No. 2 Michigan State Routs No. 13 Wolverines, 6-1, in 'Duel in the D'
It was somewhat of a deja vu type of weekend for No. 2 Michigan State hockey.
Just as they had done in their last weekend series with their most hated rivals, the Spartans were narrowly bested by No. 13 Michigan on Friday, only to turn around and soundly vanquish the Wolverines on Saturday.
Michigan State answered Friday's loss with a 6-1 conquering of the Wolverines at Little Caesars Arena in this year's edition of the "Duel in the D."
The Spartans were led by junior forward Joey Larson, who finished with a goal and two assists.
Yet again, there was an abundance of penalties in this gritty meeting. After the teams committed a combined 16 penalties on Friday, the total reached 20 in Saturday's meeting, six of which were taken by Michigan in the third period.
Michigan State was able to score on the first power play of the game, which came less than 4-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Freshman forward Shane Vansaghi had the honor, securing the fourth goal of his young career. He was assisted by junior forward Isaac Howard and graduate defenseman Nicklas Andrews.
Later in the period, Michigan would tie it up with a goal from junior defenseman Tyler Duke.
The game would be all even at a goal apiece at the end of the first.
It remained deadlocked until the 6:29 mark of the second period, as Spartan sophomore forward Gavin O'Connell put Michigan State back on top with his fifth goal of the season. He was assisted by Larson and Andrews.
It didn't take long for the Spartans to build on their lead, as freshman forward Mikey DeAngelo found the back of the net just over 2 minutes later, notching the third goal of his career.
Michigan State would take the two-goal advantage into the second intermission.
The Spartans would quickly strike again early in the third, as Larson was able to score his own goal this time. less than a minute-and-a-half into the period. O'Connell and junior forward Karsen Dorwart were credited with the assists.
Michigan State wouldn't let up. It added to its lead with a fifth goal at the 12:11 mark of the period, this time from junior forward Tiernan Shoudy, who was assisted by freshman defenseman Owen West and sophomore goalie Trey Augustine.
Roughly 7 minutes later, Howard would add the exclamation point, sending one between the pipes with a five-on-three power-play goal.
The Spartans once again split the weekend series, improving to 22-5-3 on the year and 13-4-3 in conference play.
They will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 21 when they host Penn State in Game 1 of what will be Michigan State's final home series of the season.
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