After a heartbreaking loss to the Wolverines on Friday night, Michigan State hockey needed a response. The team had started strong, but was unable to sustain the high level of play for a full 60 minutes. Saturday night in East Lansing did not provide that same obstacle. The Spartans (19-3-2) punched back to the tune of a convincing 4-1 victory to remind the Wolverines (14-9-1) who is still ranked No. 1.
Let’s take a look at a few of the big things to look at from this Spartan victory.
1. Augustine rises to the occasion
Trey Augustine is without a doubt, one of the best players in all of college hockey. When a team has a player of this caliber, everyone plays to another level. Add in that it is a rivalry game, and that brings it to another level. Augustine let a few goals get past him on Friday night that helped set the tone for Saturday night. The defense largely left him out to dry in the later stages of Friday nights game, but Saturday allowed Augustine to reset himself.
The game was more of what Spartan fans almost take for granted with Augustine. He is going to make astounding plays that reminds the fans why they didn’t make it past beer league, unless that is just me. He stopped 34 shots on the night and narrowly lost the shutout on a late powerplay goal by TJ Hughes.
One aspect of his game that isn’t usually discussed is that he is a very strong skater. That skill was on display on Saturday. It allows him to make brilliant post to post saves, a highly sought after skill for teams in the NHL. Spartan fans need to start taking in as much of Augustine as they can. At the level he is playing at, he will be heading to play with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL.
2. Special teams shines
It seemed as though the referees were attempting to make up for a lack of penalty calls during the 2nd game on Saturday. On Friday night, there were a total of three penalties, compared to 21 on Saturday. With all of the penalties, came a lot of chances for both teams to show off their special teams.
While the Wolverines were able to get a powerplay goal late to prevent the shutout, the Michigan State hockey special teams helped seal the game.
The Spartan special teams units accounted for 3 of the 4 Spartan goals in the game. Of those goals, two of them were powerplay goals, one from Matt Basgall and the other from Charlie Stramel. They also scored a short handed goal when Isaac Howard hit Charlie Stramel and he did not miss the one timer in the slot. That goal extended the lead to 4-0 and sealed the game in the second period.
https://twitter.com/MSU_Hockey/status/1880843056171409458
The Spartans have been among the best in the college hockey on the powerplay this season. The team is ranked in the top 20 for powerplay percentage across all division 1 schools.
3. Emotional rivalry on full display
The game on Saturday night provided exactly what fans expect to see in this rivalry, high energy, physicality, and emotion. All three of those things were true on Saturday and then some. The penalties are the first indicator of how physical the game was. The ending of the game was so rough that freshman defenseman Hunter Hady was ejected at the end, and will need to sit out a game next weekend. He was called for a major penalty for face masking.
With both of these teams being as good as they are at this moment, the intensity will only rise in these games. There are only two weeks between series for these teams and that doesn’t leave much time for tempers to calm. The advantage for Michigan State hockey, though, is that this year they get two games at home. The Saturday night game for the second series will be the Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit on Feb. 8.
Overall thoughts
It goes without saying that these games will always be emotional. Saturday was a full blown response to the collapse that the Spartans had on Friday night. Despite getting outshot at the end of the game, the Spartans came away with a convincing win. That win on Saturday will be extremely important as the Spartans prepare for their next opponent.
The focus now will shift to next weekend when the Spartans will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers for their final series of the regular season. The Spartans swept the Gophers last time they met in the Twin Cities and will look to make it a season sweep. The games will both be at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.