Michigan Hockey lost to Michigan State in the annual “Duel in the D” for the third straight year. Here is what went wrong:
It was not the dream weekend Michigan Hockey fans had hoped for against their rivals from East Lansing.
The No. 1 Wolverines (23-5-0, 14-4-0 Big Ten, 38 points) did rally for a 4-3 overtime at Yost Ice Arena on Friday night, but their trip to Detroit for the “Duel in the D” was a more disappointing result. The No. 2 Michigan State Spartans, in front of 19,405 fans at Little Caesars Arena, won by a final score of 5-2.
Spirits could not have been higher at puck drop, as freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic made his return to the starting lineup. However, he was not greeted pleasantly.
Midway through the first, the Spartans’ Gavin O’Connell opened the scoring as a stretch-pass entry collapsed the Michigan defense and nobody picked up the trailing O’Connell. Seven minutes later, Michigan State struck again when Porter Martone sizzled a power play shot from the left circle, making it 2-0.
The Wolverines just did not find their game in this one as they let up too many breaks the other way. Ivankovic still has some rust to shake off, and the offense, while notching 27 shots on goal, did not do enough against MSU goalie Trey Augustine to compensate for their defensive deficiencies.
Four minutes into the second period, the Spartans’ Charlie Stramel got loose behind the defense, snuck back door and tapped one home. Not even 100 seconds later, Shoudy Tiernan finished a tic-tac-toe passing play off another stretch-pass entry.
Michigan did show some fight, as the puck took a friendly bounce off the backboard and Jayden Perron was in the right spot for his team’s first goal. Nick Moldenhauer would add another during the Wolverines’ strong late-game push, but it was too little too late and Michigan State added an empty-netter.
Ivankovic did end the evening with 32 saves, and his return is still a positive to extract after this otherwise dreadful affair.
The Wolverines will have a bitter taste in their mouths after dropping this event for the third consecutive season, and they have a quick turnaround for next weekend’s home series vs Penn State.
The Spartans will likely earn the nation’s top spot after this series, but based on how evenly matched these teams are, do not be surprised if they meet again, whether that be in the Big Ten Tournament or the Big Dance.
Category: General Sports
