MSU hockey 'goons it up,' but Michigan wins again
Michigan hockey is on an absolute tear, and even Michigan State’s “physical” play in East Lansing couldn’t slow the Wolverines. U-M jumped out to a 3-0 lead, withstood a barrage of penalties provoked by the Spartans, and won its sixth straight game to move into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten.
The two teams will meet again tonight at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit in the “duel in the D” after Michigan’s 4-2 win Friday.
Sophomore Mackie Samoskevich opened the scoring just 3:17 into the game to quiet a loud MSU sellout crowd. He took a pass from T.J. Hughes and buried a one-timer to give Michigan early momentum.
They’d parlay that into a 3-goal first period and 3-0 lead. Sniper Adam Fantilli scored 27 seconds into Michigan’s first power play at 7:19 to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. Gavin Brindley took a pass from Steven Holtz and buried a one-timer into a wide-open net to make it 3-0 at 11:26.
Then it started to get chippy, with several melees (video here). Michigan’s Ethan Edwards hit MSU’s Matt Basgall behind the Spartans’ net, for which he earned a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct and was ejected.
Michigan State’s Jaggar Joshua took a shot at U-M goalie Erik Portillo to start another, and it escalated from there. Adam Fantilli and MSU’s Nash Nienhuis got into it and received game misconducts. Both will miss tonight’s rematch.
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Michigan ended the night with 13 penalties for 48 penalty minutes. Michigan State had 15 for 57. Even so, U-M coach Brandon Naurato wasn’t pleased with the whistle.
“… They can’t play with us unless they goon it up,” Naurato said.
“You can ask any guy in that room. We hate these guys and we always say you can’t beat these guys enough,” Michigan captain Nolan Moyle added. “So yeah, it was good to coming out with a road win. It’s a huge win and a huge three points for us.”
Naurato was blunt about the officiating.
“The game changes when … we have the puck the whole game, and we’re chasing the game, because we’re in the box,” Naurato said.
But the Wolverines won, and the fireworks kept it interesting until a late, empty net goal sealed the deal. It should make for an interesting rematch tonight in Detroit.
