Relive the nail-biting 80s Night thrill! Spartans battled back, securing a hard-fought 4-2 victory in a classic, gritty contest against Notre Dame.
A wise man once said:
“I actually expect closer games than most think, especially in game one. However, the Spartans will prove too tough and take home both victories. Thursday: Michigan State 4 – Notre Dame 2.”
That wise man was me. I dropped that exact quote in yesterday’s “How to Watch” article. So can you guess the final score last night in East Lansing? That’s right—4-2 Spartans. Now that I’ve flexed my perfect prediction, let’s recap this gritty Spartan win.
Michigan State came disguised for this one, rocking vintage colors for 80’s Night at Munn Ice Arena paying homage to the 1986 National Champions. As a color-blind fan, I couldn’t tell right away if those sweaters were red or green—I just knew they weren’t the usual green I’m used to seeing. But despite my eyes and brain failing on the simplest colors, the Spartans had only one target in sight: the opposing net.
Just three minutes in, they made it clear they were here to do damage. The puck ended up in the corner of the Fighting Irish zone, where Daniel Russell (uncredited on the assist) won the race, got a skate on it, and sent it to the face-off circle. Charlie Stramel nudged it backward and away from a defender, and it landed right on the stick of a wide-open Maxim Strbak. He dragged it for a second and rifled a shot into the net for the game’s first goal. Stramel picked up the lone assist—his 21st of the year, tied for second on the team. That was Strbak’s third goal of the season, and a beauty. It looked like the Spartans might turn on the jets early.
But Notre Dame said, “Not so fast.” Just two minutes later, the Irish capitalized on a quick 2-on-1 down low, and Dashel Oliver buried his first career goal to tie it up. The Spartans lost a face-off in their own zone and nearly cleared the puck, but Carter Slaggert intercepted it cleanly. He shoveled it to Panayioti Fimis right in front of Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustine, and before you knew it, the Irish were on the doorstep and even at 1–1 just five minutes in.
The game stayed a tight duel through the rest of the first period. Scoring picked up again in the second. Captain Matt Basgall battled to keep the puck in the offensive zone, then Ryker Lee jumped in to help. Lee won possession, and the magic started. He fired it to Daniel Russell on the glove side of the goalie. Porter Martone sat on the blocker side, with Charlie Stramel in the middle—a perfect triangle, one lone Notre Dame defender spinning like an owl. Russell hit Martone with a sharp pass; Martone one-timed it to Stramel, who one-timed a wrister into the back of the net for his team-leading 19th goal. Martone earned his 21st assist (tied with Stramel for second on the team), and Russell picked up his team-leading 24th. Picture-perfect hockey.
Yet every time the Spartans scored and caught their breath, the Fighting Irish stormed right back. Déjà vu all over again. Two minutes later, Notre Dame won another face-off in the Spartans’ defensive zone, and a wrist shot slipped under the blocker, rang off the post, and bounced in and out faster than the eye could catch. Originally ruled no goal, but after review it was clearly good. Cole Knuble had tied it 2–2—just like I’d envisioned 24 hours earlier. This wasn’t going to be an easy win.
The score stayed knotted until 100 seconds remained in the second period. That’s when Cayden Lindstrom floated a cross-rink pass from left to right, finding Gavin O’Connell. O’Connell rifled it at the goalie; the puck bounced off the chest, ricocheted right, and trickled into the net. Spartans up 3–2, O’Connell’s fifth goal of the season.
That turned out to be the game-winner. Both teams played hard-fought hockey in the third, with goaltenders standing tall to keep it 3–2. Then, with just over a minute left, Porter Martone added his 17th goal of the season on an empty-netter—cementing my prediction perfectly. (If you watch the video in yesterday’s article, you’ll even hear me say it’d be “tough, 3–2, then we add an empty netter.”)
Basically, I spotted this one a mile away. A great win for Michigan State, especially after a bye week that normally slows teams down in their first game back. But the Spartans have their ice legs again, and I’m predicting a 3–0 win Friday night against Notre Dame to complete the sweep.