After a momentum-changing ejection of a Maine player, the No. 20 MSU hockey team fought back from a 4-2 deficit to tie No. 8 Maine, 4-4, Thursday night at Munn Ice Arena.
“We fought the fight and got a tie out of it,” senior forward Dustin Gazley said. “We started getting pucks to the net. More pucks to the net, the better chance we have to score.”
MSU started the scoring quickly with a power play slapshot from the point by senior forward Dustin Gazley.
Maine tied up minutes later with a power play goal of its own when forward Robby Dee slipped the puck past junior goalie Drew Palmisano.
A few minutes later Maine fired several shots at Palmisano, who made several impressive saves, but allowed defenseman Mike Cornell to slip one by him.
Maine went into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead after a second power play goal by forward Joey Diamond.
The quick lead was a result of the Spartans coming out a little slugghish, Gazley said.
“We came out a little slow,” he said. “We showed a lot of heart coming back.”
MSU quickly cut the Maine lead to one after a goal by junior forward Daultan Leveille took a shot from the point with assists from Gazley and sophomore Derek Grant.
Skating with another man advantage, Maine took a 4-2 lead on a goal by forward Spencer Abbott.
Maine’s quick lead didn’t shock MSU in it’s first game, head coach Rick Comley said, but it didn’t feel like the first game of the season.
“They’re a really good team, what we all want as a team is to have go to people, they have go to people,” Comley said. “They play the game. This was a night of adjustments for us … (but) It was like a late season atmosphere.”
Momentum shifted into MSU’s favor after a massive hit by Maine forward Theo Andersson resulted in an ejection and a five minute power play for the Spartans. Junior forward Brett Perlini took a Gazley pass and fired it past the Maine goalie.
Following a retaliating hit by MSU sophomore defenseman Torey Krug that resulted in a five minute penalty, MSU scored shorthanded to tie the game with a goal by junior forward Mike Merrifield, assisted by junior forward Trevor Nill.
Leveille said the tie showed a lot of MSU’s character.
“A lot of teams might have folded,” he said. “It showed a lot of positive things for our team.
“We knew the goalie was a bit shaky and knew the only way we could score is to put pucks on net.”
Tied 4-4 after three periods, the game went into overtime with the Spartans down a man to start. The Spartans killed the penalty and attacked with the fresh even strength.
After strong performance by both Maine goalie Shawn Sirman and Palmisano, overtime ended 4-4 and a violent pile up in the corner.
“We have two great, historic programs that go at each other,” Comley said. “When that happens the players come in here knowing what Michigan State is, we know what Maine is, it has a different feel to the game, in a real positive way.”
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The Spartans will finish up the series with Maine Friday at 7:35 at Munn Ice Arena.
