ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan State closed its regular season on Saturday night at Yost Ice Arena in victorious fashion, downing 19th-ranked Michigan 2-1. The Spartans got a 37-save performance from goaltender Jake Hildebrand and Matt DeBlouw's goal 29 seconds into the third period proved to be the difference.
The win clinched a top-two seed for MSU (17-15-2, 11-7-2-2) in next week's Big Ten Tournament at Joe Louis Arena. If Minnesota beats Penn State on Saturday night, MSU will be the No. 2 seed. Should Penn State win, MSU will be the No. 1 seed and the outright Big Ten regular-season champion.
"It's a very satisfying win," MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. "It was a tough game. Last night was difficult and I thought our effort was really strong tonight. Obviously, our goaltender was phenomenal, but we've grown to expect that.
"It was a tough environment. They had a lot on the line and so did we. Tonight we won enough of the key moments to give ourselves a chance to win and last night we didn't."
The game-winning goal started on a chip by Matt Berry and then a pass to DeBlouw from Mackenzie MacEachern in the neutral zone, springing DeBlouw up ice.
"Mac fed a great pass to me and I went down knowing where I was going to shoot it and it went in," DeBlouw said.
