The Spartans are nothing if they aren’t dramatic this year.
In what is becoming the norm, the MSU hockey team played a hard-fought and tense game Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena - and this time, the Spartans came out on top.
Sophomore left wing Brock Radunske was the hero for the second time in three games Saturday, slapping home a game-winning overtime goal to lift MSU to a 5-4 victory over Niagara.
Radunske’s tally with 1:07 left in the extra period helped erase the memory that No. 13 MSU (5-3-0 overall, 3-1-0) nearly gave the game to the Purple Eagles late in the third period.
The Spartans led 4-2 with less than four minutes to play, but Niagara left wing Bernie Sigrist knocked in a rebound with 3:50 left and then right wing Joe Tallari redirected a shot past MSU freshman goalie Justin Tobe with 47 seconds remaining to tie the score.
Niagara (4-8-0) nearly won the game in overtime, but center Hannu Karru whiffed on a one-timer on a 2-on-1 rush.
That miscue set the stage for Radunske’s heroics, as the New Hamburg, Ontario, native ripped a slap shot between Niagara goaltender Jeff VanNynatten’s legs.
Radunske had similar late-game fortune when he scored with 2.7 seconds left against Lake Superior State on Oct. 25. That goal gave MSU a 3-2 win.
On Saturday, Tobe made 23 saves for MSU in his first action since Oct. 18 at Northern Michigan.
Purple Eagle goaltender Rob Bonk stopped 12 shots in the first period. But he suffered an unknown injury and was replaced by VanNynatten to start the second. VanNynatten made 20 saves the rest of the way. In a reversal from Friday night, the Spartans were the ones to fall behind early before coming back to win Saturday. The Purple Eagles shocked MSU 2-1 on Friday after allowing a goal 41 seconds into the game.
On Saturday, Niagara scored at 1:57 of the first after Tobe left two successive rebounds in front of the net. Karru was there the second time and chipped in a backhand for a 1-0 lead.
Soon afterward, sophomore center Jim Slater started the MSU comeback charge with a pair of first-period goals.
Slater was a late addition to the lineup after hyperextending his left elbow Friday night. He wasn’t on MSU’s preliminary line chart Saturday, but he lobbied MSU head coach Rick Comley to insert him into the lineup. The coach obliged, scratching sophomore left wing Kevin Estrada right before game-time.
It turned out to be a good move.
Slater struck for the first time at 6:46 of the opening period when he executed a give-and-go with freshman left wing David Booth. Slater then wristed a shot between Bonk’s legs from the left circle.
Five minutes later, Slater gave MSU a 2-1 lead with his third goal of the season - this time on a power play. Sophomore defenseman Duncan Keith found Slater stationed at the right side of the net. From there, he just tipped the puck under the crossbar.
MSU grabbed its first two-goal lead when freshman right wing Nenad Gajic connected on a one-timer 2:12 into the second period for a 3-1 cushion.
Just 15 seconds later, however, Niagara halved the deficit with a goal by right wing Justin Cross that beat Tobe’s glove side.
The game stayed 3-2 until sophomore center Ash Goldie converted a breakaway 6:40 into the third. Gajic sprung the play with a long, high flip that almost touched the ceiling. The puck landed in front of the blue line, where Goldie collected it and then easily beat VanNynatten with a backhand.
The goal was his first of the season.
Overall, the Spartans went 1-for-8 on the power play Saturday, while Niagara went 0-for-3.
MSU starts a six-game road trip Nov. 15 at Ohio State.
Personnel: After the embarrassing loss Friday, Comley made significant changes in his lines Saturday.
Estrada, junior forward Tim Hearon and freshman defenseman Evan Shaw were scratched Saturday after playing Friday.
In their places, Comley played senior left wing Steve Clark, freshman right wing Chad Hontvet and freshman defenseman Jared Nightingale.
Goldie also moved back to center Saturday after playing most of the previous night on the right wing.
