Michigan State puts on an offensive showcase in its ice hockey season opener against the Northern Michigan Wildcats winning 6-2.
The Michigan State men’s ice hockey team opened up their season at Munn Ice Arena and showcased why they are one of the best teams in college hockey on Friday night. The Northern Michigan Wildcats came to town to take on the Spartans and it was a chippy and rough game that ended up breaking out into a brawl at the end of the match. It was an offensive barrage for both teams as they got good looks, sliced right through the defensive lines and had plenty of great goals. In the end, the Spartans proved why they are one of the best teams by putting away Northern Michigan 6-2.
The Spartans led off the game with absolute energy and firepower as they scored three goals in the first 11 minutes, all scored by different players. Anthony Romani opened up the scoring less than two minutes into the game with a goal assisted by Brady Peddle. Then it was Cullen Potter with the second goal at around nine minutes in. Potter had already had a good look at the goal earlier in the game and could not get the shot to land the first time. The second time around he did not throw away his shot as he made the most of his opportunity and put the Spartans up 2-0. Cayden Lindstrom scored less than a minute later to extend the lead and it looked like from that moment on the Spartans would blow them out of the water.
The Wildcats would not go away quietly into the night though as Branden Piku answered back quickly with a goal of his own. The game went scoreless for about 27 minutes of gametime before Northern Michigan scored at the very opening of the third period to close the gap to 3-2 and it looked like they could make a game out of the Spartans fast start. However, three power plays later and the Spartans found themselves back up 6-2 with the game in hand for Adam Nightingale and the hockey program. Anthony Romani led the team with two goals scored, and MSU scored four of their goals on power plays. Both teams’ offenses were making plays and getting to the net for good looks to score, the only difference was the shots on goal. Northern Michigan had 18 shots on goal to Michigan State’s 42 shots on goal. MSU was just getting more push through the Wildcats defense and putting pressure on them to block every single shot that came their way.
Things could not have looked much better for the Spartans in their season debut against Northern Michigan. They have another matchup coming with the Wildcats on Sunday, October 11at 1pm ET at Munn Ice Arena. Nightingale’s team put on a dominant offensive performance that would be hard to stop by any metrics with as many shots on goal as the Spartans had. It was a madhouse at Munn with plenty to cheer about for the ice hockey team.
