Michigan

Michigan State hockey sweeps Michigan with 3-2 win in Detroit: Analysis and reaction

Published

2 years ago

February 11, 2024

Michigan State hockey sweeps Michigan with 3-2 win in Detroit: Analysis and reaction

DETROIT – Lansing State Journal sports reporter Nathaniel Bott breaks down ninth-ranked Michigan State’s 3-2 victory over 11th-ranked Michigan in the annual “Duel in the D” on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

What happened

Michigan State was looking to break a six-game losing streak against Michigan in the annual “Duel in the D” at Little Caesars Arena, having earned some momentum in a 5-1 win at Yost Ice Arena on Friday night.

Both sides skated out to a sold-out crowd of 18,410, with “Let’s Go Blue!” and “Go Green! Go White!” chants taking turns echoing throughout the arena. And in that raucous atmosphere, MSU was able to withstand a late Michigan rally to earn a 3-2 win and pivotal series sweep.

For the first time in eight meetings between MSU coach Adam Nightingale and Michigan’s Brandon Naurato, Nightingale’s side struck first. Fourth-line wing Tanner Kelly jumped on a loose puck in the slot, spun, and fired a shot past Wolverines goaltender Jake Barczewski to give the Spartans an early lead.

MSU only allowed Michigan’s vaunted power play to take the ice once. The Wolverines converted that chance in the second period as forward Gavin Brindley found Dylan Duke to level things, 1-1.

MSU’s fourth line, which started the game and matched up frequently with Michigan’s top line, came up big again in response. Forward Tommi Mannisto cycled the puck to the point and senior defenseman Nash Nienhuis. Nienhus’ shot was originally saved, but a rebound popped out to the side of the net where sophomore forward Tiernan Shoudy banged home his third goal of the season.

MSU would double its lead later in the second period after Kelly jumped into a rush with top-line forwards Karsen Dorwart and Isaac Howard. Kelly received a pass from Howard and skated in, faking a shot that drew Barczewski out of the net before delivering a pass to Dorwart, who fired into a practically open net to make it 3-1.

Brindley scored for Michigan on a backdoor play with 9:09 remaining in the third period, but MSU was able to lock down the final minutes and stave off a number of chances for the Wolverines in the final minute of action.

Trey Augustine stopped 36 shots for MSU, as did his counterpart, Barczewski. With Saturday’s win, MSU earned its first regular season series win over Michigan since 2017 and its first two-game series sweep of the Wolverines since 2019.

What it means

MSU is now 20-7-3 overall and 14-4-2 in the Big Ten, five points ahead of second-place Wisconsin, which has played two fewer games than the Spartans. MSU’s final series of the regular season, March 1 and 2, is in Madison. The Spartans are also up to No. 5 in the all-important Pairwise Rankings.

MSU’s season series with Michigan this season tells a great tale. It captured the buy-in that Nightingale wants and perhaps established a benchmark for wins going forward.

This win was No. 20 on the season for the Spartans, who had hadn’t hit that total since the 2008-2009 season — two years after their last national title.

Tanner Kelly’s come was the story of the night

There’s been growth this season to get here. Tanner Kelly’s story is part of that. Kelly came into the first meeting with Michigan this season looking for trouble. Any chance to give a little extra on a check, any opening that Michigan players gave him to react, he jumped at. It led to a 22 penalty minutes for Kelly over two games, including two five-minute majors.

The Spartans lost that first game 7-1. The next night at Yost, Kelly was absent from the lineup. In Nightingale’s eyes, his antics were too detrimental.

And when MSU found itself down 4-1 at Yost, everyone up and down the roster stuck to the gameplan and got rewarded, skating away with an impressive 7-5 come-from-behind win.

MSU and Michigan have always had fireworks on the ice. Big hits. Showboating celebrations. Scrums and fights after whistles galore. But Nightingale is changing the perception of the rivalry. As he puts it, “you don’t have to like them, but you have to respect them.”

Kelly would go on to miss the Minnesota series as well, with his freshman replacement Griffin Jurecki playing well on the fourth line and scoring a goal that sparked a third-period rally in an MSU come-from-behind win.

Kelly finally returned in last week’s Notre Dame series, with this matchup with Michigan circled.

When MSU fell behind Friday night, it was Kelly who made a great individual effort to score a goal 25 seconds later, and MSU never looked back from there. In Detroit on Saturday, Kelly scored the game’s opening goal and made a remarkable play to set up the eventual game-winning goal.

“I think it’s a really good lesson on accountability, and in the first game he took some penalties and we had a conversation and he missed some games,” Nightingale said. “Tanner is a critical piece to our team, but I made a promise to these guys that I was going to hold them accountable and to a standard. I believe in forgiveness but there are consequences to your actions. Tanner did nothing but work and he got back in and that line has been really good for us.”

That line of Shoudy, Mannisto and Kelly, have started the last three games for the Spartans and were the reason MSU won Saturday, contributing on all three goals while consistently matching up and making life difficult for Michigan’s top line.

“Winning tonight was special, but to see Tanner respond the right way when you get held accountable and then get rewarded is a pretty special moment for me as a coach,” Nightingale said.

What’s next

MSU has a bye week before hosting Ohio State on Feb. 23 and 24 in the final home series of the regular season.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @Nathaniel_Bott

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Michigan

Woman struck, fatally injured, while walking on the Lodge Freeway, state police say

Published

37 minutes ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Woman struck, fatally injured, while walking on the Lodge Freeway, state police say

March 27, 2026 / 7:44 AM EDT
/ CBS Detroit

A pedestrian was struck and died of her injuries early Friday on the Lodge Freeway in Detroit.

