Spartans Suffer 7-1 Setback vs. Michigan

East Lansing, Mich. – No 7/5 Michigan State's six-game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 7-1 loss to No. 15/14 Michigan on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. The teams combined for 168 penalty minutes in the game (151 in the final period) with 11 combined game misconduct penalties.

The Spartans suffered their first loss since Nov. 26 and their first regulation loss in Big Ten play (15-5-3, 9-2-2 B1G). MSU also suffered its first loss at home since last Feb. 10 – which also came against the Wolverines.

Michigan's special teams did the most damage, potting four power play goals and a shorthanded effort. The Spartans found themselves down 3-0 after the first and tried to battle back into the game, but the Wolverines tacked on one goal in the second and three in the final frame as the game got out of hand and the teams stacked penalty minutes throughout the final 20 minutes.

Fifth-year senior Nicolas Muller had the lone goal for MSU, with Reed Lebster and Jeremy Davidson picking up the assists. MSU was outshot 34-22, and was held scoreless on the power play in four chances.

Rutger McGroarty had a goal and three assists for the Wolverines (11-7-3, 4-5-2 B1G), while Dylan Duke had a pair of goals. Goalie Jake Barczewski had 22 saves in his first-ever game against MSU.

The two teams stage the rematch on Saturday night In Ann Arbor.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

The Spartans surrendered multiple power-play goals for the first time since Nov. 26 against Minnesota.
MSU allowed its second shorthanded goal of the year and its first since the opener at Boston College (Oct. 26), which was also MSU's last regulation loss.
The Spartans, one of two unbeaten teams at home entering the weekend, suffered their first home loss of the season and first since Feb. 10 of last year (also against Michigan, 4-2).
The seven goals surrendered by the Spartans in the game is the most they have given up in a game this season. MSU gave up six at Minnesota (Nov. 26), at Boston College (Oct. 26) and at Air Force (Oct. 12) – all losses.
With second-place Wisconsin idle this weekend, MSU maintained a one-point lead in the Big Ten Standings
Nicolas Müller scored his fifth goal of the season to become the sixth Spartan to reach the 20-point plateau this season. Jeremy Davidson and Reed Lebster each tallied their eighth assist of the year on the play.
Trey Augustine had 22 saves in the game, the fewest he's recorded in a Big Ten game this season.

First Period: The game began as a high-tempo, end-to-end affair for the opening 10 minutes. Michigan got on the board at 12:01, as McGroarty was fed a long stretch pass out of the defensive zone by Tyler Duke, and he went in on a partial breakaway, and went blocker-side on Augustine for his seventh of the season. At 14:49, MSU was on the penalty kill and Kienan Draper – who was denied on a shorthanded chance earlier in the game – got one to find the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. With MSU taking consecutive penalties 1:23 apart, the Wolverines were able to tack on a third, shortly after the first penalty expired; Dylan Duke scored his 11^th of the season to give Michigan a 3-0 lead and an 11-8 advantage in shots on net.

Second Period: The Wolverines got on the board at the tail end of a major penalty against Tanner Kelly; Gavin Brindley set up Dylan Duke on the backdoor play, and Duke scored his 11^th of the season. The Spartans were better in the middle frame, but Michigan limited MSU to just five shots on net, putting 10 on Augustine at the other end.

Third Period: The third period was marred by a combined 151 penalty minutes, pushing the game past the three-hour mark. Michigan got on the board with a TJ Hughes marker – his 12^th of the season – just 1:24 into the period, and then got a power play goal (at 5:56, from Nick Moldenhauer) to go up 6-0. Soon after, the tempers boiled over on both sides, and the penalties began stacking. The final 11 minutes of the game became a parade to the penalty box. MSU got on the board with a Nicolas Müller goal at 12:40, which incited an after-the-whistle pileup that resulted in four misconducts for Michigan and three for the Spartans. Two more were issued a minute later, shortening the benches significantly for the remainder of regulation. The Wolverines got a final goal at 18:17 from Seamus Casey for the final 7-1 margin. MSU had its most shots in the final frame (10), and Michigan put 14 on the board for a total of 35 in the game.

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Team Stats

Nicolas Müller

Jeremy Davidson

Reed Lebster

Artyom Levshunov

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Jeremy Davidson

Tanner Kelly

Reed Lebster