Daniel Russell recorded a hat trick to lead No. 8 Michigan State to a 6-3 victory over Canisius in collegiate men’s ice hockey action Thursday at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.
Joey Larson, Maxim Strbak and Artyom Levshunov also scored for the Spartans (4-1-0) while freshman netminder Trey Augustine made a season-high 42 stops between the pipes for the home team.
Senior Randy Hernandez factored into all three goals for the Golden Griffins (0-3-0), scoring twice and adding an assist for a three-point evening. Senior Max Kouznetsov accounted for the third Canisius tally with a power-play goal in the second period.
Russell got the Spartans on the board just 3:44 into the contest, firing home a rebound after senior goaltender David Fessenden made the initial save on a shot from Karsen Dorwart during MSU’s first power play of the contest to give the Spartans the early advantage.
Larson doubled the MSU lead to 2-0 with a little more than three minutes to play in the opening frame on a wraparound effort, lifting the puck into the Canisius goal from just off the right post for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Russell notched his second goal of the contest just 70 seconds into the middle frame, collecting a centering feed from Issac Howard and beating Fessenden with a wrist shot to the blocker side to make it a 3-0 contest.
Strbak stretched the Spartans cushion to 4-0 at the 5:07 mark of the second when his shot from the right point deflected off a Canisius defenseman and past Fessenden for his first collegiate tally.
Kouznetsov got Canisius on the board exactly two minutes after Strbak’s tally, jamming home a loose puck while the Griffs were on the power play to trim the deficit to 4-1.
Russell completed his hat trick moments before the midway point of the second period, redirecting Matt Basgall’s feed over the glove of Griffs freshman netminder Ethan Robertson from the top of the Canisius crease to make it 5-1.
Hernandez gave the Griffs life in the third period with a pair of tallies a little more than nine minutes apart. He got on the board at the 4:57 of the third with an unassisted effort, beating MSU netminder Trey Augustine with a wrist shot from the middle of the slot before striking again with 6:21 remaining when he snapped a shot over the glove of Augustine during a 2-on-1 break to pull Canisius within two, 5-3.
Levshunov closed out the scoring with a little more than two minutes remaining, hitting the empty Canisius goal from the MSU zone to determine the three-goal final margin.
Fessenden got the start in goal for Canisius and made 14 saves before being replaced by Robertson in the second period. In his collegiate debut, Robertson finished with 16 stops.
GAME NOTES
• Thursday’s game served as the first-ever meeting between Canisius and Michigan State.
• Canisius played its first game of the season against a nationally-ranked opponent on Thursday. The Griffs moved to 7-11-1 all-time under Large when playing a ranked team.
• Canisius out-shot MSU by a 45-36 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 19-8 advantage in the third period.
• The Griffs were 1-for-6 on the power play while the Spartans were 1-for-2 with the man advantage. Canisius killed off a five-minute major during the contest.
• Hernandez stretched his point-scoring streak to three games with his three-point effort on Thursday.
• Hernandez tallied multiple goals in a game for the second time in his career and recorded three points in a game for the first time in his career as he notched multiple points in a game for the 14th time.
• Kouznetsov netted his second power-play goal of the season and the 12th of his career with his second-period tally.
• Sophomore Ethan Porter picked up his first collegiate point with an assist on Kouznetsov’s second-period tally.
• Senior Jackson Decker extended his career-best point streak to five games with an assist on Hernandez’s second goal in the third period.
UP NEXT
The teams conclude their two-game series Friday with a 7 p.m. contest at the Munn Ice Arena.
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