EAST LANSING – Michigan State hockey made a statement in its conference play debut with a two-game sweep over No. 3 Penn State at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans proved its ranking by winning both games against the Nittany Lions.
Penn State traveled to East Lansing without 2024 Hobey Baker Award finalist Aiden Fink. During its road trip to Columbus, Fink suffered an upper-body injury and is out for the “foreseeable future,” according to head coach Guy Gadowsky. Fink recorded nine points in nine games played this season, and the Nittany Lions will be without his production for the majority of this season.
Game 1
Both teams entering this series had top-ten offenses in terms of scoring efficiency, and the ice featured a total of 14 NHL draft picks skating on Friday night. This highly anticipated contest between two of the top offenses in the nation was predicted to be high scoring, but that was not the case.
The Spartans struck first late into the first period off the stick of Romani to send the Munnsters into a frenzy. Romani and Lee showed great teamwork with a well-executed give-and-go play behind the Nittany Lions’ net, allowing Romani to beat Penn State’s goaltender Kevin Reidler on a wrist shot from the slot.
The Nittany Lions were quick to respond, however, as top NHL prospect Gavin McKenna fired in a wrister that went off a Spartan’s skate before redirecting past junior goaltender Trey Augustine to make it a tied contest.
The game remained scoreless in the third period, despite the Spartans having multiple breakaway opportunities.
A contest that went overtime was more than fitting for these two hockey powerhouses. The Spartans had a great look just six seconds into the extra period, as Senior forward Charlie Stramel had his wrister saved on a breakaway opportunity.
Junior forward Tommi Mannisto drew two Nittany Lion defenders, allowing him to pass to an open Tiernan Shoudy. The senior forward showed great patience to place his wrister past Reidler, giving the Spartans the win in the first game of this series.
Shoudy gave all the credit to Mannisto following the game.
“Tommi had great poise,” said Shoudy. “He came around the net, and I thought it was open right away, but he made a great play. I was kind of the back door and took my time a little bit. I figured he was going to pass it. He was staring at me the whole time. I think he was just looking for a lane. Two guys came onto him, so he made an unbelievable play, and I was just fortunate enough to be there.”
Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale had great praise for Reidler’s performance despite the loss.
“I thought there were parts of the game that we played better, and parts of the game that I’ll give to them. I thought both goalies played well. I thought (Tommi) Mannisto, he had multiple breakaways, and their guy did a heck of a job.”
Game 2
It’s well known that Nightingale teams perform well in the second game of a series, and on Saturday night, that narrative proved to be correct. Augustine had a season-high 36 saves in net, leading to his third shutout of the season so far. Augustine is now 10-4-2 against top 5 opponents in his career at Michigan State.
Nittany Lions goaltender Joshua Fleming, started off his campaign at 4-0, got the nod in net on Saturday night.
Offensively, the Spartans started off strong, scoring a couple of minutes into the contest. Freshman forward Porter Martone showed off his great vision, finding senior fellow 1st linesman Charlie Stramel, who beat Fleming with a quick wrister to give the Spartans an early lead.
Stramel quickly returned the favor as he squeezed a puck past two defenders to Martone, who quickly shot into an open net, giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Next up was Colin Ralph, a sophomore transfer from St. Cloud State, scoring his first goal as a Spartan close to the halfway point in the second period.
With a little under four minutes to go in the contest, Penn State pulled Fleming for an additional skater. The Nittany Lions were able to create some pressure, but not before senior Daniel Russell intercepted a pass and poked it to Stramel, who easily scored his second of the night on an empty net.
Things proceeded to get chippy between the two programs as frustration set in for the Nittany Lions late in the third period. A flurry of penalties was handed out, leading to a 5-3 advantage for the Spartans, where Romani quickly capitalized on a pretty feed from Russell.
Nightingale was happy with how his team played in game two compared to game one.
“We’ve talked a lot about trying to get better from game-to-game and I thought we were better tonight than we were last night, we talked about that as a group. That’s what I’ve enjoyed about this group. Even after we had to win the game in overtime on Friday, I wasn’t dancing and doing all this stuff, it’s hey, we’ve got to get better tomorrow, and we’ve got to play better tomorrow. I thought we skated better, we got on the forecheck better, and obviously you’re playing a good team.”
That win improved the Spartans’ record to 7-1-0 and 2-0-0 in conference play, and MSU earned five of six available points.
Michigan State travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame in a two-game road series on Friday and Saturday, where the Spartans will look to improve to 9-1-0 and 4-0-0 in conference play.
