Friday, February 17
Madison, WI
9 pm ET/8 pm CT
Michigan State University
16-15-2, 10-11-2
6
at
2
Wisconsin
11-20-0, 4-17-0
1
2
3
F
Michigan St.
3
2
1
6
Wisconsin
0
2
0
2
Spartans Blitz Badgers, 6-2
2/18/2023 12:24:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Madison, Wis.. – No. 17/14 Michigan State earned a big road win at Wisconsin on Friday, downing the Badgers 6-2.
The Spartans (16-15-2, 10-11-2 Big Ten) came out assertive and put three goals on the board in the opening frame and answered both scores by their hosts in the second period within a two-minute span. With a three-goal lead entering the third, the Spartans tacked on a power play goal by Jagger Joshua in the final period for the final margin of victory.
The game featured the first goals of the season for freshman defenseman Viktor Hurtig and junior transfer Zach Dubinsky, as MSU had five players with multiple-point efforts, including a goal and two assists from Nicolas Müller, three assists from Erik Middendorf and Matt Basgall, and a goal and an assist for Jeremy Davidson.
Wisconsin 11-20-0, 4-17-0 B1G) got goals from Tyson Jugnauth and Zach Urdal, but Dylan St. Cyr was on point and turned away 33 shots on the night for MSU.
MSU has just one game remaining in the regular season, as MSU is idle next week as the six other Big Ten teams conclude their Conference slates. With this being the last weekend that MSU could control its own fate, the Spartans sit in third place with 34 points, two behind second-place Michigan (36) and one ahead of fourth-place Ohio State (33) – and those two teams meet on Saturday. Minnesota has secured its sixth Big Ten Conference regular-season title, (49 points), while Notre Dame (31 points), Penn State (30 points) and Wisconsin (12 points) sit in spots five through nine. Notre Dame is idle this weekend.
Wisconsin and Michigan State complete the season series on Saturday at the Kohl Center (7 pm).
STATISTICS OF NOTE
PERIOD SUMMARIES
First Period: Before the game was four minutes old, Cole Krygier was whistled for a five minute major for contact to the head, with a game misconduct. That gave the home team an extended power play early, but MSU forced the Badgers to continuously chase the puck deep into their defensive zone, allowing Wisconsin just two shots on net. Shortly after the penalty was extinguished, the Spartans got on the board when Jeremy Davidson fed Nicolas Müller at the right post, and he flipped the puck over goalie Kyle McClellan for the early MSU lead. MSU appeared to have doubled its lead at 15:21 when Müller flipped the script and fed Middendorf, but the officials reviewed at Wisconsin's request and the goal was waived off, deeming it kicked in. On the ensuing faceoff, Michigan State put the goal back on the board as quickly as it was taken off. Zach Dubinsky tipped a blast from the point by Matt Basgall, his first goal as a Spartan, at 15:35. David Gucciardi made it a 3-0 lead at 18:47, keeping the puck in the zone at the top of the left circle on a clearing attempt. The sophomore brought it to the right hash and ripped it home for his fourth goal of the season and a 3-0 MSU lead. The home team had a 12-11 edge in shots on net, as St. Cyr turned away all 12 he faced and McClellan stopped eight.
Second Period: The second period was a wild one, with four goals in a four-minute span leading into the halfway point of the period. Wisconsin's first goal of the night came on the power play at 6:02 when Tyson Jugnauth's shot from the left half wall went in for the freshman defenseman's sixth of the season, but Viktor Hurtig scored his first goal as a Spartan at 7:48, finishing off a rush that featured a sweet drop pass by Müller to Middendorf for the primary helper on the freshman's score. A turnover deep in MSU's own zone landed on the stick of Zach Urdahl to cut it to 4-2, but 67 seconds later, the Spartans answered once again – a wicked shot by Jeremy Davidson from the top of the right circle whistled over the glove hand of McClellan for the 5-2 MSU lead. That spelled the end of the night for McClellan, who was spelled by Jared Moe after surrendering five goals and making eight saves. Wisconsin took their first two penalties of the night in the final five minutes of the period, giving MSU a minute of 5x3 – the Badgers killed off both penalties, but were whistled for a third with 1:23 remaining. Wisconsin outshot the visitors 11-8 in the period, but remained in a three-goal deficit when the final buzzer sounded in the period.
Third Period: There was no scoring until midway in the period, when the Spartans converted their first power play goal of the night. Müller made a bid for his second goal of the night, which was stopped by Moe, the rebound came out to a completely unchecked Jagger Joshua at the left post, who had an empty net to deposit his 13th goal of the season. Müller and Basgall picked up the assists on the play, pushing the pair each to three-point nights. St. Cyr made 12 more saves in the third to preserve MSU's sizeable lead, finishing the night with 33 saves.
The Spartans (16-15-2, 10-11-2 Big Ten) came out assertive and put three goals on the board in the opening frame and answered both scores by their hosts in the second period within a two-minute span. With a three-goal lead entering the third, the Spartans tacked on a power play goal by Jagger Joshua in the final period for the final margin of victory.
The game featured the first goals of the season for freshman defenseman Viktor Hurtig and junior transfer Zach Dubinsky, as MSU had five players with multiple-point efforts, including a goal and two assists from Nicolas Müller, three assists from Erik Middendorf and Matt Basgall, and a goal and an assist for Jeremy Davidson.
Wisconsin 11-20-0, 4-17-0 B1G) got goals from Tyson Jugnauth and Zach Urdal, but Dylan St. Cyr was on point and turned away 33 shots on the night for MSU.
