Spartans Stage Rally, Win 7-5 at Michigan

East Lansing, Mich. – No 7/5 Michigan State put together a dramatic six-goal rally in the final 30 minutes to post a 7-5 victory over No. 15/14 Michigan on the road in Ann Arbor on Saturday to earn a split in the weekend series. In overcoming a three-goal deficit, the Spartans staged their largest comeback effort in Ann Arbor in program history.

Fifth-year senior Nicolas Müller had two goals and two assists in the game, combining with his winger Jeremy Davidson (goal, two assists) to lead the Spartans on the scoreboard. MSU had six different goal scorers and five players with multiple-point efforts. Freshman Trey Augustine set the tone early with 18 first-period stops as the home team tried to set the table for a big offensive night. He made 12 saves in the second period and then 13 more in the final period to finish with 43 saves – one short of his career best.

The Spartans trailed 4-1 at the 10:13 mark of the second period after back-to-back goals by Michigan sophomore Rutger McGroarty, but then reeled off six consecutive goals - four straight to finish off the period and then two more in the third – before the Wolverines scored an extra attacker goal with 2:03 remaining in the game to cut the deficit down to two goals. Isaac Howard, Müller, Gavin O'Connell, and Davidson reeled off four goals in a seven-minute span to turn that three-goal deficit into a 5-4 advantage headed into the final period.

Müller scored the first goal of the third period at 8:37 and then the Spartans got an empty-netter from sophomore Joey Larson at 16:42 to ice the victory. The Wolverines kept Barczewski on the bench in favor of an extra skater with a three-goal deficit, and that paid off with a Dylan Duke extra attacker score with 2:03 remaining.

TJ Hughes scored the first two goals for Michigan (11-8-3, 4-6-2 B1G), and McGroarty scored the next two before Duke's extra attacker goal. Barczewski made 23 saves.

The teams each won on the road this weekend – MSU avenged a 7-1 loss from Friday that was marred by more than 160 combined penalty minutes. Both teams were under far more control on Friday, as MSU took three minor penalties and Michigan two. Each team scored once on the power play.

MSU returns home to host a two-game series against Minnesota, which starts next Friday.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Nicolas Müller had a career-best four-point effort with two goals and two assists. His two-goal game on Friday also matched his career high, last accomplished in last year's Big Ten quarterfinal win at Notre Dame (March 5).
Müller also has established his season best with a point in five straight games, with three goals and seven assists in that span.
Jeremy Davidson had a goal and two assists in the contest and contributed a four-point weekend. His three-point game is his season best.
Artyom Levshunov scored his seventh goal of the season in the first period and added an assist to push his season point total to 26. That is the most since AJ Thelen's 11-18-29 in 2003-04.
Joey Larson had a goal and an assist on the night and now has a 15-13-28 line, which surpasses his 27 points as a freshman at Northern Michigan in 2022-23.
Freshman Gavin O'Connell remains second on the team in goal scoring (11), and also added an assist on Saturday, his eighth of the year.
Sophomore Isaac Howard scored his first goal since his return from World Juniors, kick-starting MSU's six-goal rally with a goal at 10:53 of the second. It was his sixth goal of the season and moves him to 21 points in 22 games.
MSU's four goals in the second frame were the most it had scored in any period this season.
The Spartans have scored seven goals on each of the last two Saturdays, and both in road venues. MSU's high this season in a home Big Ten game is five, against Penn State (11/11) and Notre Dame (12/8).
MSU had lost eight straight at Yost Ice Arena, with its last win coming in November of 2019 (4-3). MSU also snapped a four-game skid against its archrival, which included the Friday night loss at Munn.
The Spartans have scored seven or more goals at Yost just nine times, and Saturday was the first time since Nov. 11, 1986 (7-6 W).
MSU has earned at least three points in every Big Ten series this season. MSU holds a four-point edge over second-place Wisconsin (which was idle this weekend) in the Big Ten standings, and a 10-point lead over third-place Notre Dame.
The Spartans now have 10 Big Ten wins, one shy of its all-time best.
Michigan State now has 103 goals on the season through Jan. 20. It scored 107 a year ago in 38 games.

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Team Stats

Nicolas Müller

Jeremy Davidson

Artyom Levshunov

Gavin O'Connell

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Jeremy Davidson

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Artyom Levshunov

Gavin O'Connell

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Jeremy Davidson

Isaac Howard

Joey Larson

Artyom Levshunov

Gavin O'Connell