“He went down, laying on the ice, (and) blocked three or four shots that, if he didn’t go down, could’ve gone in the net, could’ve gone through for a shot,” senior forward Matt Schepke said. “That just gets everybody on the bench up and ready to go and it’s very energizing.”

MSU blocked 19 shots on the night.

“With all the scrambles at the end we were sacrificing bodies,” senior goaltender Jeff Lerg said. “I think we’re learning what it takes to get it done and that’s the type of playoff hockey the team needs to play in the second half.”

While the team made plays in front of him, Lerg had his second straight solid performance, stopping all 32 shots he faced. He made 76 saves in the series, helping the Spartans (8-18-4 overall, 5-14-3-2 CCHA) earn three points in a weekend for the first time since Oct. 31-Nov. 1 where they earned four against Western Michigan.

“Jeff Lerg, obviously, is special,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “The only chance we have to win right now is when he plays absolutely great, and he did. He made a couple of tremendous saves.”

After a tough 2-2 tie Friday night, MSU’s hard work paid off Saturday. The Spartans battled in the corners, blocked shots and played solid defense, holding Ferris State’s power play, which was hitting at 19.4 percent on the season coming into the game, to 0-for-7.

“We filled the middle, took away backdoor passes and blocked shots,” Comley said. “They were the second-best power play in the league coming into the weekend.”

After scoring less than three minutes into Friday night’s game, MSU struck even earlier Saturday, as Schepke scored on the game’s first shift.

On the right boards, junior forward Jay Sprague chipped the puck across to freshman forward Ben Warda in front of the net. He played a pass to Schepke at the side of the goal, who buried it into the wide-open net.

For the second night in a row, the Bulldogs (11-12-7, 8-9-5-2) turned it on in the second period, forcing Lerg to make 14 saves in the frame, including a huge pad save late in the period with Ferris State on the power play.

But the period’s best chance came earlier.

The Spartans broke in on a 3-on-1 and sophomore forward Dustin Gazley played a pass across to freshman forward Daultan Leveille, who had a wide-open net. But Bulldogs goaltender Taylor Nelson somehow sprawled cross-crease with a last-ditch effort and made the save.

“The puck hasn’t gone in for us all year and when that one didn’t go in again, I thought, ‘Oh, God,’” Comley said.

MSU started the third period with a five-minute power play, as Ferris State’s Mike Embach was sent off for checking from behind at the end of the second period. While the Spartans didn’t capitalize, five crucial minutes ticked off the clock.

After blowing a 2-0 lead Friday, MSU buckled down and shut down the Bulldogs, holding them to six shots in the final frame while blocking the same amount.

“I only had to make a couple big saves there,” Lerg said. “The third period was probably the easiest period I’ve had in a while. Not many Grade-A scoring chances and that’s what you have to do in the third period, you have to shut them down.”

With three points on the weekend, the Spartans moved out of last place in the CCHA heading into next weekend’s series against Ohio State.

“We have to get some wins to get some confidence and
get some momentum going,” Lerg said. “Nothing’s over until we lose that last game. I’m not going out without a fight, so that’s what our mentality has to be and hopefully we get a couple points next weekend.”