Icers split weekend series with Michigan

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Fans were on the edge of their seats. Players on both benches were on their feet. And no one knew what the end result would be until the final whistle.

It was a typical weekend of hockey in the rivalry series between No. 12 MSU and No. 20 Michigan.

Both games were hard-fought, emotion-filled battles. MSU came out on top, 3-2, Friday night at Munn Ice Arena and U-M earned the weekend split, 5-4, Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

After losing all five games to U-M last season, the Spartans posted a 3-1-0 record against the Wolverines this year.

As expected, both games were seesaw affairs that came down to the wire. A quick whistle here or a quick whistle there could have decided the final outcome.

On Saturday, a late scrum in front of the net left players and fans searching for the puck around the MSU crease. Eventually, the puck found its way onto the stick of U-M forward Chris Brown, who tallied the game-winner with 2:07 left in the third period.

On Friday, the Wolverines thought they had recorded the game-tying goal with 31 seconds remaining in regulation. The puck snuck under sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano, but the official had whistled the play dead before the puck crossed the line.

Both games were that close.

“I thought the ref was going to blow the whistle,” Brown said of his game-winner on Saturday. “But he held off for a couple seconds and I was fortunate enough to put it in. He blew the whistle a little early (Friday) night, but he made up for it (Saturday) and let us battle it out.”

The Spartans drastically were outplayed in every aspect during the first period Saturday night. MSU entered the locker room trailing the Wolverines 3-0 at the first intermission.

“We just said we have to get back to our game and play simple,” junior forward Andrew Rowe said of the Spartans’ talk during the first intermission. “We were trying to do too much. It seemed to work out. We got back to our game and back to our system and popped a few goals and got a spark under our legs.”

The second period was all MSU. Rowe started the charge, scoring a shorthanded goal at 3:42, his fifth straight game with a goal against U-M. Sophomore forward Brett Perlini tacked on another MSU goal at 8:36, and junior defenseman Jeff Petry kept the offense rolling early less than a minute into the third period, notching the game at three.

Then freshman forward Dean Chelios worked some magic behind the net and slammed home a wraparound to give the Spartans the 4-3 lead at 13:09.

It could have been one of the biggest wins of the season for the Spartans. And it could have sent the Wolverines spiraling.

But two U-M goals with less than five minutes remaining in the game secured the weekend split for the Wolverines and left the Spartans empty-handed after digging themselves out of a huge hole.

“We had to battle back in the third period,” U-M head coach Red Berenson said.

“We had the lead going into the third period and we shouldn’t be battling back. But that’s the way the game turned. We were lucky.”

MSU head coach Rick Comley was happy the Spartans made it that close.

“I thought our kids battled back hard,” Comley said. “They did a heck of a job.”

Friday’s game was the complete opposite of Saturday’s.

The Spartans jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the third period but watched the lead disintegrate as the Wolverines scored two goals in the third period to bring the game within a goal with two minutes remaining.

The Wolverines had a flurry of chances in the waning moments of the game, including the controversial quick whistle that negated the U-M tying goal.

Despite several costly penalties that almost allowed the Wolverines back in the game, MSU (17-9-4 overall, 12-6-4-1 CCHA) was able to hold on and earn the victory.

“It was a barn-burner and a solid win for us,” Comley said. “The game had a little bit of everything. It was a good MSU vs. Michigan hockey game.”

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