Michigan State hockey played Ohio State two weeks ago, and fell 5-1 on home ice. Coach Adam Nightingale called Ohio State the hungrier team, and said MSU didn’t show up ready.
That wasn’t the case in the Spartans’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. MSU was competitive from the draw, but so was Ohio State, and hockey is a game of inches.
“In single elimination games like that, it's a game of inches,” sophomore forward Shane Vansaghi said. “One bad bounce, or one wrong play, or one missed assignment, and the puck can be in the back of your net.”
The loss serves as a reminder of what’s to come in the NCAA Tournament. Every team is hungry, and every team is good. MSU was challenged to respond within the game — and it did. But 60 minutes of effort isn’t always enough to win a hockey game.
Executing the right play, at the right moment has to happen. Like last season, when the Spartans lost 4-3 to Cornell in the NCAA regionals, after a buzzer-beater goal.
"You've got to be locked in every single time you're out there," Vansaghi said. "You can't have a moment where you're caught drifting or caught watching the play. I liked our effort tonight, and I thought with the effort part, it's something to build off going into the tournament."
Both MSU and Ohio State missed assignments during the game, but both teams fought hard to execute, too. That’s why the score was tied entering each intermission.
The game-winning goal came right after an MSU line change. It looked like junior defenseman Patrick Geary was going to hop on the ice, but there was a brief hesitation, and sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph did instead. The rest of the Spartans skated to catch up with Ralph, but Ohio State forward Felix Caron scored anyway.
“When you look at when we got scored on, probably not a great line change,” Nightingale said. “When you get into the first overtime, it's like second period hockey, and you got to change, you got to be ready to change, and all sudden, they're coming at you with speed.”
It would be thoughtless to attribute the loss to that one moment. The line change could have worked, but Caron still could have made the shot. On the other hand, the Spartans could have buried one of their three overtime shots—or one of their 13 in the third period—to win in regulation.
