"We didn't get the results of what we wanted last night, but to come back here at home and do what we did here it sends a message," Lethemon said. "A bounce back like this is great for our confidence."

The Spartans started the first period off with sophomore forward Patrick Khodorenko scoring two goals. His first goal was scored in a few seconds into their first power play, while his second was tipped in off of redshirt sophomore defenseman Jerad Rosburg's shot seconds before the end of the first period. 

Sophomore forward Taro Hirose made an assist on the first goal of the night to make it his tenth point in the last ten games. He would tally two more assists throughout the game to make his point total 21 on the season.

"Lately, I've been off the score sheet a little bit and it went the right way," Hirose said. "Patty had a huge night for us and [Lewandowski] continues to impress."

Later in the game, freshman forward Mitchell Lewandowski and sophomore forward Logan Lambdin would both score power play goals to increase the Spartans lead. Lewandowski would have a total of three points in the game with one goal and two assists. 

U-M's power play struggled against the strong Spartan penalty kill, which before this game had a 85 penalty kill percentage. 

"It's a good way to finish up here," head coach Danton Cole said. "They had a few bumps and bruises that would be good to heal up, but overall it's a good and positive way to close this out here before Christmas."

After an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team Development Program U-18 team on Dec. 16, the 8-9-1 Spartans will travel to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to take part in the 53rd Grand Lakes Invitational. 

MSU will play against the 7-7-4 Michigan Tech Huskies in the first round of the GLI on New Year's Day at 2:30 p.m. The Spartans will then play, depending on their outcome, the winner or loser of U-M vs. Bowling Green State University on Jan. 2.