A crowd of 6,098 at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday night saw Michigan State notch three third period goals to put away the Falcons and earn a 6-3 win. A win which earned the two teams a split on the weekend as BG won 2-1 at home the night before to clinch home ice in the playoffs for the first time since March of 1995.
“I thought it was another game with the same type of intensity from last night,” head coach Scott Paluch said. “You had two teams really battling for a lot and it had that playoff type feeling to it.”
For BG, a win would’ve kept them in front of Nebraska-Omaha for fourth place as they were playing a Spartan team that sat in ninth, but still had an outside chance at home ice with a win. The Falcons now sit in a point back in fifth place with a record of 16-12-4 and Central Collegiate Hockey Association record of 13-10-3.
Drew Miller earned first star honors scoring two goals and tallying two assists on the night for MSU as he netted the game-winner just 5:17 into the third period which broke a 3-3 tie.
A loose puck in the crease found Miller who tapped it in as Jordan Sigalet failed to secure a wrap around attempt by Jim Slater. Sigalet made the save, but the puck came loose after it got caught up in his arm, leaving it right in the crease for Miller to knock in.
Sigalet would go on to stop 30 of 35 shots he faced on the night as the final MSU goal came with an empty net.
The two goaltenders played big for their teams all weekend as Dominic Vicari, much like Sigalet did the night before, helped his team get the upper hand despite being out-shot by BG 37-36 on the night. He would stop 34 of the 37 shots to help his team stay in the game after falling behind on two occasions.
Brett Pilkington was the first to give the Falcons the lead on the night as he tallied a power-play goal at the 12:54 mark of the first period. His shot went top shelf on the right side of the slot off a nice pass from James Unger to give BG an early 1-0 lead for the second night in a row.
The power-play was clicking pretty well for BG as they went on to finish the night 3-for-3 on the power-play, however it was treating the Spartans even better as they went 5-for-11. Eight of the nine goals scored on the night came with a man advantage.
“I thought the skilled players on the power-plays really made some great plays,” Paluch said. “Those were some really nice passes and just a lot of real good plays.”
Colton Fretter got the first power-play goal on the night for the Spartans just 1:30 after Pilkington’s to tie the game up and then Jim McKenzie put MSU in front 2-1 as he notched another at the 18:36 mark. McKenzie’s skate appeared to be in the crease on the play, but the goal was still counted after a dispute with the officials.
BG would counter the two goals though in the second period by scoring two power-play goals themselves to reclaim a 3-2 lead. The first goal came off the stick of Ryan Minnabarriet at 6:26 then the other by Alex Foster at 12:27.
Miller would then add the Spartan’s third power-play goal with only 1:41 remaining in the period to once again tie the game up.
As third period began the Falcons had been out-shot 26-20, but like in many games before good play by Sigalet kept them in it. His best save of the year may have come when the Falcons killed off a 5-on-3 power-play in the second as he dove from one side of the crease to the other making an acrobatic save in front.
“The first two periods we had a lot of energy and were playing pretty well,” Pilkington said. “That was pretty good position to be in tied 3-3 going into the third, but we just lost control of the game a little bit and just didn’t get the bounces to go our way.”
Miller’s second goal of the game got the Spartans rolling then the Falcons caught an unlucky break late in the game when Alex Foster got called for boarding. A five minute call that came with 3:20 left in the game allowing the Spartans to have a power-play for the remainder of regulation.
BG had a tough time killing off the penalty and finally with just 1:27 left, Ethan Graham’s shot found the net off the skate of Mike Nesdill bringing it to 5-3. MSU would add an empty netter in the end as the Falcons dropped their third road game in a row.
“We got some breaks tonight, but so did they,” MSU head coach Rick Comley said. “Last night, I think we played as well as possible without winning the game. Tonight, some pucks bounced our way and went in the net.”
Comley’s team had a good game Friday night at the ice arena, but they ran into a hot Sigalet who stopped 33 of 34 shots in a 2-1 win for the Falcons. The win kept BG a perfect 6-0 in the second half of the season at home.
John Mazzei got the scoring started just 24 seconds in and James Unger got the game-winner at 18:48 of the second period.
The Spartans out-shot BG 34-26 for the game, but the Falcons capitalized on the chances they got despite being out-played most of the second and third periods.
BG will end their regular season next weekend when they take on Michigan in a key CCHA home-and-home series before starting the playoffs the following weekend.
