With the win, the Spartans improve to 19-13-4 overall with a 14-11-3-2 mark in the conference. The win also solidifies MSU’s fifth place spot in the CCHA, giving them a first-round bye in the CCHA Tournament and a best-of-three series on the road against Miami (Ohio) during the weekend of March 9-11.

The Fighting Irish got the scoring going early in the first period on Saturday’s game. Forward Anders Lee cleaned up a rebound and redirected it past Yanakeff at 10:57 to jump ahead of the Spartans, 1-0.

But the Spartans converted on a two-on-one opportunity late in the period to tie the game. With Notre Dame making a lineup change, junior forward Kevin Walrod took advantage of the odd-man rush and sent a wrist shot from the right circle to the back of the net at 17:02 to bring the game to knot the game at one goal apiece.

Near the midpoint of the second period, Notre Dame once again took the lead, this time on a shorthanded tally. Even with MSU on the power play chance, forward T.J. Tynan found some space in the attacking zone and beat Yanakeff on his stick side to give the Fighting Irish the lead.

Matching the shorthanded magic, the Spartans picked up one of their own toward the end of the second period. Junior forward Anthony Hayes found fellow junior forward Chris Forfar in front of the net on a two-on-one rush at 17:01 to bring the game to a 2-2 tie.

Less than three minutes later, the Spartans picked up the go-ahead goal by the CCHA’s top scoring defenseman Torey Krug. The junior defenseman and team captain fired a shot off the faceoff won by Hayes at 19:18 to give MSU its first lead of the evening.

The goal was Krug’s 11th of the season, which gives him 32 total points on the season and gave MSU the momentum heading into the third period.

Just as the teams neared the midway point of the third period, Dean Chelios capped the Spartan victory with a goal at 9:13 on a shot close to the blue line to seal the deal and send MSU home with the split.