Drew Miller was visibly angry during Friday's postgame interviews following a 2-1 loss to Alaska Fairbanks.
The junior captain of the No. 5 Spartans had just played in his team's first loss since Jan. 24 and the team faced elimination from the best-of-three conference playoffs if the same result were to occur on Saturday.
Miller gave brief, straight-to-the-point answers following the loss, but his message for the remainder of the series was clear.
"Tomorrow I expect a lot different team," Miller said.
Answering his own call, Miller led by example with a goal and three assists in a 6-1 victory to force game three, and scored his second career hat trick in a 7-4 win in the finale.
"I told myself after Friday's game that that wasn't my game," Miller said. "I need to be a leader on this team and I need to step my play up. That's what I went out there and did."
Miller's performance upped his season totals to 17 goals and 24 assists. His 41 points lead the team and his seven postseason points lead all CCHA players.
"I love playoff time: It's the most fun part of the year," Miller said.
But Miller wasn't alone in the Spartans' come-from-behind series win. After only scoring once in the series opener, MSU combined for 13 goals in the two wins — an accomplishment Miller called a total team effort.
"Those guys stepped up alongside me and we got the job done," Miller said. "That's what we came out to do."
Fourteen Spartans recorded at least one point in the series and freshman goaltender Jeff Lerg was strong in net.
"Teams have to have good seniors and they have to have multiple players contribute at this time of the year," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "We had that."
Senior forward David Booth and senior defenseman Corey Potter each contributed five points in the series to help answer their captain's call after game one.
"It was important for us to step up," Booth said. "We showed that we were able to bounce back and that's going to help out here in the next couple games."
The resiliency of the Spartans last weekend now has the team feeling just as confident as it was prior to entering the playoffs.
"Confidence just comes from the team playing so well," Miller said. "You know that if you make a mistake, the guy behind you is going to step up and save you. Confidence in each other creates confidence in yourself."
The Spartans take on Michigan at 8:05 p.m. Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for the CCHA semifinals.
Nationally speaking
According to USCHO.com, the Spartans are tied for fourth in the PairWise rankings and are projected to be the No. 1 seed in the Worcester regional as of Monday.
