MSU hockey scores six straight goals in win over Michigan: Analysis and reaction

ANN ARBOR – Lansing State Journal sports reporter Nathaniel Bott breaks down No. 7 Michigan State's come-from-behind 7-5 victory over Michigan at Yost Ice Arena.

What happened

MSU traveled to Ann Arbor with a sour taste in its mouth after suffering a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Michigan on Friday night. And for the first 30 minutes of Saturday's contest, it looked like a similar result was in the works.

At 10:13 of the second period, U-M forward Rutger McGroarty's second goal in less than five minutes past MSU goaltender Trey Augustine gave the Wolverines a 4-1 lead and complete command.

That's when the Spartans took over.

The turnaround started when sophomore forward Isaac Howard skated into the offensive zone just 40 seconds after the second McGroarty goal and sniped a shot high glove side past U-M goaltender Jake Barczewski to trim the deficit to 4-2.

That was just the beginning as MSU would score three more in the second period, then two more in the third en route to a 7-5 comeback victory — MSU's first win at Yost since 2019 — to earn a series split.

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MSU's response in the second period started with Howard, then quickly carried over to forwards Nico Muller and Jeremy Davidson less than two minutes later. Davidson forced a turnover in U-M's defensive zone and feathered a pass to a streaking Muller, who converted to pull MSU within one.

After freshman forward Gavin O'Connell backhanded a rebound shot to tie the game at 4-4, Muller won a late-period faceoff and got the puck through to Davidson, who ripped a shot past Barczewski to give MSU the 5-4 lead.

It was Muller and Davidson who provided the spark in the third period as well, as the senior duo combined to give MSU a 6-4 lead midway through the third. Davidson took advantage of U-M defenseman Tyler Duke falling down and jumped on a loose puck, which he sent into the middle. Muller poked it by a U-M defenseman, backhanded a shot past Barczewski, and kissed his sweater in celebration.

Sophomore forward Joey Larson added an empty net goal, while UM's Dylan Duke scored late with an extra attacker to make it a 7-5 final.

U-M forward T.J. Hughes started the scoring at 9:38 of the first period as the Wolverines dominated the opening 20 minutes. Yet the Spartans escaped the period with a 1-1 tie when freshman defenseman Artyom Levshunov scored a late power-play goal.

Augustine made 43 saves and kept the Spartans alive for the majority of the first period. Through the first 30 minutes, MSU had nine shots on goal to UM's 32 — 10 of them from McGroarty alone.

Muller, who was the only Spartan on the roster who had previously won a game at Yost, finished with two goals and two assists.

What they said

MSU coach Adam Nightingale, on the game overall: "A really good effort from our guys. You know the way it went for us yesterday, we talked to the group about doing a better job being disciplined playing a really good team and finding that line of respect and hate and all the rivalry. Today we came in and it would've been real easy for us to hold from a little hangover from the night before but we stayed with it. I thought our senior line was great. I thought (Augustine) was unbelievable making big saves for us. We did a better job staying disciplined. It says a lot about the character of this group.

Nightingale, on staying level in the third period: "Composure is the right word, and we're playing a really good opponent on the road and the way it went for us you can pile up a lot of negative thoughts in your head. But, we've also played a lot of really good hockey this year and we should have a lot of confidence as a team. We're not perfect, but we got a lot of guys that believe in how we want to do things."

Muller, on his performance and what changed after the second period media timeout: "I think within the lines you are always talking and you get yourself up. There are a lot of leaders on the team, not just one or two. We started to get pucks behind them, got a good forecheck going and we stayed poised. The first 30 minutes we just chopped away pucks and no one really wanted the puck, but the last 30 minutes everyone wanted it and that was the difference. It feels really good, and we had a lot of expectations even yesterday and it didn't go our way so it feels even better to beat them here at Yost."

O'Connell, on Howard's goal/McGroarty's celebration: "Yeah we noticed it, but we try to not pay close attention to that. We're not really like those guys, we like to put our heads down and go to work and work between the whistles. They kinda like to do the stuff outside of it, but it's a competitive rivalry and they like to try to get in our heads. But for (Howard) it was awesome and we were super happy for him. He works hard and he's a great player so for him to see (McGroarty) go do that then score himself it was fun to see."

What's next

MSU will host Minnesota on Friday and Saturday next week in the second-to-last home series of the regular season.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @Nathaniel_Bott

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU hockey: Spartans score six straight goals to rally past Michigan