MSU has just one game remaining in the regular season, as MSU is idle next week as the six other Big Ten teams conclude their Conference slates. With this being the last weekend that MSU could control its own fate, the Spartans sit in third place with 34 points, two behind second-place Michigan (36) and one ahead of fourth-place Ohio State (33) – and those two teams meet on Saturday. Minnesota has secured its sixth Big Ten Conference regular-season title, (49 points), while Notre Dame (31 points), Penn State (30 points) and Wisconsin (12 points) sit in spots five through nine. Notre Dame is idle this weekend.
Wisconsin and Michigan State complete the season series on Saturday at the Kohl Center (7 pm).
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- With a goal and two assists tonight, Nicolas Müller scored his fourth goal in five games and has 4-6-10 in his last eight contests. The senior has a career-best (and team high) 29 points.
- Jeremy Davidson had a goal and an assist, and now has 2-4-6 in his last five games. He owns a 4-3-7 scoring line in five games against Wisconsin at MSU.
- After a four-goal performance against the Badgers in the first meeting of the teams in November, Erik Middendorf had three assists in tonight's game. He now owns a 7-4-11 scoring line against the Badgers in seven career games.
- Zach Dubinsky got his first goal as a Spartan in the first period, tipping a blast by Matt Basgall in the low slot. He had his first multiple-point game in Green and White by adding an assist on Gucciardi's goal.
- David Gucciardi scored his fourth of the season in the final 90 seconds of the first period.
- Jagger Joshua scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play in the third period. It is his team-best seventh power play goal of the season.
- Matt Basgall had a career-best three-assist night, his third career multiple-point game
- Michael Underwood blocked a team-high four shots as MSU out-blocked the Badgers 11-9.
- MSU's 16 wins is the most since 2014, when the Spartans finished 17-16-2. It was also the last time the Spartans finished over .500 on the season.
- With 10 Big Ten victories, MSU could tie its all-time best of 11, set in 2014-15 and 2019-20.
- With 96 goals scored this season, MSU is on the cusp of surpassing 100 in a season for the first time since 2011-12.
- The Spartans have scored at least five goals in each game against the Badgers this season. MSU won 5-0 and 5-1 decisions when the teams met in November in East Lansing.
- With both Müller and Davidson scoring their seventh goals of the season, the Spartans now have eight players with seven goals or more for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
- MSU has scored a power play goal for the sixth straight game, their longest such streak of the season. MSU was 1-for-5 on the power play on the night, and 4-for-5 on the kill
- MSU is 10-0-1 when scoring four or more goals this season. MSU scored four goals or more on just four occasions in 2021-22.
PERIOD SUMMARIES
First Period: Before the game was four minutes old, Cole Krygier was whistled for a five minute major for contact to the head, with a game misconduct. That gave the home team an extended power play early, but MSU forced the Badgers to continuously chase the puck deep into their defensive zone, allowing Wisconsin just two shots on net. Shortly after the penalty was extinguished, the Spartans got on the board when Jeremy Davidson fed Nicolas Müller at the right post, and he flipped the puck over goalie Kyle McClellan for the early MSU lead. MSU appeared to have doubled its lead at 15:21 when Müller flipped the script and fed Middendorf, but the officials reviewed at Wisconsin's request and the goal was waived off, deeming it kicked in. On the ensuing faceoff, Michigan State put the goal back on the board as quickly as it was taken off. Zach Dubinsky tipped a blast from the point by Matt Basgall, his first goal as a Spartan, at 15:35. David Gucciardi made it a 3-0 lead at 18:47, keeping the puck in the zone at the top of the left circle on a clearing attempt. The sophomore brought it to the right hash and ripped it home for his fourth goal of the season and a 3-0 MSU lead. The home team had a 12-11 edge in shots on net, as St. Cyr turned away all 12 he faced and McClellan stopped eight.
Second Period: The second period was a wild one, with four goals in a four-minute span leading into the halfway point of the period. Wisconsin's first goal of the night came on the power play at 6:02 when Tyson Jugnauth's shot from the left half wall went in for the freshman defenseman's sixth of the season, but Viktor Hurtig scored his first goal as a Spartan at 7:48, finishing off a rush that featured a sweet drop pass by Müller to Middendorf for the primary helper on the freshman's score. A turnover deep in MSU's own zone landed on the stick of Zach Urdahl to cut it to 4-2, but 67 seconds later, the Spartans answered once again – a wicked shot by Jeremy Davidson from the top of the right circle whistled over the glove hand of McClellan for the 5-2 MSU lead. That spelled the end of the night for McClellan, who was spelled by Jared Moe after surrendering five goals and making eight saves. Wisconsin took their first two penalties of the night in the final five minutes of the period, giving MSU a minute of 5x3 – the Badgers killed off both penalties, but were whistled for a third with 1:23 remaining. Wisconsin outshot the visitors 11-8 in the period, but remained in a three-goal deficit when the final buzzer sounded in the period.
Third Period: There was no scoring until midway in the period, when the Spartans converted their first power play goal of the night. Müller made a bid for his second goal of the night, which was stopped by Moe, the rebound came out to a completely unchecked Jagger Joshua at the left post, who had an empty net to deposit his 13th goal of the season. Müller and Basgall picked up the assists on the play, pushing the pair each to three-point nights. St. Cyr made 12 more saves in the third to preserve MSU's sizeable lead, finishing the night with 33 saves.
Team Stats
MSU
WIS
Shots
25
35
PPG
1
1
SHG
0
0
Penalties
6
5
Penalty Mins
23
10
Faceoffs Won
15
33
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
2
+/-
3
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
3
+/-
3
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
3
+/-
3
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
1
Players Mentioned
D
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