Michigan State Hockey: 3 takeaways from weekend sweep of Ohio State

Over the weekend, No. 3 Michigan State hockey (7-1-0) began its defense of the Big Ten championship. Last season, the Spartans won both the regular season and tournament titles. The Spartans began Big Ten play against a much improved Ohio State (7-2-1) team at Munn. Across both games, the Spartans came out strong and won both of them to start conference play strong.

Let’s look at a few key things that helped MSU pull out these key victories.

1. Defense limited chances

The Spartan defense was good last year, but they already look much improved this year. In the earlier games, some turnovers would turn into breakaways. This happened multiple times in the loss to Boston College. The team has since tightened up their play and has become a stifling defense to play against. Through both games, the Buckeyes were able to get shots off, but most of those shots came from the perimeter. Those perimeter shots typically result in low percentage chances. This style of play makes it easier for the goalie to stop, especially when that goalie is Trey Augustine.

As far as specific players on the defense who stood out, it should be Maxim Štrbák and Matt Basgall. As a top-line defenseman, Štrbák is going to get a great deal of ice time and looks. What he did over the weekend though was show exactly why the Buffalo Sabres drafted him. He is very smart with his puck movement. Every time he helped break up a pass, he fed it to the offense and put them in a great position to score. In one case, he was able to add an assist to his season total on the game-winning goal in the Friday night game.

Basgall was very underrated in his play over the weekend. He did get an assist in the Saturday game, but it was his skill in toeing the line in the offensive line that really impressed me. Basgall also made a few great plays that pushed the Buckeyes to the outside, limiting their shot chances.

2. Goaltending stood tall

It almost seems redundant to talk again about how Augustine is one of the best goalies in all of college hockey, but it’s true. Augustine is currently ranked 12th in save percentage in the entire NCAA with a save percentage of .941. This weekend the Detroit Red Wing draft pick was able to pick up a Star of the Game in both games.

In the Friday night game, he got the second star and on Saturday he got the first star. Outside of the stats, it can be difficult to see what separates Augustine and makes him so well-received. The biggest thing that separates Augustine is his calm demeanor in the crease while being smaller than most starting NHL goalies. The best comparison for his potential is the starting goalie for the Nashville Predators, Juuse Saros.

If that holds true, the Red Wings and the Spartans need to respect the level of talent that he has.

3. The offense is filling the nets

Sometimes you just need to put the biscuit, in the basket. That is exactly what this Spartan offense did last weekend to the tune of eight goals. Some of the big stars on offense this weekend were Daniel Russell and Gavin O’Connell. Both of these wingers have been doing great to start the season. Almost half of the weekend’s goals were scored by these two players.

Russell ended up with a goal in each game, and O’Connell had a goal and an assist in the Saturday game. Especially for O’Connell, this was a big weekend after he has had a bit of a slower start to the year on the 2nd line. There is nothing like heightened competition though to help raise your game. It also seems like O’Connell is always ready to raise the bar when it is against Ohio State. He almost always seems to find his way onto the scoresheet in games against the Buckeyes. His goal was also a great backhand shot that Logan Terness had no chance of stopping after the Spartans crowded the crease.

Daniel Russell continued his dominant offensive season. He is currently the lead goal scorer for the Spartans and is second in team points. Both of Russell’s goals were fun to watch. The better of the two though has to be the short-handed goal scored in the Friday night game. Any short-handed goal is always fun to watch, and the crowd was going nuts after this one. As a 2001 birthday, it will be interesting to see if the junior forward gets any attention as far as more pro leagues are concerned.

It seems safe to say that he will continue his career in the NCAA, but this play is opening doors for him after college.

Overall thoughts

A sweep is always satisfying. A sweep to open conference play is just a little bit sweeter. The team played two complete games and controlled play. They were also able to prevent high-quality shots and pin the team in their own zone for multiple stretches across these games. This is something that will carry Michigan State hockey far if it’s able to continue.

The Spartans will look to continue that success as they will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this upcoming weekend. Both games will be streaming on BTN+. Friday night’s game will start at 7 p.m. ET and the Saturday game will drop the puck at 8 p.m. ET.

Keep checking Spartan Shadows for more great content on Michigan State Athletics.