COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heading into tonight’s contest against Ohio State, Michigan State was 3-0 when scoring the first goal of the game and 0-6 when giving up the first goal.
The trend continues as the Spartans took a 3-1 win Thursday night in each team’s Big Ten opener.
After a remarkable series in 2013-14, in which four of their five games reached an extra period, another tight defensive battle was expected between the Spartans and Buckeyes.
Play in the early part of the first period was more of a feeling out process, as no team could generate quality scoring opportunities.
This changed at the 12:03 mark as Villiam Haag buried his second goal of the season, taking a rebound in the low slot, making a move to his right, and firing the puck home past OSU goalie Matt Tomkins to give his team a 1-0 lead. Carson Gatt was credited with the assist on the play.
Matt Berry, who was a notorious point producer against OSU last season, went to work on the power play in the second period. Taking a pass on the left point, Berry walked through the top of the circle and sent a laser beam top shelf past the glove of Tomkins, putting Sparty up 2-0 with 13:13 remaining. Giving helpers were Travis Walsh and MSU captain Michael Ferrantino.
Heading into his final season of Big Ten play as a senior, Berry wants to take advantage of every minute.
“I think knowing it’s my last year, I just have to give it my all every single game and just play as hard as I can,” Berry said. “Coming into the conference [schedule], I wanted to start off right and our whole line did and I thought our line played well as a whole. I thought we worked hard and cycled the puck well and played good together.”
Michigan State (4-6-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten) went 1-for-2 on the man advantage while Ohio State went 0-for-3, something Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik made a point of assessing.
“They scored on the power play, we didn’t,” Rohlik said. “At the end of the day, those things are the difference.”
Early in the third, Berry tallied his second point of the evening, as he took a puck sent to him by Ferrantino, walked into the Buckeye zone on the left-wing side, walked to the slot, and funneled a picture-perfect pass to Brent Darnell, waiting at the bottom of the circle, who ripped a shot in the upper echelon of the net, putting the Spartans up 3-0 3:43 into the final frame.
Tomkins made 17 stops for Ohio State (3-7-1, 0-1-0 Big Ten).
The Buckeyes battled back, though, as Tyler Lundey put the home team on the board with his second goal of the campaign, putting a shot over the shoulder of Jake Hildebrand to bring the Buckeyes back within two with 2:33 remaining in the game. The goal came with an extra man on the ice.
That would be the only time that Hildebrand would see red lights behind him. The junior had a spectacular performance, stopping 34 of 35 pucks sent his way. He attributed most of the success he had to the defensive performance in front of him.
“A couple times in the second and third period, there were scrambles, the [defense] were clearing bodies and getting the puck out, especially on a couple rebounds in the third period,” Hildebrand said. “It was great to see that and my hat’s off to them.”
Although it might not be complete revenge for Michigan State, who had its season ended in the quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament last March, they can appreciate the fact that they pounded out a quality win on the road.
Rohlik gave credit where credit was due and wants his team to work harder on getting more second chance opportunities for the road ahead.
“We had some chances,” Rohlik said. “We got in there and their goaltender made the saves. Give them credit. It’s up to our guys to create second and third chances and if you’re not willing to pay the price and get into the paint and get in there and find a rebound, you’re probably not going to have that chance.”
For Michigan State coach Tom Anastos, he’s happy about his team gaining confidence after sustaining some tough one-goal losses against some of the nation’s best teams earlier this season.
“I like the group that we have,” said Anastos. “I think they worked hard. We’ve gone through a very demanding early part of our season. To come on the road, to play here against a team like this that’s just as hungry as us to win and get out of here with a win tonight is certainly a good start to our Big Ten season.”
