MSU hockey's frenzied, 24-shot third period shows Spartans have teeth, even as rally falls short against UMass-Lowell
EAST LANSING – Through two periods and two intermissions, the only highlights for Michigan State’s hockey program Friday night were a moving tribute to long-time Munn Ice Arena manager Tom Campbell, who died last spring, and a celebration of the 2007 national championship team, which took place before the third period, with the Spartans down three goals and showing no sign of a comeback.
But if you’re looking for evidence of a new mindset around the program, you saw it Friday night in the third period against No. 16 UMass-Lowell. The Spartans piled up a whopping 24 shots on goal, two that found the back of the net, both by freshmen, before a frenetic 6-on-4 power-play, empty-net finish that nearly yielded the equalizer in a 3-2 loss.
The Spartans found life quickly in the third period when freshman defenseman Matt Basgall scored on the power play less than 2 minutes in. It was assisted by senior Nicolas Muller and fellow freshman Daniel Russell, but really Basgall was trying to be the initiator, sending the puck into traffic.
“I put something on net, trying to open stuff up and it happened to go in,” Basgall said.
Later, with time running low, MSU pulled goalie Dylan St. Cyr for an extra attacker. It paid off 30 seconds later, when, at the 17:33 mark, Basgal sent a shot in again. This time Russell deflected it in, bringing the Spartans within a goal.
It looked like they might get another score in the final seconds, but settled for a promising third period, a night after beating UMass-Lowell 4-3. MSU is 2-2-0 on the season.
“I thought we really got to who we want to be,” first-year MSU coach Adam Nightingale said of the third period. “And we want to play fast, we want to play north, we want to play behind them. And then I thought we got more competitive. UMass-Lowell is a really good team away from the puck. They defend really hard, they make it hard to get to the inside. And I thought in the third period, guys made the decision that, ‘Hey, we're going to do this,’ and I was proud of that effort.”
UMass-Lowell (3-2-0) was in control early, around the Spartans’ net in the opening minutes, scoring at the 3:53 mark in the first period. St. Cyr saved 26 of 28 shots overall, including a penalty shot in the first period.
MSU also survived a five-minute major penalty at the end of the period, which left the Spartans’ shorthanded to begin the second. It was a result of an odd call, when Lowell’s Ben Meehan tripped and fell into MSU’s Tanner Kelly, hitting his head on Kelly’s leg. Meehan looked dazed and, after a review, Kelly was slapped with the major penalty.
“I think it's easy to panic in that situation,” Nightingale said of the five-minute major. “You're putting a team on the power play for five minutes. I liked our poise in that situation. Yeah, I did talk to the ref. There's an emphasis this year with the NCAA and any head contact, they want to make sure that players are safe. … There's nothing really Tanner could have done, and, for me, as Tanner's coach, I can't really tell him anything else he could do. It happened so fast. So it's one of those rules that are trying to look out for the safety of the players.”
The story of the night, though, turned out to be MSU’s third-period energy and two freshmen off to banner starts — Russell with three goals and two assists and Basgall with a goal and two assists in four games.
“I'm super, super thankful we have them and they're off to a good start,” Nightingale said. “I think when you watch them practice, we watch them practice every day and watch them train and watch how they go about their business, it doesn't really surprise me. They're good people. And it's exciting for the program to have good young guys that are playing this way this early in the year.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State hockey's frenzied, 24-shot 3rd-period rally falls short
