Suffering a draining loss in such a meaningful point of the season, the Spartans could have — and likely would have in previous seasons — folded the following night. Instead, MSU played one of its best games of the year and defeated Minnesota 4-2.

“(Minnesota) is an awfully good team; they don’t lose very much at home,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “I thought it was a really strong 60 minutes by our team tonight.”

What made the performance even more impressive was that the Spartans had to play Friday’s game without one of their best defensemen. Junior Travis Walsh left Thursday’s game after fracturing his jaw on an attempted shot block.

Walsh led the Spartans with 61 blocked shots, which is a small testament to the influence he has on the team. His average of 2.18 blocks per game heading into the series ranked second in the Big Ten and 11th nationally.

Some Spartans stepped up in a big way in light of Walsh’s absence. Junior defenseman and Minnesota native John Draeger scored his first goal in more than two years to give MSU a 1-0 lead in the second period.

Draeger also finished the game with a team high of four blocked shots.

“It’s like a root canal — finally coming to fruition,” Anastos said of Draeger’s elusive second career goal. “It’s his home state, he’s a Minnesota Wild draft pick. The kid works his tail off every single day and it was really nice to see him get rewarded.”

Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand finished with 22 saves in the Friday night victory after having to make 37 in Thursday’s defeat.

Anastos pointed to the Spartans’ improved offensive game as the reason for their efficient defending.

“The forecheck was way better tonight. ... I really liked how we entered the zone with possession tonight,” Anastos said. “I thought we spent way more time in the offensive zone, which was key to our defense.”

The Spartans’ top forward line provided a big punch offensively for the second weekend in a row.

Sophomore Joe Cox and juniors Ryan Keller and Michael Ferrantino combined for four goals and 10 points in the two games. Each player is currently riding a four-game point streak.

The series split kept MSU right in the thick of the Big Ten race. With just four more games left in the season, MSU sits in third place with 28 points — two points behind Minnesota and five behind UM.

Securing a top-two finish will be key for MSU as it guarantees them a spot in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. The Spartans wrap up the season with two games against the first-place Wolverines.