In less than a four-minute span, the No. 1 Michigan State hockey team found itself down 3-0 in the first period.
It was unfamiliar territory for a team that rarely trails, especially by multiple goals.
Despite spurts of opportunities, the Spartans were outworked in a 5-1 loss to Ohio State on home ice. After the game, MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said it was one of the toughest games of his tenure.
“I give Ohio State credit,” Nightingale said. “They were the better hockey team. They beat us in all facets there tonight, for sure. And we got to be sharper… I thought we had a decent stretch in a second. But, you know, some of the O-zone penalties were not moving our feet, and we can't do that.”
MSU was outshot 39-23 and surrendered two power-play goals. Ohio State had eight power-play opportunities throughout the game, preventing Spartan momentum from building.
The Spartans remain at 45 points in the Big Ten with a record of 15-6-0 and 24-7-0 overall. They will close out the series Saturday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.
MSU is still in a solid position to clinch the Big Ten regular season title. No. 2 Michigan finished conference play with 49 points after splitting its series with Minnesota this week. Both MSU and No. 5 Penn State have three games left, but MSU holds a five-point edge over the Nittany Lions.
While the game was an uncharacteristic effort from MSU, the situations provide learning opportunities. The Spartans have proven they can respond — in close contests, third periods and overtimes. But this game was the largest the team has ever trailed by this season. Its takeaways can help the Spartans grow as single-elimination playoffs approach.
“I think in games like that too, is you gotta try to stop the bleeding a little bit, right? You're not gonna score them all in one shift,” Nightingale said. “I thought we started to do that in the second and we ended up taking a penalty… We've talked about this a lot, and unfortunately, we've had to talk about it because we haven't been in this situation, and now we're in that situation and we got to learn from it.”
A Quick Deficit