Emergency dispatchers started to get calls about 2:30 a.m. about someone who was walking along the Lodge, and then were notified that the person had been struck by a vehicle, the Michigan State Police reported.

When troopers arrived, they found multiple cars stopped along the freeway, and people standing around a woman who was severely injured.

Detroit EMS pronounced the woman dead at the scene, state police said. She has not yet been identified.

The driver who struck the woman did not stay at the scene.

“Troopers are currently using technology that is available in the area to identify the vehicle involved,” MSP F/Lt. Mike Shaw said.

The Lodge Freeway, also known as M-10, was closed at about 2:46 a.m. Friday between Chicago Boulevard / Hamilton Avenue and Clairmount Street for the investigation and emergency assistance, according to Michigan Department of Transportation reports. The Lodge was reported back open at 6:05 a.m.

Michigan Department of Transportation traffic reports are at the MI Drive site.

State police said their investigation is continuing. Those who witnessed the crash or have other information are asked to call the MSP Metro South Post at 734-287-5000 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at 800-SPEAK-UP.

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Michigan

List of active weather alerts as severe weather moves through Southeast Michigan

Published

13 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

List of active weather alerts as severe weather moves through Southeast Michigan

Severe storms bring risk of tornadoes, hail, flooding

4Warn Weather – The severe thunderstorm warnings in Monroe and Lenawee counties have expired.

A ground stoppage has also been deployed.

Click here for the latest forecast from our 4Warn Weather team.

Here’s a list of the alerts by county.

Wayne County

No active weather alerts.

Oakland County

No active weather alerts.

Macomb County

No active weather alerts.

Washtenaw County

No active weather alerts.

Monroe County

Severe thunderstorm warning expired at 8 p.m.

Livingston County

No active weather alerts.

Lenawee County

Severe thunderstorm warning expired at 7:45 p.m.

Lapeer County

No active weather alerts.

Genesee County

No active weather alerts.

St. Clair County

No active weather alerts.

Sanilac County

No active weather alerts.

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Michigan

Michigan football emphasizes return of discipline under new regime

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Michigan football emphasizes return of discipline under new regime

The buzzword continued to come up in Schembechler Hall, from each one of the captains.

From Bryce Underwood to Jordan Marshall, Rod Moore to Trey Pierce − Michigan football players around for the previous regime and in the case of the latter two, the one before that too − each said Wednesday, March 25, that there’s a noticeable difference within the program under new coach Kyle Whittingham.

For Moore, a sixth-year player who will likely become a third-time captain when the official leaders are voted on later this summer, he recognized the vibe.

“I would say it’s kind of a similarity to coach Harbaugh’s regimen,” he said. “It’s a lot more strict than the past two years, and the weight room has kind of been a night-and-day difference than the past two years. We feel a lot stronger, a lot more progress.”

The Wolverines finished winter conditioning and Whittingham graded it with an “A+.” Hope is often the dominant mode at this time of year and adding a new coaching staff to what’s generally a positive time creates little surprise that the Wolverines are raving about the new system.

But beyond the platitudes and clichés, there are tangible examples. Take Pierce: The projected starting defensive tackle has trimmed his weight to 300 pounds while adding muscle mass to his overall frame.

“Something new that we have now is that whenever we start meetings, there’s like a loud air horn that goes off throughout the whole building,” Moore said. “The past two years, we would start the meeting at 2:30, but now we start the meeting at 2:25, even though it’s a 2:30 meeting. Just everyone being five minutes early. The coaches are holding everyone accountable in the meetings, going to class.

“Just the little things that makes a team great, not just the big, broad things that everyone sees.”

There was an implication from everyone, though nothing said explicitly, that the past two seasons featured little enforcement. Most players would show up on time for lifts, but there were those who didn’t, with few repercussions.

“It’s the little things,” Pierce said. “Guys being late for lifts, guys not being where they’re supposed to be, whether it’s [missing] class. Just enforcing that a little bit heavier, that type of thing. … A lot of coaches say that when you’re being recruited in front of your parents. But for [Whittingham] to say that in front of the huddle after practice and say, ‘That’s why I’m here,’ I would say, ‘OK, he cares. He gets it.’”

Throughout the offseason, some who’ve spent time inside the facility said the weightlifting sessions had notably more juice. The past two years felt like a carryover of the previous years in terms of style, but accountability and discipline wavered.

Now, with Doug Elisaia leading the strength and conditioning room, there are different philosophies.

Practices are a bit shorter these days – two hours – but as Marshall said, “I don’t stop moving at practice, like, we’re always doing something that’s not only going to help with us competing with teams, but our conditioning.”

Marshall believes it can take the Wolverines to the next level, he said.

Just more than a week into spring ball, players are oozing confidence. Not just in their skills − the running back room is deep, the wide receiver room has as much raw talent as at any point the past decade, the offensive line returned multiple key pieces, the secondary added depth and the defensive tackles feel underrated − but in mindset.

U-M had early, demanding lifting sessions during winter conditioning, with a clear organization.

“It introduces that factor of toughness, like we’ve been through this at 6:30 a.m., 6:15 a.m., all these days in the grind together,” Pierce said. “It improves team bonding, and puts you in the headspace of, we’ve done harder stuff than this, and nothing can break us.”

The difference between winning and losing can often be razor-thin. Will this pay off when it counts during the season?

“If I can trust you to do things maybe you don’t want to do,” Marshall said, “then I can trust you on the field when it’s the fourth quarter and we have one minute left.”

Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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