Detroit - When the MSU hockey team smacked No. 8 Michigan 4-0 on Friday night, almost every bounce of the puck went its way.
But the Spartans'puck luck ran out in Saturday's rematch at Joe Louis Arena.
U-M head coach Red Berenson notched his 500th career win with a 5-4 victory infront of 20,058 fans.
"You know me, it's not a big thing until it's all over," Berenson said of his milestone mark.
"We've still got work to do to have a good season. I can't score goals and I can't stop pucks, that's what the players do."
The Wolverines, who looked lethargic for most of Friday's game, were much more spirited Saturday. The extra spring in their step helped them beat the Spartans to more loose pucks, which proved to be the difference in an evenly played game.
U-M center John Shouneyia registered a goal and two assists and goaltender Al Montoya made 20 saves for the Wolverines (24-9-1 overall, 18-7-1 CCHA).
MSU sophomore goalie Matt Migliaccio stopped 28 shots. He didn't play as poorly as the score would indicate, as four of U-M's five goals resulted from the Wolverines out-hustling or out-muscling the Spartans to loose pucks or rebounds.
The loss keeps MSU (19-13-2, 15-10-1) in fourth place in the CCHA with two games remaining. Third-place Ohio State won Saturday to move three points ahead of the Spartans.
"We're not looking for splits at this point of the season," senior defenseman Brad Fast said. "We're not satisfied."
Sophomore center Jim Slater, who ranks second on MSU with 37 points, missed his second straight game with a left shoulder injury. He was officially considered "day-to-day" coming into this weekend, but the Spartan coaching staff decided he wasn't fit to play either night.
"I thought Michigan played much better and I thought we really missed Slater tonight," said MSU head coach Rick Comley, who has 616 career wins. "We just didn't have enough guys that could match their speed.
"We made them look bad last night. Tonight, at times, they controlled us. We didn't have enough guys that could hurt them, but it was still a one-goal hockey game."
MSU, which locked up home-ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA Tournament with Friday's win, took a 1-0 lead Saturday on senior defenseman John-Michael Liles' power-play goal 3:43 into the game.
Liles fired a shot from the point that appeared to hit something in front before eluding Montoya. The puck barely trickled over the goal line ahead of Montoya's lunging glove. Liles now has a team-leading 16 goals and 41 points.
U-M knotted the score at 5:07 - seven seconds after Migliaccio made a brilliant save on a one-timer by Wolverine left wing Jeff Tambellini.
U-M won the ensuing faceoff and put a shot on net before left wing Jason Ryznar found the puck in a scrum and roofed home his fifth goal of the season.
Later in the first, MSU sophomore center Lee Falardeau continued his torrid streak with a short-handed goal at 15:18, putting the Spartans ahead 2-1.
Falardeau took the puck at center ice and went wide on U-M defenseman Danny Richmond. From the right circle, Falardeau released a backhand that slid between Montoya's legs for his sixth goal of the year.
He's scored a goal in each of MSU's last four games.
"I was a little surprised (it went in)," Falardeau said. "I was trying to go low because (Montoya) has been kind of flopping around and he was a little shaky. So I was just trying to throw it on him.
"I feel like I'm doing the things I've always been doing, just working hard. But they're coming to me now."
The Wolverines came out blazing in the second period, notching two quick goals and outshooting MSU 15-7 for the frame.
Just 23 seconds into the period, right wing Jed Ortmeyer took a centering pass from Shouneyia and steered a shot past Migliaccio.
U-M then took a 3-2 lead at 2:55 when defenseman Mike Roemensky ripped a shot from the slot that beat Migliaccio stick-side.
But the Spartans re-evened the score on their second short-handed goal of the night - this one by senior forward Troy Ferguson at 9:04 of the second.
On a 2-on-1 sprung by Fast, junior forward Tim Hearon fed Ferguson coming down the left side of the slot. Ferguson snapped a low shot that beat Montoya between the pads for his second goal of the season.
Moments later, MSU sophomore forwards Mike Lalonde and Ash Goldie both had solid scoring chances, but Lalonde's wrist shot hit the post and Montoya saved Goldie's mini-breakaway.
U-M left wing Brandon Kaleniecki had two opportunities to make it 4-3 later in the period, but Migliaccio stopped the first one with his blocker from point-blank range. The puck squirted behind the net and came back to Kaleniecki alone in the slot.
Migliaccio was scrambling way out of position, but Liles went down in the crease and stopped Kaleniecki's shot from scoring.
However, the Wolverines still broke through before the end of the period.
At 17:40 of the second, Shouneyia scored a power-play goal to put U-M up 4-3. Making matters worse for MSU, Kaleniecki finally converted a shot 4:18 into the third, extending the Wolverines' lead to 5-3.
With Migliaccio sprawled flat on his stomach, Kaleniecki got a loose puck in the slot and banged home a goal.
"It could have been a totally different game if we had gotten the bounces we got last night," Migliaccio said. "We got some crazy, fluke goals, too, but they seemed to always get that extra one. That's the ups-and-downs of hockey."
Two minutes after Kaleniecki's tally, Goldie brought the Spartans back within one when his seemingly harmless power-play wrist shot from 45 feet hit off Montoya's glove and flopped into the net. It was MSU's second man-advantage marker of the night against U-M's NCAA-leading penalty-kill unit.
MSU went 2-for-3 on the power play Saturday, while the Wolverines were 1-for-4.
The Spartans conclude their regular season with a home-and-home series against Western Michigan next weekend (March 7-8). The series starts at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo before shifting to Munn Ice Arena on Saturday.
