“Conquer.”
That was the message by Hockey Hall of Famer and 16-time NHL All-Star Mark Messier to Michigan State captain Nash Nienhuis before the game.
The pregame message seemed to work out well for the Spartans, especially Nienhuis, who scored the game-winning goal in the third period, as they beat Ohio State 2-1 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
“Just thinking about some of the big games he’s played in, it’s bigger than just a game,” Nienhuis said, while recalling Messier’s message. “The amount of work that we put in and the people that have helped us get to where we are - like you have to kind of sit back and appreciate that and use that as an extra edge for energy.”
The Messiers and Nienhuises have been family friends since Nash’s father played in Germany with Mark’s brother, Paul. Mark would even skate at training camp in Germany, which began earlier than camp in the NHL.
“Obviously really cool to get that from him,” Nienhuis said about receiving the message from Messier. “He wanted to send it along to the team. It’s just great to see and obviously nice to have his support.”
The game itself was a stereotypical playoff hockey game: low-scoring, physical, and a true goaltender battle. It was a style of game that Michigan State didn’t really find itself in early in the season.
“I think we’ve learned how to win different ways,” Adam Nightingale said after the win. “We’ve won high-scoring games, low-scoring games, tight games. We’ve come back and we’ve held on to leads. And those are all valuable things to have in our back pocket. I think it speaks to the leadership on our team and the poise.”
Michigan State's Trey Augustine tallied 37 saves on 38 shots faced. Ohio State’s Logan Terness had 36 saves on 38 shots faced.
With his performances this season, it’s easy to forget that Augustine is a freshman playing in his first season in college hockey.
“I’ve been playing hockey for a long time,” said Augustine - who earned the third star of the game after recording a .974 save percentage - about his nerves for Saturday night’s game. “I’ve been playing in some pretty big games. I kind of feel like I’ve always been ready for it.”
The atmosphere inside Munn Ice Arena was arguably the best it’s ever been. Brad Fast, Michigan State’s Director of Player Development and a former player from 1999-2003, even told Nightingale that it was the loudest crowd he’s ever heard at the building.
“I give our guys credit because I think they’ve earned some respect in town,” Nightingale said. “I think that was one of our goals two years ago was to try to earn (it) and not expect people just to come and watch you because you’re Michigan State Hockey.”
First period
It was a chippy first few minutes at the start of the game. Fans inside Munn Ice Arena were not happy with several no-calls by the officials. Each team had a power play opportunity but neither capitalized on the man advantage.
The story early on was the goaltending. Augustine saved all 13 shots he faced. Terness also had 13 saves in the opening 20 minutes of hockey.
Second period
The second period got off to a fast start. Daniel Russell intercepted a careless pass by Ohio State and dashed right towards the net where he tapped home a pass from Karsen Dorwart.
Isaac Howard got the secondary assist on the goal. The goal was Russell’s 11th of the season.
Michigan State thought it had added another goal in the form of a Jeremy Davidson snipe, but the goal was waved off after a review. It was ruled that Nicolas Muller was in the crease and interfered with the goaltender.
Third period
Ohio State finally broke through Augustine about two minutes into the final period. Max Montes scored his ninth goal of the season on a wrap-around attempt to put the Buckeyes on the board.
The tie score only lasted for 13 seconds as Nienhius ripped a shot from the faceoff circle past Terness for his eighth goal of the campaign, giving the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish.
“I think really that this group’s done a good job of responding,” Nightingale said. “And I think, we got scored on and it would’ve been easy, especially a younger team, to melt. And 13 seconds later, Nash, a big time play for us, got us the lead and we were able to hang on.”
Nienhuis’ goal was set up by Tanner Kelly, who played on Michigan State’s fourth forward line with Tommi Mannisto and Tiernan Shoudy tonight. Kelly won a puck battle against the boards and got around some Ohio State defenders before finding Nienhuis for the goal.
That Michigan State fourth line has been solid all season, with Kelly, Mannisto and Shoudy combining for 38 points so far this season.
“That line was great for us,” Nienhuis said about Michigan State’s fourth line. “They always are. They create a lot of energy for us.”
Just over two minutes later, the Buckeyes thought they had another game-tying goal as Montes tipped one past Augustine. However, Michigan State challenged the play for offsides and after review, offsides was called and the goal was waved off.
Nightingale gave all the credit on that one to Michigan State’s Director of Hockey Video and Analytics Dan Sturges for catching the offsides and letting Nightingale know.
“It’s a thankless job,” Nightingale said. “Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. Usually offsides is pretty clear but he caught it right away and called down.”
With 1:57 remaining in the game, Ohio State pulled Terness to give itself an extra attacker. It didn’t pay off as Michigan State held strong defensively to secure the 2-1 victory and a spot in the Big Ten Tournament championship game next week.
The Spartans will host in-state rival Michigan on Saturday, March 23 at 8:00pm on Big Ten Network for the Big Ten Tournament Championship.
