Saturday, February 4
East Lansing, MI
4 pm
Michigan State University
15-13-2, 9-9-2
3
vs
2
Notre Dame
13-14-3, 8-10-2
1
2
3
F
Notre Dame
1
1
0
2
Michigan St.
2
0
1
3
Spartans Earn Series Sweep With 3-2 Win Over Irish
2/4/2023 6:36:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
East Lansing, Mich.. -- Michigan State earned a huge series sweep of Notre Dame on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Irish. The Spartans got a 33-save performance from graduate student goaltender Dylan St. Cyr, power play goals by Karsen Dorwart and David Gucciardi, and a goal from senior Nicolas Müller to earn the victory,
The Spartans (15-13-2, 9-9-2 B1G) remain in a dogfight in the Big Ten race – Five teams are jostling for second through sixth place, and the sweep of Notre Dame puts MSU with 30 points and a potential second-place standing at the end of the weekend of action.
Michigan State was a determined squad from the drop of the puck on Friday and played workmanlike series, earning a 3-0 shutout on Friday night before tonight's 3-2 victory. St. Cyr was the unquestioned star of the weekend, providing MSU all it needed as it generated its first back-to-back wins since November. It is the third series sweep of a Big Ten opponent for MSU this season, and fifth series overall on the season.
Ryan Bischel made 25 saves for Notre Dame, which falls to 13-14-3, 8-10-2 B1G. The Irish goals were scored by Landon Slaggert and Chayse Primeau.
At the conclusion of the game, the Spartans honored their10-man senior class (Jagger Joshua, Christian Krygier, Cole Krygier, Justin Jallen, Erik Middendorf, Miroslav Mucha. Nicolas Müller , Ryan Nolan, Dylan St. Cyr, and Michael Underwood) and two senior managers (Adam Dec and Patrick Trout).
The Spartans now turn attention to a series with archrival Michigan next weekend. The teams play Friday night at Munn (7 pm) and then meet in the annual Duel in the D game at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday (8 pm).
STATISTICS OF NOTE
PERIOD SUMMARIES
First Period: MSU scored on its first power play chance of the game in the first period. The Spartans worked the puck across the top of the zone, with Daniel Russell getting it to classmate Matt Basgall at the top of the slot. He slid it over to Dorwart at the top of the left circle, Dorwart took one stride, and wristed it through traffic for the 1-0 lead. Landon Slaggert tied it for the visitors about 90 seconds later, but MSU re-took the lead at 18:18 to go into the room with a lead. Erik Middendorf dished the puck off to Jeremy Davidson as he took a big hit along the left wall, and Davidson carried it deep into the left circle. He dished a backhand pass through the low slot to a waiting Müller who lifted it past Bischel for his second goal of the weekend. The Irish had a 13-6 edge in shots on goal in the period.
Second Period: With five minutes to play in the period, senior Jagger Joshua was called for boarding – which after a review, was deemed a major. MSU was able to clear it out several times, but with 2:15 remaining, Chayse Primeau one-timed a pass from Justin Janicke for the tying goal. St. Cyr made five saves on the extended kill and a total of 13 in the period.
Third Period: Michigan State picked up the go-ahead goal four minutes into the final period. Skating on the power play thanks to a delay of game call against the Irish, David Gucciardi one-timed a pass from Jeremy Davidson from the right point, feathering it through traffic for his third goal of the season. The intensity certainly picked up over the balance of the game, but the Spartans remained poised and confident, and got impressive play from its goaltender to preserve the lead and take away the senior night victory for the second straight season. The shot count was 8-8 in the final period.
The Spartans (15-13-2, 9-9-2 B1G) remain in a dogfight in the Big Ten race – Five teams are jostling for second through sixth place, and the sweep of Notre Dame puts MSU with 30 points and a potential second-place standing at the end of the weekend of action.
Michigan State was a determined squad from the drop of the puck on Friday and played workmanlike series, earning a 3-0 shutout on Friday night before tonight's 3-2 victory. St. Cyr was the unquestioned star of the weekend, providing MSU all it needed as it generated its first back-to-back wins since November. It is the third series sweep of a Big Ten opponent for MSU this season, and fifth series overall on the season.
Ryan Bischel made 25 saves for Notre Dame, which falls to 13-14-3, 8-10-2 B1G. The Irish goals were scored by Landon Slaggert and Chayse Primeau.
