Spartans beat Wolverines in first battle for the ‘Iron D’ trophy
By Nick Barnowski –
DETROIT – The trophy weighs 50 pounds, but to the Michigan State Spartans, lifting it was only half of the battle.
It took overtime, but the Spartans were able to skate away with the new ‘Iron D’ trophy after taking down rival Michigan, 3-2, at Joe Louis Arena on Friday night. Joking about how heavy the trophy is afterward was a light-hearted end to a game that the Spartans (7-18-2) needed to take seriously.
“The thing’s heavy, it was pulling me around,” said MSU’s Joe Cox, who scored his team’s first two goals, “but it’s surreal. Especially that we were able to do it for the seniors, their last time being able to do it at the Joe against (Michigan).”
Matt DeBlouw’s blast from the top of the slot was his third game-winning goal against the Wolverines (16-4-4) in the past two seasons, and it snapped a three-game Michigan win streak against the Spartans dating back to last year.
The senior from Chesterfield received a pass from Villiam Haag and fired a shot that beat Michigan goalie Steve Racine on his blocker side at of the extra session.
Photos by Michael Caples/MiHockey
“It was definitely selfless of (Haag),” DeBlouw said. “He could have shot it, but with a couple of screens in front it made the goalie not see it at all. It definitely wasn’t all me.”
After taking down the Spartans in their first two meetings this season by a total score of 15-5, Michigan head coach Red Berenson said he wasn’t exactly surprised by MSU’s compete level.
“It was a great effort by Michigan State and I know their coaches have been after them to perform better,” Berenson said. “They scored the goals when they needed to and we gave up goals when we couldn’t afford to.”
Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos said that despite the tough season his team is having, he’s proud of his players for continuing to fight through it.
“I was happy for our guys, especially the seniors,” Anastos said. “They’ve been fighting a tough season. I admire how hard these guys are working through some adversity.”
Prior to DeBlouw’s goal, it was the Cox and Tyler Motte show, with each of them scoring their team’s first two goals.
The Wolverines controlled play for the first few minutes of the game, using their speed and ability to move the puck around quickly in the MSU zone, but it was Michigan State that struck first.
Shorthanded, Thomas Ebbing sprung Cox for a breakaway, but he was hooked by Zach Werenski, causing the referee to point to center ice for a penalty shot. Before taking it, Cox sought out MSU goalie Jake Hildebrand, who gave him some advice.
“I went and talked to Hildy because he’s really smart and he knows how every goalie in the league moves,” Cox said. “He said he likes to spread his legs so that’s all I really needed.”
Cox followed his goalie’s advice, sliding the puck through Racine’s five hole after a quick deke to give MSU a 1-0 lead.
The nation’s leading goal scorer then left his mark on the game, as Motte tallied his 23th and 24th goals of the season to give the Wolverines a one-goal advantage.
A few minutes before the end of the second period, Motte left the penalty box and was met by the puck following Nicholas Boka’s clearing attempt. He raced in on Hildebrand and beat the MSU goalie above the blocker. Then, at 9:03 of the third, Motte struck again, firing a shot past Hildebrand after a cycling play down low by Kyle Connor and JT Compher.
“Tyler had another strong game,” Berenson said. “He’s been one of our go to players all year and he was again tonight.”
In between Motte’s goals, MSU nearly to take a 2-1 lead three minutes into the third, but Michael Ferrantino’s shot was merely centimeters from crossing the goal line completely, leaving the officials to rule no goal after a review.
“Yeah, that’s the closest I’ve seen,” Anastos said. “I like the way we responded (to it). I thought we had good push back and we kept responding.”
The Spartans survived five penalty kills, including two crucial ones in the third period, frustrating a Michigan offense than came into Friday averaging five goals per game.
“We pushed pucks to the outside and didn’t give them shots from the middle,” Hildebrand said of MSU’s PK, which has now killed off its last 17 penalties. “With their power play and seeing how they’ve been clicking, to slow them down like that is great for our team.”
Less than two minutes after killing off its final penalty, MSU tied the game on Cox’s second goal and eighth of the season, a shot from the low slot that beat Racine.
“You love to see a guy like him get rewarded because the effort you saw tonight, you see every single day, not just in a big game on a big stage,” Anastos said of Cox.
The Spartans and Wolverines meet again Saturday night in the final regular season matchup between the two teams. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor.
“I think we’ve just got momentum,” Cox said. “This is only half of the weekend. It’s really nice to have guys’ confidence high heading into the game.”