it was the way he did it. Davidson received a pass from Lebster and hit the wraparound that beat Bischel as he tried to go pipe-to-pipe. This was Davidson’s seventh of the season and more importantly, it gave Michigan State hockey the 2-0 lead.

The scoring would not stop there, though. With less than two minutes remaining in the period, Drew Bavaro got caught for cross-checking. The powerplay looked great with time ticking by as the Spartans passed it around the defense until it ended up on the stick of Artyom Levshunov. He took a slapshot from the high slot with only five seconds remaining in the period. Bischel didn’t have a chance to stop it as Levshunov scored his eighth of the year and gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

Third-period highlights

The third period started with a push by the Irish. One of those shots was an amazing look from in close but Augustine dove and snatched it with his glove. This was the story of the game for Augustine, especially in the third period. In the third, he needed to stand tall on three powerplays, and he did.

On top of Augustine making play after play, the offense continued its strong offensive night. With only about eight minutes remaining, Gavin O’Connell took a slapshot from the top of the circle that went right past Bischel. The only thing is, it wasn’t O’Connell’s goal. On further review, the puck changed direction on the way to the goal and went in off of Red Savage. This extended the lead to 4-0 and gave Savage his ninth goal of the season.

The Irish could not get anything going for them for the final minutes and the horn rang with a 4-0 MSU victory.

Final thoughts

This was the game that Michigan State hockey needed after the loss on Friday night. Everything that was wrong with the first game was fixed in the second. Augustine had an amazing night in goal, and the offense just kept firing. This is what needs to happen for this team to continue the success that they are having. If there is anything to fix, it’s limiting the penalties once again. The Spartans will need to fix this before taking on Michigan next weekend.

Michigan State will have another two-game series next weekend. The Friday night game will be in Ann Arbor at 7 p.m. ET. The Saturday night game will be the annual Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena where the puck will drop at 8:30 p.m. ET.