After losing No. 1 ranking, Michigan State hockey gets a crack at a new top team

EAST LANSING – A night after having its longest winning streak in more than two decades snapped in a shutout loss, No. 1 in Michigan State behind again on the road.

The Spartans didn’t panic as they stared down the potential to be swept over the weekend.

“Even when we were down 2-0, everybody was still like, hey, we’ve got this,” forward Tiernan Shoudy recalled after practice Tuesday. “We played well, honestly. I think that’s something the coaches always say – it’s not about the score, it’s about how we play. I think we just had that mentality and it was a huge comeback for us.”

Michigan State rallied from a 4-0 loss at Wisconsin last Friday with a 3-2 overtime win the next night to salvage a split. It was a somewhat similar response to two months earlier, when the Spartans rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the opener against Boston College with a 4-3 victory a day later at Munn Ice Arena.

“It’s not always going to go your way,” coach Adam Nightingale said. “I spoke to the group about character being revealed when things don’t go your way.”

Michigan State (12-2, 5-1 Big Ten) took a nine-game winning streak to Madison last week — the program’s longest since the 2000-01 season — while reaching its first No. 1 ranking since after winning the national championship in 2007. The split against the Badgers led to a shakeup in the rankings, with the Spartans falling to No. 3 in the USCHO survey. The new no. 1 is Minnesota, which will host Michigan State for a pair of games this weekend.

“There’s a game-to-game response, but you have to be able to react during the games,” Nightingale said. “Our guys have to put it in their back pocket and remember that we can do it.”

Michigan State is in the third season of a program rebirth under Nightingale, winning the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles last year. After falling to rival Michigan for a spot in the Frozen Four, there was an expected roster shakeup for the Spartans. That included losing star defenseman Artyom Levshunov to the Blackhawks with the No. 2 overall pick in the NHL draft.

Despite talent leaving East Lansing, Michigan State picked up where it left off in its quick return to the spotlight as a three-time national champion. Balance, including five players with double-figure points so far, remains a feature along with goaltender Trey Augustine, a second-round pick of the Red Wings who is coming off a standout freshman year. The Spartans won their first four Big Ten games this season before last week’s setback at Wisconsin, where Nightingale didn’t think his team deserved to win.

“There’s a certain way we have to play the game if we’re going to be a good hockey team,” he said. “If we deviate from that, we’re going to be pretty average pretty quick. I think our guys understand that and it’s our job as coaches to get that out of them.”

The answer in last weekend’s series finale included Joey Larson scoring early in the third period. In the extra session, Isaac Howard, who leads the Spartans with 17 points, scored the winner.

“It was a good end to the weekend last weekend,” senior forward Red Savage said, “and we put in a lot of work this week so we’re really confident going into this weekend.”

Minnesota (15-2-1, 8-0) is riding a six-game unbeaten streak after a dominating sweep of Michigan last week, 6-0 and 2-0. The Gophers lead the Big Ten and are undefeated at home this season while ranking second in the nation in scoring (4.11) and fourth in goals against (1.78).

“Obviously, they’re very talented and skilled,” Nightingale said of Minnesota. “I think if you look at their back end, they make it difficult, it’s difficult to generate against them. … Like every weekend, as coaches, we try to find out more about our team, and we want to in the weekend.”

Savage, the team captain, missed the first game against Wisconsin with an injury before returning to the lineup for the win. After finishing practice Tuesday, the senior said he’s “as good as I can be,” while adding a laugh.

“He’s a little bit of the engine of our team,” Nightingale said of Savage, “and when he’s in our lineup, it makes a huge difference.”

The series in Minnesota will be Michigan State’s last before the holiday break and returns to play in the Great Lakes Invitational at the end of the month in Grand Rapids. A week after losing their no. 1 ranking, the Spartans get a chance to prove themselves against the new top team.

“We’re not the most skilled team in the country,” Savage said, “but when we play the way we’re supposed to play, we can beat anybody.”