It's no longer just paranoid conspiracy theory. It's now in the realm of a full-fledged phenomenon.
This year's MSU hockey team is 2-6-1 in the first game of a series and 7-2-0 on the second night.
The Spartans say they don't know what has been wrong with them on the first nights of a series, but they hope to buck the trend in today's 7:35 p.m. series-opener against Alaska-Fairbanks at Munn Ice Arena.
MSU (9-9-1 overall, 5-6-0 CCHA) also plays the seventh-place Nanooks (8-7-3, 5-6-3) at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
Head coach Rick Comley called the discrepancy between his team's first-night and second-night records a "concern," which is probably a bit of an understatement when one considers how poorly MSU has played in the first contest.
The Spartans are allowing 4.7 goals a game on the first night, while scoring 3.0. For whatever reason, the defense seems to clamp down the next game, only allowing 2.2 goals while scoring 3.4.
Also, MSU only kills 71.1 percent of opponent power plays on first night. The next night, the Spartans kill 87.5 percent.
"I don't have the answer for you," Comley said. "It's not a good stat. I think part of the issue with these young kids continues to be the perception of what they are or where they are. I don't think they play as hard on Friday, and then they play hard Saturday.
"As they grow up and mature and understand that only hard work makes you a good player, no matter what jersey you're wearing, we'll be better off. You can't be a better team on Saturday than you are on Friday. There's no logic or reason why that should happen."
The Spartans' only first-night wins this season were against Lake Superior State on Oct. 24 and at Ferris State on Dec. 6. Their second-night losses were to Ohio State on Nov. 16 and Ferris on Dec. 7.
They lost their only one-night stand so far - at Bowling Green on Nov. 22, which was a Friday.
"Hopefully, we'll be playing the CCHA championship on Saturday night," sophomore center Jim Slater quipped. "I don't know what it is. Michigan State's used to winning two games a weekend, and if we want to contend, we have to start winning these Friday night games."
Just like Slater, senior defenseman Brad Fast is also baffled by the disparity in records.
"It's still a mystery to us," Fast said. "If we had it figured out, we'd be playing well both nights. But we're going to try to be as prepared as possible for Friday.
"Alaska has a great penalty kill. I think they have four short-handed goals this year. They get a lot of shots every night - they're very good offensively. We have our work cut out for us, and it should be a great series."
Comley said sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio will start today.
Junior defenseman Joe Markusen, who suffered a concussion Saturday against Lake Superior State, expects to play tonight. He missed significant practice time this week.
