Top-ranked MSU and archrival No. 4 Michigan helped break a world record Saturday night, but 65 minutes of hockey was not enough to break the 3-3 tie the teams skated to in “The Cold War” at Spartan Stadium.
U-M center Mike Cammalleri notched two goals and an assist, and it looked like that would be enough to propel the Wolverines (0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 CCHA) to victory on hostile turf.
But MSU freshman center Jim Slater electrified the partisan Spartan crowd with a last-minute goal - his first as a collegian - that sent the game to overtime.
Both teams threatened but couldn’t score in the extra frame, bringing about a somewhat anticlimactic ending to a highly hyped event. The 74,554 fans in attendance easily broke the world record for a hockey game crowd, which had stood at 55,000 since 1957.
Despite the inconclusive result, those involved with Saturday’s game had only good things to say.
“It was a tremendous night,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said. “We brought a lot of attention to college hockey and hockey in the state of Michigan and that was our ultimate goal. This was so unique in the way it happened, I’m going to remember it, obviously, for the rest of my life.
“It was a hotly contested game - fighting from behind isn’t easy. Both teams were pretty evenly matched, I mean, you have No. 1 playing No. 4 in the country. One team’s not going to blow the other team out.”
The two most concerning variables heading into the game - the weather and the ice - couldn’t have turned out better under the circumstances, the coaches said.
All week, forecasters predicted rain Saturday, but the skies stayed clear and cold and the players only had to deal with a moderate wind at ice level.
What was a pond during Wednesday’s heat wave was a near-perfect sheet of ice Saturday, Mason said.
“It was a little bumpy along the boards at times, but we couldn’t have asked for better,” he said.
Still, the Spartans - ranked No. 1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today polls - looked out of sync most of the game and had to come from behind twice to earn the tie.
“We’ve changed our philosophy in how we play,” Mason said. “We’re doing a lot of things differently and it’s going to take a while for us to get to where we need to be.”
Senior right wing Adam Hall scored the game’s first goal 3:25 into the first, but the Wolverines struck back with two straight goals to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
MSU freshman defenseman Duncan Keith evened the score at 2-2 with a blazing slap shot on an MSU power play 5:43 into the third period, but Cammalleri seized the lead right back for the Wolverines with his second tally at 11:13 of the period.
That set the stage for Slater’s heroics. Mason called a timeout with an impending face-off in the U-M zone with 1:04 to play and pulled junior goaltender Ryan Miller in favor of an extra attacker.
The face-off stayed in the Wolverine zone and the puck eventually trickled out of a crowd right to Slater stationed in front of the crease.
“You gotta bury ones in front of the net,” Slater said. “It was a shot from the point and it bounced off numerous things and landed on my stick. You gotta bury those if you want to move on.”
Miller, the defending Hobey Baker Award winner, wasn’t his usual dominating self, but made 19 saves overall. U-M goaltender Josh Blackburn stopped 21 shots.
As expected, “The Cold War” featured far more pageantry than a regular hockey game.
Country singer Shannon Brown performed before the game and during the first intermission. Pyrotechnics exploded after every Spartan goal. A laser light show entertained the overflowing crowd during the second intermission. And the Spartan Marching Band traded notes with a U-M pep band during most play stoppages.
Even legendary Detroit Red Wing Gordie Howe made an appearance, dropping the puck for a pregame ceremonial face-off between the two teams’ captains.
U-M head coach Red Berenson said the spectacle “couldn’t have turned out better.”
“I had thought I’d seen everything, but this was really awesome,” Berenson said. “College hockey’s come a long way. If it never happens again, it was great to be a part of.”
James Jahnke can be reached at jahnkeja@msu.edu
