While the Buckeyes were strong in the first period, the Spartans came out victorious, sweeping OSU with a 4-1 final. MSU outscored the red-hot Buckeyes 8-3 over the weekend. 

"We talked to our group about playing a complete game and play 60 minutes," MSU head coach Adam Nightingale said postgame. "I told them after the game, not often do you come in and say good response after a win, but I thought that was what happened tonight."

On Friday night, a Spartan landslide in the first 30 minutes was met by a Buckeye counter, but MSU held on to a 4-2 win. With a shorthanded goal just 29 seconds into the second period from junior defenseman Daniel Russell, the Spartans played a complete game, but some areas still needed fine-tuning. 

OSU brought the momentum it gathered in the final period Friday into Saturday, producing results offensively and shutting down the Spartans on defense. 

The Spartan forecheck in their offensive zone was notable through the first period. They fought for pucks behind the net of Ohio State's Logan Terness, but shots were often blocked by Buckeye defenders outside of the blue paint.

A notable development was MSU's fourth forward line of sophomore Tommi Männistö, freshman Mikey DeAngelo and Shane Vansaghi, which was able to dig deep when playing on the puck and gain control in battles along the board. Despite the line's intense play, both teams were scoreless in the first period. 

The first period's physicality between the rivals boiled over into the second. The shots on goal remained even but the Buckeyes were first to capitalize.

As MSU continued to play lights-out on its power play, OSU scored on a fluky goal from a puck that rebounded off the board behind sophomore netminder Trey Augustine. It slid into the back of Augustine's pad and as he moved back into his crease, he took the puck with him across the line. 

"We were down by a goal playing a good hockey team. We knew they were going to push and there was no panic," Nightingale said. "I thought the second period is really where we were able to control a lot of play."

As the clock winded down in the second period, the Spartans got something going. A sprawling save attempt from Terness allowed sophomore forward Gavin O’Connell to slide one just past his skates to tie up the game at one apiece.

It wouldn’t be long after that for MSU's fourth line to capitalize as Vansaghi, a first-year Spartan, tipped in a wrist shot from junior defenseman Matt Basgall. The Spartans took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

Like Friday night, the third period of the rivalry matchup started with a Spartan penalty kill. Though the Buckeyes scored their lone goal on a man advantage in the second, MSU redeemed itself, shutting down on the kill and holding on to the one-goal lead.

The final 20 minutes was a game of keepaway for both sides, with the Buckeyes putting more pressure on the Spartans in an attempt to prevent more scoring opportunities. Even with the pressure, junior forward Isaac Howard ripped home a late insurance goal. 

OSU went with an empty net. As soon as Terness hit the bench, Russell netted his second goal of the weekend and sixth of the season.

By sweeping the Buckeyes, MSU moves to 7-1-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. The Spartans will be back in action to continue their homestand against Notre Dame on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16 at Munn Ice Arena.