Junior goaltender Ryan Miller missed his first game of the season Saturday night, but the sixth-ranked Spartans didn’t miss a beat.
With MSU head coach Ron Mason giving Miller the day off, freshman goaltender Matt Migliaccio earned his first career start and made 11 saves in a 3-1 victory over Quinnipiac (7-10-1) at Munn Ice Arena.
Quinnipiac goaltender Jamie Holden was awesome in making 37 saves, but MSU (14-4-2 overall, 10-3-1 CCHA) got goals from junior right wing Steve Jackson, junior left wing Brian Maloney and junior defenseman John-Michael Liles to complete the weekend sweep.
The Spartans beat Quinnipiac 4-1 Friday.
Saturday’s win was Migliaccio’s first decision of the season, although he had played in two previous games - both times in relief of Miller.
And he looked understandably shaky on Quinnipiac’s first goal - 4:49 into the game.
MSU senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson took a risk during a Quinnipiac rush and challenged left wing Chris White in the neutral zone. But White beat Hutchinson and fed right wing Ryan Morton streaking through the right circle. His shot slid between Migliaccio’s legs for a 1-0 Quinnipiac lead.
But Jackson struck back a minute later with his third goal of the year. Jackson and freshman center Lee Falardeau won a lengthy battle for the puck behind the Quinnipiac net and, as the puck squirted along the boards, Jackson ripped a low, tough angle shot that beat Holden.
The teams entered the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1, despite a 17-4 shots advantage for MSU in the period.
The Spartans kept up the pressure in the second stanza, which featured offensive flurries by both teams. Still, Holden and Migliaccio held strong for most of the period.
Midway through the second, Migliaccio made an impressive string of saves, including a sprawling stop against Quinnipiac center Matt Craig and a slick glove save on defenseman Dan Ennis’ slap shot after the ensuing faceoff.
Meanwhile, Holden was rock solid against a persistent MSU rush at the other end, until a blistering slapper by Maloney found the top shelf to give MSU a 2-1 lead with 1:15 left in the second period.
Liles then became the first Spartan to get to the 10-goal plateau for the season 1:17 into the third period. Freshman wing Brock Radunske took control of a loose puck at the side of the net and centered the puck to Liles in the slot. Liles beat Holden cleanly for his sixth goal in as many games.
One of the few black clouds for MSU on Saturday was an 0-for-5 power play performance, including a failure on a 1:11 two-man advantage in the third.
ANOTHER NEW FACE: Redshirt sophomore Pat Brush saw his first action of the season Saturday, filling the roster slot vacated by freshman center Jim Slater, who is at the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic.
Brush, who suited up for the second time in his career Saturday, had been a healthy scratch in every previous MSU game this year. He played left wing on a line with sophomore center Tim Hearon and freshman wing Mike Lalonde, until leaving the game in the second period with a back injury.