At the conclusion of the game, the Spartans honored their10-man senior class (Jagger Joshua, Christian Krygier, Cole Krygier, Justin Jallen, Erik Middendorf, Miroslav Mucha. Nicolas Müller , Ryan Nolan, Dylan St. Cyr, and Michael Underwood) and two senior managers (Adam Dec and Patrick Trout).
The Spartans now turn attention to a series with archrival Michigan next weekend. The teams play Friday night at Munn (7 pm) and then meet in the annual Duel in the D game at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday (8 pm).
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Karsen Dorwart potted his ninth goal of the season (his fourth marker of the year on the power play).
- Nicolas Müller scored his career-best fifth goal of the season in the final minutes of the first period
- David Gucciardi picked up his third goal of the season in the third period, his first goal since the LIU series in October.
- Jeremy Davidson and Erik Middendorf each had a pair of assists, and took points out of both games on the weekend.
- Matt Basgall picked up assists in his second straight game and now has 10 this season.
- MSU scored on the power play for the third straight game, its most consecutive games with a goal on the man advantage since November.
- The Spartans scored twice on the power play, its first multiple-PPG game since the Penn State finale at home on Jan. 14. MSU was 2-3 on the man advantage.
- MSU blocked 18 shots in the game and 28 on the weekend, while Notre Dame (the top shot-blocking team in the B1G) finished with seven on Saturday and 23 over the series.
- The Spartans picked up a five-minute major for the third straight game; a Jagger Joshua boarding call in the second period.
- MSU sold out its seventh consecutive home game this season.
- Michigan State swept the Irish in a weekend series for the first time since Feb. 3-4, 2006 (a home and home).
- The Spartans earn their fifth series sweep of the season and third in Big Ten play. MSU previously swept Wisconsin and Ohio State in November on back-to-back weekends.
- With its 15th win, MSU matches its highest win total since 2019-20. MSU has four regular-season games remaining.
- MSU won its 11th game at home, its most since winning 11 in 2011-12.
- The Spartans have won nine B1G games, the second-most in its history. MSU's most B1G wins came in 2014-15 and 2019-20 (11).
PERIOD SUMMARIES
First Period: MSU scored on its first power play chance of the game in the first period. The Spartans worked the puck across the top of the zone, with Daniel Russell getting it to classmate Matt Basgall at the top of the slot. He slid it over to Dorwart at the top of the left circle, Dorwart took one stride, and wristed it through traffic for the 1-0 lead. Landon Slaggert tied it for the visitors about 90 seconds later, but MSU re-took the lead at 18:18 to go into the room with a lead. Erik Middendorf dished the puck off to Jeremy Davidson as he took a big hit along the left wall, and Davidson carried it deep into the left circle. He dished a backhand pass through the low slot to a waiting Müller who lifted it past Bischel for his second goal of the weekend. The Irish had a 13-6 edge in shots on goal in the period.
Second Period: With five minutes to play in the period, senior Jagger Joshua was called for boarding – which after a review, was deemed a major. MSU was able to clear it out several times, but with 2:15 remaining, Chayse Primeau one-timed a pass from Justin Janicke for the tying goal. St. Cyr made five saves on the extended kill and a total of 13 in the period.
Third Period: Michigan State picked up the go-ahead goal four minutes into the final period. Skating on the power play thanks to a delay of game call against the Irish, David Gucciardi one-timed a pass from Jeremy Davidson from the right point, feathering it through traffic for his third goal of the season. The intensity certainly picked up over the balance of the game, but the Spartans remained poised and confident, and got impressive play from its goaltender to preserve the lead and take away the senior night victory for the second straight season. The shot count was 8-8 in the final period.
Team Stats
UND
MSU
Shots
35
28
PPG
1
2
SHG
0
0
Penalties
4
3
Penalty Mins
8
9
Faceoffs Won
40
26
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
1
Goals
0
Sh
0
A
2
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
5
A
0
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice HockeyIsaac Howard Wins The Hobey | Spartans All-Access
Monday, April 21
Adam Nightingale | Hockey Press Conference | April 17, 2025
Thursday, April 17
Adam Nightingale, Daniel Russell, Tiernan Shoudy Post Game Comments | Cornell
Thursday, March 27
Adam Nightingale, Tiernan Shoudy, Matt Basgall, and Tanner Kelly | NCAA Regional
Wednesday, March 26