Similarly to Ohio State’s 1-0 win over MSU on Friday night, the two teams were neck-in-neck throughout three periods, but the Buckeyes were able to once again find the edge to pull out a two-game series sweep at Munn Ice Arena.

“I give Ohio State a lot of credit,” MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. “They play really well … we have to score some goals, and we have to figure that out. (Saturday), I thought we played a pretty good game, and we made a couple mistakes, and they were big ones. They took advantage of it, and we weren’t able to respond to that.”

The Spartans’ lone goal came from senior forward Chris Forfar, who said after the game that he was unable to recall the last time he scored.

Forfar’s goal, which was assisted by freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand — his first collegiate point — and freshman defenseman John Draeger, came about nine minutes into the game. Forfar rushed the net from the blue line through multiple Buckeyes defensemen, and his shot got caught underneath Ohio State’s goaltender Hjelle before slipping into the net.

Despite achieving his first goal of the season, Forfar resounded a familiar thought in the Spartans’ locker room: MSU must find the back of the net more often.

“We really have to focus on getting our shots through when we have the chance,” he said. “We need to get shots on the net. We need to have guys swarming the net, driving the net. We have to do a better job at fighting hard for those pucks and getting the second and third opportunities.”

Anastos said he noticed a downward shift in MSU’s play somewhere in the middle of the second period.

Right around that time, Ohio State tied up the game with a goal by Tanner Fritz. Fritz was on the receiving end of a backhanded pass to the right of Hildebrand’s net, and buried the puck before Hildebrand could react.

The Buckeyes’ go-ahead goal came with 1:05 left in the second period, when Ohio State’s Tyler Lundey stuffed the puck in the back door on passes from Ryan Dzingel and Fritz.

“The most frustrating thing is playing hard the whole weekend and not getting any results,” junior forward captain Greg Wolfe said. “Obviously, not scoring is tough because we’ve been practicing it and been working hard; we’re getting the chances. The puck’s just not going in, and we make a turnover and it ends up in the back of the net.”

Ohio State’s final goal was on an open net in the last 30 seconds of play while playing 6-on-4 shorthanded, with a Buckeyes’ penalty and Hildebrand pulled.

“I thought we managed the puck pretty darn well (Saturday) going up and down the ice, made some really nice plays,” Anastos said. “Forfar’s goal was just an outstanding individual effort, but we have to figure out a way to complete the process and put the puck in the net because that then sparks new energy. For our team right now, we’re going to continue to focus on the positives and clean up the mistakes that we make.”