For their final series at Munn Ice Arena this season, the No. 16 Spartans accomplished what they set out to do, walking away with two wins and six points in the CCHA standings and sending the senior class off on a high note.
With four games left in the regular season, MSU (18-12-4 overall, 13-10-3 CCHA) needed a pair of wins against Alaska to move up in the conference standings and have a chance for a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs.
In the first game of the series, the Spartans knocked off the Nanooks in overtime, 3-2, on a sudden-death goal by senior forward Brett Perlini. Freshman forward Brent Darnell also scored a pair of goals in the first period.
The win propelled the Spartans into fourth place, ahead of No. 17 Ohio State, who did not play this weekend.
“I’d rather be higher than we are, but considering where we could be, I like where we’re moving,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “It’ll go down, just like it did last year, to the very last game. And everybody’s pushing to finish in those top four spots in particular.”
MSU continued its momentum the following night, when a 3-0 victory gave the Spartans their first weekend sweep since Dec. 3, 2011, against Bowling Green. Senior goaltender Drew Palmisano recorded 27 saves en route to his sixth career shutout in his final game in East Lansing.
When asked where he ranked his senior night shutout among memories at Munn, Palmisano said he would place it at “1-A,” right beside wins against in-state rival Michigan.
“It’s something special, and I’m never going to forget this,” he said.
MSU put the first score on the board about 13 minutes into the first period, when junior forward Dean Chelios managed to push the puck in during a scrum in front of the net.
The second and third goals both came in the second period, from freshman forward Tanner Sorenson and sophomore forward Lee Reimer, respectively. Sorenson also had one assist on the night, alongside junior forward Anthony Hayes and Perlini.
Junior defenseman Torey Krug finished with two assists, and his 31 points this season put him in a three-way tie for fourth in the CCHA for points scored.
With one last series to go — at Notre Dame this weekend — the Spartans sit one point behind No. 18 Western Michigan, in fourth place with 44 points.
Krug said the wins were huge in terms of staying competitive in the CCHA but also because the Spartans now have some momentum to build on.
“We’re a very mature locker room, we feed off confidence, and you can tell from the games we lost this year, we just weren’t as confident as we should have been,” he said. “So these games like this give us a boost in confidence, and hopefully we can carry that forward.”
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