Michigan State Hockey: Takeaways from weekend split vs. Ohio State

Michigan State hockey ends up splitting weekend series against Ohio State. This series is setting up a showdown next weekend for the Big Ten.

No. 4 Michigan State hockey (21-8-3) went into the weekend with aspirations of hanging a regular-season conference title banner for the first time since the 2000-01 season. All that was needed was a sweep over the worst team in the conference, Ohio State (12-16-4). Unfortunately, the banner raising ceremony will need to wait another week.

The Spartans were, to quote coach Adam Nightingale, “too entitled” going into the Friday night game at Munn Ice Arena. They ended up losing big by a score of 6-2. Michigan State bounced back though on Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the Buckeyes, however.

All eyes will now be on Madison, Wisc., next weekend where the Spartans will need to win one game against the Badgers to take the regular-season crown.

Before I get too far ahead though, lets go look back at this series split.

Powerplay is looking strong

Obviously the Spartans did not get the outcome that they expected over the weekend. There are some bright spots though to take from these games when combined. One of those areas is the special teams play.

I want to start with the penalty kill, though.

It’s no secret that I have been very critical of the amount of penalties that this Spartan team draws. That has not changed and I still believe that if they are going to make a run, it’s a huge growth area. Overall, though, the team got better as the weekend progressed. Yes, they are a weaker team and a 25 percent powerplay (2-8) is not something to brag about. The difference between the two games was stark, though. In Friday’s game, Ohio State went 2-for-5 on the powerplay and they were 0-for-3 on Saturday. I want to see more growth in this area but it has improved as the year has gone on, especially in Saturday games.

The Spartan powerplay, on the other hand, was great this past weekend. Michigan State hockey posted a 50 percent (4-for-8) weekend on the powerplay. Three of those goals came on Saturday night. The powerplay has been strong for most of the season, but this showing was just straight up impressive.

One thing that stood out from the weekend as far as the powerplay goes is that there were some very crisp passes. The great teams make this look easy, the Spartans were putting on a clinic when it came to showcasing what a powerplay should look like.

Gavin O’Connell

If there was an award for player of the weekend, it would be Gavin O’Connell. Over the two games, he scored three of MSU’s seven goals, and he assisted on another. This brought his weekend point total to four points. The freshman forward has made himself known this season especially on the powerplay. O’Connell ranks second on the team with five powerplay goals. He was all over the ice this weekend and based on his play this season, deserves to more looks from NHL squads. Don’t be surprised this time next year when O’Connell is among the Spartans who have been drafted.

Salute to seniors

For six seniors, it was their last regular-season game action at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday night. Almost all of them will have the ability to play at Munn again in the Big Ten Tournament. The only one who is not likely to see the ice again as a Spartan is senior goaltender Jon Mor. As a career backup with the Spartans, Mor had never seen any game action until the game on Saturday night. With only twenty-six seconds remaining in the game, Nightingale let the veteran backup finally get some playing time in relief of Trey Augustine. The Munn crowd went wild and it was a great moment for him.

The other seniors also got to have their moment at the end of the game when they continued the tradition of kissing the Spartan head at center ice. Unlike past seasons though, this will not be the final game at Munn. The other seniors (Reed Lebster, Nico Muller, Jeremy Davidson, Nash Nienhuis, and James Crossman) will all have at least one more opportunity to show their love and appreciation to the spartan faithful at Munn.

While none of the seniors registered any points over the weekend, their presence was felt, as it has been all season.

Overall thoughts

It all comes down to next week. The Big Ten regular-season championship is on the line. If the Spartans win at least one game against the Badgers, they will secure the first seed and a bye to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. If the Spartans are unable to come out with a victory next weekend, they will move to the second seed and face off against these same Ohio State Buckeyes in a best-of-three series at Munn.

Only time will tell where this team will end up.

For right now, the next game is Friday night in Madison. Puck drop will be at 9 p.m. ET on BTN+.