“That was our best overall three period effort,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “The way it was going, we wondered if we’d get the result we wanted. We were disappointed in the first period to play as well as we did and come into the dressing room down a goal, but credit to our players, they dealt with that and hung in there and did what we needed to do.”

The Spartans got off to a hot start in the first period led by the first attacking line of sophomore Ryan Keller, senior Lee Reimer and senior Greg Wolfe.

In the first two shifts for the senior line, they created chaos in front of the Terrier net, but couldn’t get the puck past Sean Maguire.

Matt Lane gave BU the lead after the puck leaked out of a scrum on the far side of the ice. Cason Hohmann passed in front the net and found lane wide open on sophomore goalie Jake Hildebrand’s stick side.

The second period was evenly matched as neither team found the back of the net despite having about the same number of shots.

The biggest difference was in the specials teams. The MSU penalty kill didn’t give up a goal even after allowing six shots on the two advantages in the period.

They finished the game 0-7 on the power play, but didn’t allow a goal in three hard fought penalty kills.

The third period is when things got crazy.

With just under five minutes to go in the game, Darnell got a pass from redshirt freshman defender Brock Krygier to the left of the BU net. His shot deflected off the inside pad of Maguire and into the net.

Just 52 seconds later, Cox netted his first goal as a Spartan after senior defender Jake Chelios put the puck in front of the net where Cox and senior forward Dean Chelios were in a scrum.

“Me and Dean were fighting with a couple other guys,” Cox said. “We kind of just migrated through the net, and one thing led to another and it popped through. Luckily I was right there to put it home.”

Jake Chelios finished the game as the No. 3 star with a pair of assists, while Cox was the first star

It might not have been the prettiest goal, but for Anastos, it was a masterpiece.

“It was a Picasso in my book,” Anastos said. “That was the Mona Lisa of the night. I don’t care how it went in. The red light went on and I saw guys jumping up and down. They grinded it out in front the goal.”

The Terriers came back and pressured the MSU net in the closing moments, but Hildebrand showed why he was named to the Big Ten Players to Watch list this season, and kept the Spartans in the game.

He said there was no way the puck was getting past him in the closing moments, and he was just doing what his teammates were doing in front of him.

“It’s been a long time since we got a win,” Hildebrand said. “I just wanted to make sure I did everything I possibly could to make sure we got that win. All the boys were diving and doing everything they could, they were sacrificing the body. It was awesome to see that.”

Wolfe glided in the empty net goal with seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

For Anastos, the Spartans have been getting better every time they take the ice, and this was the result they deserved.

“It feels good to win,” he said. “Not so much for me, but for the players. I feel that they’ve been working really hard and in every game. It’s a good way to end the weekend.”