Munn Ice Arena was packed and buzzing for the Michigan State hockey season opener on Thursday night against a New Hampshire team that went 13-16-6 last year.
It felt like a great opportunity for the Spartans to gain some momentum heading into some tougher matchups, but they didn’t quite expect the fight that they got from New Hampshire. In fact, it was a dogfight throughout, and the Spartans found themselves trying to come back multiple times.
After tying things up a 3-3 with under five minutes left, it felt like Adam Nightingale’s Spartans were just going to steal the lead back for good and everyone would be on their way as scheduled.
New Hampshire had other plans.
With under 20 seconds left, Trey Augustine left net to stop the puck and hand it off to a teammate, but a quick turnover gave New Hampshire the ball in Michigan State’s zone and a flurry of shots set up a rebound on an open net and a game-winning score with just over three seconds left.
For the second straight time, Michigan State lost a game in excruciating fashion (yes, I’m talking about how their 2024-25 season ended against Cornell).
Spartan fans were hurt, but fortunately, they weren’t the only top-five fanbase to experience a shocking loss in the opener. Western Michigan, the reigning champ and No. 1 team in the country, lost to Ferris State in a shocker, and No. 4 Penn State lost to Clarkson, 6-4.
It’s the first game of the season, and slip-ups are going to happen, but we’re about to find out how good Michigan State really is by how it bounces back from this loss.
The Spartans play New Hampshire again on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.