Saturday night’s comeback win against No. 13 Michigan is bigger than the rivalry for MSU hockey - it easily could have been a season-saving moment.
“I think it could be a game changer,” head coach Tom Anastos said.
MSU saw the fate of its season hanging by a string after 20 minutes of play on Saturday night.
The Spartans trailed 3-1 after the first period, scoring their lone goal on a lucky bounce off a U-M defender’s skate.
And this was coming after a complete thumping the night before in Ann Arbor, where the Wolverines dismantled the Spartans piece-by-piece en route to a 7-1 loss. The loss was the worst the Spartans had endured all season, and worst in the rivalry since 1996.
Anastos had said the team’s confidence was already fragile entering Saturday’s game because MSU has lacked the ability to score with ease all season. Another embarrassing loss would be detrimental to the team’s psyche, let alone it coming at the hands of the hated Wolverines.
And after 20 minutes, it seemed like all hope was lost on the banks of the Red Cedar.
However, MSU was able to rally to find three goals in the final two periods, reaching its highest goals total for a game since Dec. 1 and storming back for a 4-3 win.
Anastos would agree that any win against MSU’s biggest rival is significant, but Saturday’s was huge for a completely different reason.
“It can be a game-changer because I think more than anything, we know we’re going into a one-and-done tournament in two weeks that we have to excel at,” Anastos said. “So we’ve demonstrated we can play with the best teams in our league and we also demonstrated that we can come back.”
The Spartans now will enter their final two regular season games this weekend against No. 5 Wisconsin The real test comes the following week in St. Paul, Minn., for the Big Ten Tournament. It’s been known for the past two months that MSU will need three wins in three days at the Big Ten Tournament to continue into the NCAA Tournament.
And with the win over U-M on Saturday, MSU now has earned points in Big Ten games against every team except Wisconsin, proving the green-and-white has the ability and the confidence to win on any given day.
That’s something that can’t be understated, especially in a win-or-go-home situation.
Only time will tell, but if MSU somehow pulls together an improbable tournament run in St. Paul, the Spartans can look back at Saturday’s final 40 minutes as the starting point.
Robert Bondy is a State News hockey reporter. Reach him at rbondy@statenews.com.
