Better luck, an edge in puck possession and a lively home crowd buoyed the MSU hockey team to a 5-3 victory over archrival No. 8 Michigan on Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena.
The win gave the Spartans (17-11-2 overall, 13-8-1 CCHA) a split in their weekend series with the Wolverines, who won 3-1 on Friday in Ann Arbor.
But the Spartans seemed to have an emotional advantage in Saturday's rematch, as 7,113 fans watched them take a three-goal lead and then hold on for the win. MSU is still in fourth place in the CCHA, four points behind the third-place Wolverines (21-8-1, 15-6-1) with six games to go.
After a scoreless first period, senior defenseman John-Michael Liles scored twice early in the second to put MSU up 2-0. Then, midway through the third, freshman defenseman Corey Potter gave MSU its biggest lead of the game - 4-1 - with a slap shot from the point.
U-M's leading-scorer, left wing Jeff Tambellini, put a scare into MSU by scoring twice within 20 seconds right after Potter's goal.
But MSU senior left wing Brian Maloney deposited an empty-net goal with 1:37 remaining to seal the Spartan win.
"At 4-1, everyone just kind of lays back," Potter said. "You just want to get the game over with. But when they scored those two quick goals, everyone kind of froze and said, 'Let's pick it up.'
"I didn't think mine was going to be the game-winner at all."
MSU sophomore goaltender Matt Migliaccio made 32 saves for the Spartans. Aside from Tambellini's spurt, Migliaccio was as solid as he's been all year.
His counterpart, U-M goalie Al Montoya, made 24 saves.
"This was a big one for us," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "They turned it into a barn-burner, but it was just another good game. It was fun."
Saturday's turning point was the second period, in which MSU was both successful and fortunate.
Liles recorded a power-play goal 48 seconds into the frame, igniting a crowd that had cooled off during the scoreless first period. Liles' wrister from the point sneaked through a maze of bodies and past Montoya.
Playing with momentum, MSU buzzed around the U-M net for the next four or five minutes, dominating puck possession and spurring the Munn crowd to its loudest level of the season.
Montoya managed to turn away great chances by freshman left wing David Booth and sophomore center Ash Goldie, but Liles struck again at 3:45.
As he was falling to the ice at the bottom of the left circle, Liles released a shot that dipped under Montoya's glove and found the far-side of the net for a 2-0 MSU lead. Liles now has 13 goals this season.
U-M looked to be in a heap of trouble, but the Wolverines slowed MSU's onslaught with a goal by center Dwight Helminen about four minutes later.
Helminen made a nifty move to get free at the left edge of the crease, and then muscled his own rebound under Migliaccio's arm to cut U-M's deficit to 2-1.
But that was as lucky as the Wolverines would get in the second. The next threebreaks went MSU's way.
At 8:14, Tambellini would have had a clean breakaway if U-M right wing Jed Ortmeyer hadn't been called for an interference penalty behind the play.
At 16:30, Migliaccio dropped a shot in the crease, and Ortmeyer knocked the puck into the net. But referee Brian Aaron had already whistled the play dead because he thought Migliaccio had control of the puck.
At 18:32, Wolverine Eric Nystrom streaked down the left wing beat Migliaccio, but his shot rang off the far-side post.
"They had some good chances, but Migs played real well tonight," sophomore center Jim Slater said. "That's what hockey is - a game of bounces, a game of inches. We just came out a winner."
Slater put MSU up 3-1 with a goal 2:20 into the third. He cut across the top of the crease and tipped Liles' point shot past Montoya.
Six minutes later, Potter scored his first goal since Oct. 24, which set up Tambellini's failed bid to single-handedly bring back the Wolverines.
MSU freshman right wing Colton Fretter had three assists Saturday, including one on Potter's game-winner. Both MSU and U-M went 1-for-4 on the power play.
The Spartans' next action is a home series with Northern Michigan on Feb. 21-22.
Personnel: Freshman right wing Chad Hontvet returned to the lineup, and junior forward Tim Hearon sat out for the first time since Jan. 3.
Comley also jumbled his bottom three forward lines, moving Goldie and Fretter up to the second line with senior left wing Brian Maloney.
Sophomore Brock Radunske shifted from right wing to left wing and was dropped
to the third line with sophomore center Lee Falardeau. Hontvet played right wing on that line.
Sophomore left wing Kevin Estrada was demoted to the fourth line, playing with senior Troy Ferguson at center and freshman Nenad Gajic at right wing.
