No. 3 Michigan State wasted little time setting the tone in its regular-season opener, rolling past Northern Michigan 6-2 on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena behind a balanced attack and a sharp special-teams night.
Sophomore forward Anthony Romani led the way with two goals and an assist, while sophomore forward Ryker Lee matched him with three points of his own, all on assists. Lee’s three assists set new single-game career highs in both points and assists. Sophomore forward Eric Nilson and freshman defenseman Chase Reid each finished with two assists, with Nilson also setting a new career high.
Michigan State’s offense came from all over the lineup. Junior forward Cullen Potter, sophomore forward Cayden Lindstrom, senior forward Gavin O'Connell, freshman forward Jack Hextall and Romani all found the net. Freshmen Tommy Bleyl, Brady Peddle and Ethan Belchetz each added an assist.
The Spartans controlled the shot clock, outshooting Northern Michigan 42-18. They also cashed in on the power play, scoring five times on 10 chances, while the penalty kill was perfect, going 5-for-5.
"I liked a lot of what we did," said Michigan State Head Coach Adam Nightingale. "I thought the power play obviously was good. I thought the penalty kill did a really good job, and we took some steps in areas we got to get better as a team."
Freshman goaltender Joshua Ravensbergern stopped 16 shots and allowed two goals over 59:46.
Michigan State struck first just 1:48 into the game. Peddle started the play with a breakout pass that bounced off Belchetz’s stick and landed right for Romani, who was in alone against the Northern Michigan goalie. Romani finished the chance with a deke for the opening goal.
The Spartans doubled the lead on a 5-on-3 at 9:33 of the first when Potter found space and buried a precise shot. Lindstrom made it 3-0 before the period ended, scoring from the high slot through traffic.
Northern Michigan got one back at 13:11 of the first after a blocked Spartan shot turned into a breakaway. Then, 40 seconds into the third period, the Wildcats cut the margin to 3-2 on a back door deflection.
Michigan State answered right away. At 1:34 of the third, Reid sent a shot from the blue line toward the net, and O'Connell redirected it in to restore a two-goal cushion. Romani added his second of the night on a one-timer from the left circle at 12:13, and Hextall scored the first goal of his career from nearly the same area three minutes later to finish off the scoring.
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