After its best season in nearly a decade, Michigan State continued its rebuild by changing more than half of its roster. Fifteen new players were at the Spartans' training camp, including top prospects Trey Augustine and Artyom Levshunov. The massive influx of talent drew a great deal of attention towards MSU and the team was ranked in the top-10 in the preseason polls.
The offense, at least lived up to that billing in the first part of the season when Michigan State started 5–1 by averaging nearly 5 goals per game. Despite their solid start, the last week of October emphasized a weakness for the team when they were swept by Boston College; the defense was porous. MSU allowed had a tendency to allow their opponents to get bunches of shots on goals and, over the course of the season, proved to be the 4th worst in terms of shots against.[1] Leaving their young goaltender on an island could have been disastrous but Augustine reveled in he action and gave MSU a chance to win most nights despite allowing nearly 3 goals per game.
With their sub par numbers on defense, the Spartan's success was dependent on their offense. Fortunately, the team was well situated and got contributions from up and down the lineup. Six players finished with double-digit goal totals and ten posted at least 20 points. While the Spartans did not have a go-to leader on the offense, the scoring by committee got the team all the offense they needed. That was made apparent when the Spartans began their conference schedule by losing just once in their first 10 Big Ten games. hat feat was made all the more impressive with the fact that they had done so while playing ranked teams for the entire stretch and had swept then-#1 Wisconsin in the process. The fantastic start put the Spartans atop the conference standings and had them well on their way to making their first NCAA tournament appearance in twelve years.
Michigan State started the second half of its season without their starting goaltender, however, since he was busy tending goal for Team USA at the World Junior Championships there were no concerns. Luca Di Pasquo played well in his absence but was unable to lead the Spartans to a win at the Great Lakes Invitational. Once Augustine returned, the team got back to business and continued as one of the best teams in the nation. While a bit of inconsistency crept into the scoring in the second half, The Spartans stubbornly remained atop the conference standings and entered the final week of the season needing one win to capture their first Big Ten title since 1976. With Wisconsin just 2 points behind, A regulation win in either game would give MSU the championship. Though the Badgers got an early lead, two goals from Michigan State in the first put them ahead after 20 minutes. a major penalty to Maxim Štrbák resulted in Wisconsin tying the score but Reed Lebster became the hero with a third period goal to put MSU ahead for good. The victory not only gave MSU a conference title but gave the team a bye into the semifinal round. Even with a loss in the regular season finale, MSU remained on track for a high seed in the NCAA tournament and had a chance to improve their position further.
The Spartans had a week off to get ready for their next opponent and found a surprise when Ohio State arrived for the semifinal. The heavily favored Spartans soon found themselves in a rare kind of match; a goaltending battle. In the lowest-scoring game all season (tied), MSU needed their goaltender to come up big and Augustine did not disappoint. The freshman made 37 saves in the match, enabling team captain Nash Nienhuis to score the winning goal and propel the Spartans to their first Big Ten title game.[2] Only long-time rival and two-time defending champion Michigan was left in Spartans' path and the conference two top offenses produced a memorable match. The game started fast, with the Wolverines taking the lead in the first minute of play, however, scoring came at a premium in the first half of the game. MSU tied the match about 10 minutes later but nothing from either team got past the goaltenders for the succeeding 20 minutes. Daniel Russell broke the tie just after the midway point of the game and began a torrent of scoring in the second. Michigan responded with two markers to retake the lead but in the final 80 seconds, the Spartans netted a pair of their own. With about 0.7 seconds left in the middle frame a one-timer from Matt Bagsall was tipped by Tanner Kelly into the Wolverine net and put MSU back on top. Michigan tied the match for a fifth time early in the third and caused Michigan State to try and bury their opponents under an avalanche of shots. Despite nearly doubling the total they had in the first two periods, MSU was unable to score before the end of regulation and the two headed into overtime. In the back half of the fourth period, Patrick Geary scored the biggest goal of his young career when he fired a shot from just inside the Michigan blueline. The puck eluded the traffic in front and found its way into the far corner of the cage.[3]
Winning the conference championship lifted MSU up to #4 in the PairWise rankings and gave the Spartans a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. They were placed in the Midwest regional and set to face Western Michigan in the opening round. However, despite being favored in the match, Michigan State's weak defense put the team in a precarious position. Western opened the scoring in the first but by the middle of the second, Michigan State was able to take the lead. Shortly afterwards, MSU's only penalty of the game cost the squad and began a run by the Broncos. WMU scored three goals in just over three minutes and took a lead into the third. Nienhuis cut the lead in half but the Spartans were unable to get the tying marker over the succeeding 10 minutes. With just moments left in their season, Augustine was pulled for an extra attacker. On a rush up the ice, Levshunov found Karsen Dorwart, who had somehow gotten wide open right in front of the cage, and the sophomore smacked the puck into a half-open cage for his 15th of the season. The late goal seemed to give all of the momentum to MSU which carried over into overtime. In nearly 9 minutes of playing time, not a single shot got to Augustine. Meanwhile, a rather harmless shot from Jeremy Davidson deflected off of a Bronco stick into the net.[4]
The lucky goal set Michigan State up with a rematch against Michigan. Though the Spartans got the opening goal, the team had a hard time staying out of the box and were called for six penalties in the game. Though the Spartans only surrendered one power play goal, while scoring two themselves, the repeated penalty kills disrupted their offense and seemed to wear out the Spartan defenders as the game went along. Michigan State found itself behind for the first time in the third period. Though Joey Larson was able to tie the game a few minutes later, the reprieve did not last and the Wolvers scored two goals in 12 seconds. The stunning turnaround forced a furious comeback attempt by the Spartans but they were unable to do any more damage on offense. A late goal from Michigan all but ended the game and even though Augustine was pulled late, both teams seemed to understand that the Spartan's season was over.[5]
