DETROIT - Round 3 goes to MSU.
The top-ranked Spartans took a 2-1 lead in the season series against archrival No. 5 Michigan with a 4-2 win Saturday night in front of 19,995 fans at Joe Louis Arena.
MSU (25-4-4 overall, 18-4-3 CCHA) beat then-No. 1 U-M (21-9-5, 15-7-2) 1-0 at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor on Nov. 4, but fell to the Wolverines 4-3 in overtime Jan. 27 at the Joe.
With the win, the Spartans clinched at least a share of the CCHA regular season title. They are now up five points on second-place U-M with three games to go - a two-game series at Ohio State on Friday and Saturday and a fourth meeting with U-M on March 1 at Munn Ice Arena.
MSU needs only one more point to win the title outright.
With all of the success MSU’s seniors have enjoyed at Joe Louis during their careers, it was fitting that the Spartans’ only all-senior line produced the game’s first goal.
In the first shift after a U-M power play, MSU left wing Sean Patchell carried the puck along the boards into the offensive zone before feeding center Andrew Bogle between the circles. Bogle was able to tuck his ninth tally of the season inside the left post thanks, in large part, to a screen from right wing John Nail.
The Spartan seniors are now 16-3-1 at Joe Louis, including a 6-1-1 mark versus U-M.
The Wolverines evened the score at 1-1 with a power play goal 4:26 into the second period, even though the last two players to touch the puck before it went in the net were Spartans.
Miller stopped both U-M defenseman Jeff Jillson’s shot from the point and center Craig Murray’s rebound attempt, but the puck caromed off MSU junior defenseman Jon Insana’s stick, hit Miller’s blocker and trickled in.
MSU’s special teams accounted for the next three goals of the game - two on the power play and one shorthanded.
The Spartans’ power play had been mired in a 5-for-47 slump over the past 11 games before junior right wing Adam Hall tallied with 1:19 left in the second period.
Good puck movement by the Spartans found sophomore left wing Brian Maloney open in the right circle and his ensuing slap shot deflected wide of Blackburn. But Hall was in the right place at the right time and directed in his 14th goal of the season.
Hall struck again, this time short-handed, 4:15 into the final period.
Hall’s beautiful poke check at the defensive blue line, triggered a 2-on-1 break with Maloney.
He passed to Maloney who missed the net, but the puck bounced off the endboards, under Blackburn, who was on his back, and right to Hall, who put in his 15th goal while sitting on the ice.
Maloney completed his three-point night with a power play goal 11:14 into the third. He beat Blackburn short-side with a wrist shot during a 5-on-3 MSU advantage, giving MSU a 4-1 lead.
Wolverine left wing Scott Matzka tacked on a goal with 20 seconds left for the final margin.
Miller made 25 saves for the Spartans, including two dazzling stops during a Wolverine power play early in the third.
He snagged right wing Andy Hilbert’s drive from the circle with his glove and, less than a minute later, stoned Matzka from close range.
