Pressed against the glass in front of the Munnsters student section was a hand-drawn sketch of six Spartans with “thank you seniors” written across the top in big black letters.

After dropping the series opener, No. 1 Michigan State hockey led early, trailed and came back twice for a 3-3 tie and shootout win over Ohio State.

“That was a really, really good response out of our group and that embodies what our seniors are about,” coach Adam Nightingale said. “They're a resilient group. Stuff’s not always going to go your way. They've always found a way to get up off the mat. Even within the game, we were down two different times, and there wasn't a panic. Obviously, some big time execution on the power play, but I thought we were much better tonight. Ohio State is a really good team this time of year. It's hard to win.”

Junior goaltender Trey Augustine and sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph clinched the shootout point for the team after 26 skaters attempted. Ralph scored the final goal for MSU and Augustine performed the winning save to follow. Augustine finished the night with 28 saves and 11 stops during the shootout.

Freshman forwards Anthony Romani and Porter Martone each scored game-tying goals.

After the game, six seniors were honored: defenseman Matt Basgall, winger Daniel Russell, center Tiernan Shoudy, center Charlie Stramel, goaltender Dolan Gilbert and defenseman Travis Shoudy. 

While the game was a tie, the Spartans reflected the identity they have built all season: a team that responds.

Shots did not fall and mistakes were made, but effort led to the result.

That effort has been modeled by the senior class, especially Basgall, Russell and Tiernan Shoudy.

They have played all 145 games under Nightingale, who has repeatedly called them “everyday guys.”