John Nail is glad the top-ranked Spartans had to play Alaska-Fairbanks in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.
Not because the senior right wing and his teammates wanted a pushover to start their postseason run - as one might have expected from the 10th seed in the tournament - but because Nail wanted a challenging series right away.
“On your way to the championships, there’s always going to be games like this,” Nail said. “There’s always going to be overtime games and close games.
“You can’t take anyone lightly. You have to take every game like it’s your last one.”
MSU (30-4-4) handled Fairbanks (9-19-8) in Friday’s 5-2 series opener, but the Nanooks pushed the Spartans to the wire in the second game of the best-of-three series Saturday.
Down 2-1 with less than three minutes remaining, Nail sent the game into overtime with a clutch power play goal and then linemate Sean Patchell secured MSU’s ticket to the CCHA semifinals 7:18 into overtime.
“For that to go in my last game at Munn is a real special feeling for me,” the senior left wing said of his low shot that squirted through Nanook goaltender Lance Mayes’ legs. “As if I didn’t have enough memories already.”
The Spartans continue their quest for the Mason Cup - awarded to the CCHA Tournament champion - at 5 p.m. Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. MSU will skate against the winner of a play-in game between the two lowest-seeded teams left in the tournament.
No. 9 seed Bowling Green, which swept No. 2 Miami, will travel to either No. 5 Northern Michigan, No. 6 Western Michigan or No. 7 Ohio State on Tuesday for the play-in game.
Against Fairbanks, MSU sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller was solid throughout and spectacular at times in winning both games in net for MSU. He made 32 saves Friday and 31 Saturday while playing the team against which he broke the NCAA career shutout record last month.
Actually, Miller was probably outshined by Mayes through most of Saturday’s game before letting in the soft game-winner. Mayes stopped 41 out of the 44 Spartan shots, giving his team a realistic shot at beating MSU for the first time in 13 tries.
The Spartans peppered Mayes with 19 shots in the third period during their feverish comeback, but Mayes held strong until Nail’s goal with 2:42 to play.
“We’ve won a lot of close games this year, so there was no panic in our locker room,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said Saturday. “When you have that history, you just keep playing until you get that goal.”
Friday’s game was punctuated by a special teams outburst by the Spartans, as they tallied three power play goals and one shorthanded against the Nanooks.
After Nail’s game-tying power play tally Saturday, MSU has scored on 12 of its last 30 man-advantage chances (.400), a blistering pace that Mason hopes will continue.
“Our special teams were great early in the year, but our power play went a little soft there for a while,” Mason said of MSU’s 4-of-47 stretch last month. “But it was on its numbers (Friday) and thank goodness it was because that gave us the edge to win the game.”
Sophomore left wing Brian Maloney is on an even hotter streak than MSU’s power play after scoring his 13th, 14th and 15th goals of the season this weekend.
“It’s lucky that I’m going into the playoffs on a little tear here,” said Maloney, who has scored seven goals in his last six games. “I’m just trying to get pucks to the net and things are going in for me.”
The pair of victories complete MSU’s second-best home season ever with a 15-1-1 record. The record is second only to the Spartans’ national championship year in 1986 (20-1-2).
They haven’t lost at Munn since a 2-1 setback to Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 20.
