All questions surrounding the No. 13 MSU hockey team were put to rest Saturday.
Does home ice matter? Will the first-round bye help? Do the Spartans have enough offensive talent to win?
The answer — yes.
MSU (21-12-3 overall, 16-10-3 CCHA) eliminated Nebraska-Omaha in the best-of-three series with a 4-2 win Friday and a 4-1 win Saturday to advance in the CCHA playoffs. MSU will play Michigan in the semifinals Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Last year, MSU eliminated the Wolverines in the semifinals and went on to win the CCHA title.
Both Nebraska-Omaha (18-16-8, 13-12-4) and MSU came out and set a physical tone early in Saturday's game, with each team exchanging punishing checks throughout the game.
"That's when we're at our best, when we're playing physical," senior captain Chris Lawrence said.
The Spartans set the game's offensive pace early by scoring two goals and having 19 shots on net in the opening period.
"I think we played really, really well in the first period," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "As well as we've played in the past month.
"We've had many games where we just had 19 (shots) this year."
Sophomore forward Tim Crowder first ignited the Spartans with a goal 15:06 into the first period.
"(The puck) just happened to bounce out right on my stick, so I could just go down and shoot," Crowder said. "Luckily, it went in."
Fewer than two minutes later, sophomore forward Tim Kennedy scored on the power play.
And after Mavericks forward Alex Nikiforuk cut MSU's lead to one, junior forward Chris Mueller provided an insurance goal when he scored on the power play 9:13 into the third period.
Junior forward Jim McKenzie contributed an empty-net goal with two seconds remaining in regulation.
The Spartans will need their recently renewed scoring touch for Friday's matchup with the Wolverines, who own the CCHA's top offense at 4.29 goals per game. Nebraska-Omaha is second with 3.64, while MSU ranks seventh with 3.17.
Friday's game will be the sixth meeting between MSU and U-M this year.
MSU is 2-2-1 against U-M this season, but 1-0-1 when the teams play at Joe Louis Arena. The most recent meeting was a 3-3 tie on Feb. 10.
But if you ask the MSU players and coaches, that tie seems like it should be in the loss column. U-M eradicated a three-goal deficit to tie the game with fewer than two minutes left. They also fired off 57 shots on the night.
"We kind of eased back a little bit and let them take it to us," Crowder recalled. "We can't do that — we have to keep coming."
The Spartans let that game slip away — and then their season started to as well. MSU only won once in its final five games of the season.
"I think our slide started with their finish of that game," Comley said. "They played so well. We lost that game with two minutes to go, and they outshot us so badly. I thought that started a loss of our mental strength."
Still, MSU couldn't be happier about its opponent.
"We kind of owe them one," Lawrence said. "A couple weeks ago, they really, maybe not embarrassed us, but they took it to us pretty good."
While the Spartans will be looking to pay back their rivals, they also will be fighting to defend last year's CCHA title and earn an NCAA Tournament berth. MSU is currently tied for eighth place in USCHO.com's PairWise Rankings, which is based on the criteria the selection committee uses to hand out invites to the tournament. Sixteen teams make it to the tournament.
"I think we have to win one (more game)," Comley said. "It changes so radically — this is the worst I've ever seen it. I don't know where we are now."
But the Spartans do know where they will be this weekend — Joe Louis Arena, against U-M, defending their honor and their title.
"I'm sure the building's going to be pretty packed and loud," Lawrence said.
"A typical Michigan-Michigan State game. It's fun to be a part of."
Zack Colman can be reached at colmanz1@msu.edu.
