Middendorf Nets Four In Blitz of Badgers, 5-0

East Lansing -- Michigan State earned its first Big Ten win of the season on Friday, recording a 5-0 shutout of visiting Wisconsin.

Michigan State (5-3-1, 1-1-1 Big Ten) got four goals from Erik Middendorf and a 44-save shutout from Dylan St. Cyr, who established a new season high in saves and recorded his 11^th career shutout.

MSU jumped on the board in the first period with a pair of goals from Middendorf that came 15 seconds apart, sending them into the locker room with a lead. MSU scored twice more - one from Middendorf and one from Tanner Kelly – to double the lead, and closed it out with a fourth from the senior winger in the third period.

MSU has extinguished 21 consecutive opponent power play opportunities over five-plus games, dating back to the second game against UMass-Lowell on Oct. 14. MSU killed off five opportunities against on Friday, including nine minutes alone on a five-minute major and two minors in the second period. The Spartans were 1-for-2 on the man advantage.

Jared Moe made 30 saves for the Badgers (2-7-0, 0-5-0 Big Ten).

The Spartans wrap up the series with the Badgers on Saturday at 6 pm.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Erik Middendorf had a career-best four goals on the night.
Justin Jallen and Viktor Hurtig each had their first points as a Spartan in the game. Both assisted on Middendorf tallies – Jallen the first, Hurtig the fourth.
Nash Nienhuis had two assists on the night to earn the game's third star.
Dylan St. Cyr set his season best in saves for the third straight game, with 44. His career best is 46, vs. Denver on Oct. 13, 2017.
St. Cyr had his 11^th career shutout, which ties him for third among active Division I players.
Middendorf's four goals is the first time since January 10, 1998 that a Spartan player has scored four (or more) times in a game – Sean Berens had four in a 6-1 win over Northern Michigan.
The school record for goals in a game is five – it was accomplished four times, most recent by Mike Donnelly vs. Ohio State on Dec. 14, 1985.
MSU was whistled for six penalties amassing 23 minutes, but killed off all five power play chances against.
The Spartans were outshot 44-35 on the night, just the second time this season that MSU had fewer shots than its opponent. It was a season high for shots against for the Spartans, bettering the 40 put on net by Notre Dame (10/29).

First Period: Erik Middendorf scored twice within 15 seconds to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead at the 12:13 mark of the frame. The first, he put back a rebound off a Justin Jallen shot, the second assisted by Matt Basgall, his fifth assist of the season. MSU had 20 shots in the period, the second-most in a period this season and the most in a period against the Badgers in 23 years.

Second Period: MSU skated a man down for seven of the first eight minutes of the period, but regrouped to double the lead with two goals in latter half of the frame. Middendorf scored on a Spartan power play at the 13:23 mark to complete his hat trick, and Tanner Kelly converted a backhand attempt on a 2-on-0 break with Jagger Joshua at 17:50.

Third Period: MSU made it a 5-0 game with Middendorf's fourth of the night at 6:10, as he flipped the puck over a prone Moe and the Badger defenseman. The Spartans had just six shots on net in that final period – tying the fewest its put on net in the third period this season. The visitors, meanwhile, had 16 shots in the third frame, the most of any opponent this year.