Gophers men’s hockey team plays Michigan State into OT, but the extra point gets away

On Saturday, for the second time in four meetings this season, the Gophers and Michigan State men’s hockey teams went into overtime.

And for the second time the Spartans won a shootout to earn the extra point in the Big Ten standings.

After the teams skated to a 3-3 tie through three periods at Munn Arena in East Lansing, the No. 2 Spartans (20-3-3, 11-2-3 Big Ten) won the shootout 2-0 to increase their lead over the No. 4 Gophers (19-6-3, 10-4-2) in the conference standings to five points.

The teams also played to a 3-3 tie Dec. 13 at 3M Arena at Mariucci, and the Spartans won the shootout. They also won the next night, 5-3.

The Gophers lost a shootout for the 10th consecutive time Saturday, and they’re 2-17 in shootouts in Big Ten play since the league started in the 2013-14 season. They have not scored on 25 consecutive shootout attempts.

On Saturday, the Spartans’ Matt Basgall opened the scoring with 3 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first period.

The Gophers tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Jimmy Snuggerud six minutes into the second period, but the Spartans regained the lead less than two minutes later on a goal by Joey Larson.