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Playing in a newly renovated and empty Munn Ice Arena, the Michigan State Spartans came out strong and organized against the Arizona State Sun Devils. With no crowd it was easy to hear their good communication on the ice, and I was impressed with their pace and aggressiveness.
The first period remained scoreless for both MSU and ASU, but not because the Spartans weren’t shooting. At the end of the first period, the Spartans ended with 13 shots on goal.
Once the second period began you could tell a goal was close. MSU wavered a bit on defense and got off rhythm a few times, but ASU was never able to capitalize. After what seemed to be forever, No. 15 Christian Krygier finally found the back of the net with his first career goal with an assist from No. 20 Josh Nodler and No. 7 Charlie Combs.
In the postgame presser Krygier was relieved when he was able to score and mentioned “Defending is my first job... but it was really nice. We outplayed them about 75 percent of the game.... and tomorrow we have to come out strong”
First career goal alert! pic.twitter.com/s0qu6hRuY8
— MSU_Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 20, 2020
At the end of the second period the two-period total shots on goal for MSU was 19.
During the third period, MSU again kept the pace, but with a lineup of new freshmen and after not having played for eight months, the Spartans conceded a goal with 4:14 left.
.@C_GRAND_3 cleanin' up the garbage.
— Sun Devil Hockey (@SunDevilHockey) November 20, 2020
Tied with just under a minute to go on @bigtennetwork! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/YE6rvKa1VZ
After a frazzled four minutes the score was left at 1 to 1. Heading into three-on-three sudden death overtime had me nervous. MSU did a pretty good job of keeping control of the puck and making ASU work for an offensive drive. But, after a few attempts off target the Spartans were not able to connect for a goal.
The game ended with a final score of MSU 1 ASU 1
Coach Cole had positive remarks for the post game press conference and seemed optimistic about the future of this team.
Cole on for the presser “Overall pretty good... playing a team with a few games under their belt already and some freshmen figuring things out” When asked about OT he simply remarked “Score first... had a couple chances but, we just couldn’t handle the puck”
— The Only Colors (@TheOnlyColors) November 20, 2020
Go Green, and hopefully we can come out with a win tomorrow night!
IN THE BIG TEN
Michigan 5 - Wisconsin 2 FINAL
Michigan came back heavily to take the lead from Wisconsin, and the Badgers were not able to claw back after conceding that large of a deficit.
Minnesota 4 - Penn State 1 FINAL