MARQUETTE - MSU’s senior line led the top-ranked Spartans out of the hostile Berry Events Center with a series split Saturday night.
Senior right wing John Nail scored two goals, with assists from linemates Sean Patchell and Andrew Bogle on both, giving MSU (22-3-4 overall, 15-3-3 CCHA) a 2-1 win over Northern Michigan.
The Wildcats (12-9-7, 8-8-6) beat the Spartans 3-2 in Friday’s series opener.
MSU will play its last regular season home series next weekend against Alaska-Fairbanks. After that series, MSU has only one date left at Munn Ice Arena - March 2 when it will host No. 4 Michigan - before the CCHA playoffs.
After junior right wing Adam Hall claimed sole possession of first place on MSU’s goal scoring list with his 13th tally Friday, Nail returned the favor by pushing his total to 14 on Saturday.
Nail notched his first goal 4:47 into the second period when he shoved a rebound past Northern goaltender Craig Kowalski from just outside the crease after Patchell made a nice play to get the puck in front.
Later in the period, MSU sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller, who had 19 saves in the game, made a dazzling stop on Wildcat defenseman Jimmy Jackson after a sloppy MSU line change gave Northern a 2-on-1 rush.
Jackson kept the puck the whole way and Miller got just enough of the shot with his stick to send it harmlessly fluttering over the MSU goal, maintaining the 1-0 lead.
Then Nail struck again on a deja vu type of play after good efforts by linemates Patchell and Bogle left him in front with another rebound. The CCHA leader in game-winning goals took his time and slid his sixth game-winner inside the right post.
Miller lost his bid for an NCAA record-setting 17th career shutout 7:17 into the third period when Wildcat defenseman Sean Connolly scored his second power play goal in as many nights.
The Spartans had killed 37 straight penalties before Connolly scored on back-to-back power plays, dating back to Friday’s game.
The two teams lived up to their billing as the least-penalized squads in the CCHA by not sending a player to the box until 12:51 of the second period. MSU wasn’t whistled for its first penalty until 7:07 of the final period and overall each team only had one power play in the game.
In the first period, sophomore center Troy Ferguson had a golden opportunity to score his second goal of the year, but couldn’t convert.
Kowalski, whose puck handling is usually adventurous, misplayed a long shot off the endboards, allowing it to squirt free in front of the crease right to Ferguson.
But the Wildcat goaltender recovered quickly enough to deny Ferguson’s shot with a diving paddle save.
James Jahnke can be reached at jahnkeja@msu.edu.
