No. 2 Michigan State pulled away from the No. 4 Gophers in the final 30 minutes for a 9-3 victory Friday at Munn Arena in East Lansing, Mich.
The victory gave the Spartans (20-3-2, 11-2-2 Big Ten) a four-point lead over the Gophers (19-6-2, 10-4-1) in the Big Ten standings.
The Gophers entered Friday giving up just 2.15 goals per game, eighth best in the nation, but gave up nine goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 28, 2019, a 9-3 loss to North Dakota. It was a season-high output for the Spartans, whose previous high came in an 8-3 victory over Notre Dame in November.
After the Gophers tied the score 2-2 midway through the second, the Spartans outscored the Gophers 7-1 over the final 30 minutes.
“There were a handful of moments in the first half of the game where we let it get away from us,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “Then it completely got away from us. We tied it up at 2, and then we lost a draw and all of a sudden we’re down 3-2; they get a power-play goal and it’s 4-2. Then we were chasing the game, and it was the wrong team tonight to chase a game on. Thank goodness it was Friday night; we get to come back and play tomorrow.”
The Spartans led 1-0 after the first period. Each team scored on its first shot on goal of the second period — an indication of things to come as the teams combined for seven goals in the period.
Oliver Moore scored 26 seconds into the second period to tie the game for the Gophers, but 75 seconds later Tommi Mannisto scored to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
The Gophers tied it on a goal by Brodie Ziemer with 11 minutes, 42 seconds remaining.
