Both games carrying major CCHA playoff implications, filled with intensity and hatred.

On Saturday, the Spartans took a 2-2 game with U-M into overtime at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for the second time this season. In overtime, U-M forward Kevin Lynch picked up a loose puck that senior defenseman Matt Crandell attempted to corral, but it was fumbled and ended up on Lynch’s stick and in the back of the net to give the Wolverines the 3-2 edge.

The previous night, junior defenseman Torey Krug’s single-handedly led the charge with two goals and an assist to rally the Spartans from a two-goal deficit to a 3-2 victory Friday at Munn Ice Arena.

“I was happy with how hard our guys competed,” head coach Tom Anastos said.

“Too many mistakes to end up winning and not taking advantage of some of the real good situations that we had, and as a result, we end up on the short end. But I thought our effort was real strong, and I was pleased overall up until the obvious final.”

In Friday’s game in front of a season-high crowd of 7,103 fans at Munn Ice Arena, forward A.J. Treais and Lynch looked to put away the Spartans early with goals to jump ahead 2-0 at the midway point of the second period. But Krug scored on a slap shot at 13:16 in the second and again at 1:26 in the third to tie up the game at two before delivering the assist to win the game later in the period.

“For a program and a team here trying to get the crowd back into it, that’s exactly the script that we wanted,” Krug said following Friday’s 3-2 victory.

“We played back and stuck to what the coaches asked of us to do, and we were fortunate enough to come out of here with a win.”

In the shadow of U-M’s Great Lakes Invitational banner, which they won 3-2 against the Spartans at the end of December, the Wolverines were in the business of breaking hearts on Saturday.

With a sellout crowd of 20,066 on hand, Treais added a pair of goals, including his tally at 8:31 in the second to tie the game and eventually force overtime.

Lynch’s overtime tally marked his sixth goal of the season, and it sent Spartan fans home from Joe Louis Arena with a bitter taste for the second time this season.

“It stings pretty bad any way you have it,” senior forward Trevor Nill said after Saturday’s loss. “You just got to look at it like, ‘You know, it was a bad bounce, and let’s move on and focus on Alaska.’”

With a win and an overtime loss on the weekend, the Spartans’ season record moves to 16-12-4 with a 11-10-3-2 mark in the CCHA. Securing four points on the weekend puts MSU in a tie for fifth place with Lake Superior State in the CCHA standings with four regular season games to play.

The Spartans conclude their regular season home schedule against Alaska next weekend before finishing up the regular season on the road against Notre Dame.