No. 3 Michigan State gets 'good response,' finishes sweep of Ohio State

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The latest signs that Michigan State hockey is pretty good? One, the Spartans felt the need to bounce back and respond on Saturday … after a victory the night before.

And two, Michigan State is a place where hot visiting teams come to get cooled off.

The Spartans beat No. 12 Ohio State 4-1 on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 6,555 at Munn Ice Arena, completing a sweep of the Spartans’ first Big Ten weekend series of the season. 

Ohio State came to Michigan State with a 7-0-1 record, the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten, and the conference’s hottest team.

But the Spartans held off the Buckeyes, 4-2, on Friday night, and came back from an early 1-0 deficit to handle Ohio State on Saturday.  

“I told them it’s not often you say ‘Good response’ after a win, but I thought that’s what happened,” said Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale. “Friday night, I really liked us for 45, 50 minutes of that game, and we got away from it. I talked to our group about trying to play a complete game, play 60 minutes. It was a good weekend for our team.”

 The Buckeyes fell to 7-2-1 and 2-2 in the conference. No. 3-ranked Michigan State is 7-1 and 2-0.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Gavin O’Connell and Shane Vansaghi scored for Michigan State in the second period. Isaac Howard scored in the third. Daniel Russell added an empty-netter.

It was the first goal of the season for O’Connell, a sophomore forward from Plymouth, Minn. Howard and Charlie Stramel assisted.

Vansaghi’s goal was the first of his college career. The 6-foot-2 freshman, from St. Louis, Mo., deflected a wide shot/pass from defenseman Matt Basgall. 

“That was a heck of a tip,” Nightingale said. “You don’t see it that often when it’s that solid. It (Basgall’s shot) was missing the net by a bit. You have to be at the net and then you have to be competitive and you have to have hand-eye and it happens fast. We’ve got a number of guys like that.”

“Good for him. He’s had a lot of good looks here. I thought he’s played really well for us and it’s good to see him get rewarded.”

Russell, a sophomore left wing from Traverse City, leads the team with six goals. 

Howard, a junior left wing from Hudson, Wis., scored his fifth of the season. 

HOW IT WENT DOWN

Ohio State took a 1-0 lead on Michigan State, 3:32 into the game, on a fluke bounce off the back boards and off the back of goalie Trey Augustine’s leg.

“We were down by a goal, playing a really good hockey team, and we knew they were going to push,” Nightingale said. “And there was no panic.

“I thought in the second period is where we were able to control a lot of the play. We stayed with it. That’s what’s big with our group is just not getting bored being us. When we’re us, we’ve got a chance to be a pretty good hockey team.

“I think the group understands it’s not about the scoreboards. Just keep doing it the right way and believing you can’t all the sudden chase the game. Believe over the course of time if you do it the right way it doesn’t guarantee that you are going to win but it does help you get close to being a better version of us. That’s where our constant focus is. It’s the next-shift mentality and I thought the guys did a good job of that.”

TOP LINE CONFAB

Michigan State’s No. 1 line of Russell, center Karsen Dorwart and right wing Joey Larson were a -2 on Friday night. Dorwart, a junior from Sherwood, Ore., tied for second on the team in goals last year with 15. He’s yet to score a goal this season.

Larson, a junior from Brighton who transferred last year from Northern Michigan, led the Spartans with 16 goals last season. He has three this year. 

Nightingale had a sit-down with Russell, Dorwart and Larson after Saturday morning’s team meeting. 

“We met with their line just to talk about some areas that they need to be better at,” Nightingale said. “A lot of times it’s sweat-related. You’ve got to work. It’s not that they weren’t trying. They’re three really good players, so teams are going to be aware when they’re on the ice. So they had to move their feet and move the puck and support the puck. I thought tonight it was great.”

And that mindset expanded to the second line of Stramel, Howard and O’Connell.

“On both goals they were hungry around the net. On Ike’s in particular, Gavin did a heck of a job being net-front, so the goalie didn’t see it. Charlie (Stramel) was in front of the net on Gavin’s. 

“It’s not rocket science. If you want goals, go to the net and sometimes you can lose track of that as a player.”

IZZO, SMITH, GUSKIEWICZ

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo, football coach Jonathan Smith and university president Kevin Guskiewicz attended Saturday’s game, and offered vocal support of the Spartan hockey team.

“We’re super fortunate,” Nightingale said. “We’ve got great sports but I think hockey is a special sport here. For our president to come and spend time, and he’s spent time with recruits, and Coach Izzo – I’ve talked about him – and Coach Smith, that’s what makes Michigan State special, right? 

“Obviously the facilities are great, it’s unbelievable education, but it’s the people and it’s everyone pulling on the same rope. Any chance we get to get out and support the other teams, we do. And we love having them here.”