Freshman Matteo Giampa scored twice in the final five minutes in the third period to pull Canisius within one, but it not enough as No. 8 Michigan State held on for a 4-3 victory in collegiate men’s ice hockey action Friday at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.
Artyom Levshunov, Reed Lebster, Daniel Russell and Nash Nienhuis all scored for the Spartans (5-1-0), who completed a sweep of the inaugural series between the two programs.
Giampa figured into all three goals for the Golden Griffins (0-4-0) as he also added an assist on senior Griffin Loughran’s second-period tally.
Trailing 4-1 in the final minutes of regulation, Giampa pulled Canisius within one with a pair of extra-attacker tallies. His first game at the 16:46 mark as he jammed home a loose puck in front of the MSU cage before adding his second of the contest with less than five seconds to play in regulation on another goalmouth scramble.
Earlier in the contest, Levshunov opened the scoring at the 13:41 mark of the first period as his wrist shot from the right point found its way through a maze of players and past Canisius freshman goaltender Ethan Robertson to give the Spartans the early advantage.
The teams traded special-teams goals during a 66-second sequence in the second period. Loughran brought the Griffs level at 1-1 with a power-play goal at the 11:46 mark of the middle frame, redirecting freshman Giampa’s centering feed past Michigan State freshman goaltender Luca Di Pasquo for his first goal in a Canisius uniform. The Spartans regain the lead moments later, however, as Lebster finished off a shorthanded breakaway by flipping the puck past the left leg of Robertson to put the home team back in front.
MSU expanded their lead with a pair of goals just under 10 minutes apart in the middle stages of third. Russell netted his fourth goal of the series a little more than five minutes into the final frame, wiring a wrist shot through the legs of a Canisius defender and past the blocker of Robertson while on the rush to make it a 3-1.
Nienhuis netted what proved the eventual game-winning goal at the 15:11 mark of the third, batting home a rebound after Robertson made the initial save on Levshunov during a shorthanded 2-on-1 break to give the Spartans a 4-1 cushion, setting the stage for Giampa and the Griffs late-game surge.
In a matchup of two netminders making their first collegiate starts, Robertson made 43 saves for Canisius while Di Pasquo recorded 30 stops for MSU.
GAME NOTES
• Michigan State out-shot Canisius by a 47-33 margin for the contest, highlighted by an 18-8 edge in the second period.
• Canisius was 1-for-7 on the power play while Michigan State was 0-for-5 with the man advantage. The Griffs had a pair of five-minute power-plays during the contest.
• Loughran scored his first goal in a Canisius uniform on Friday with his power-play tally in the second. The goal was also his first since Nov. 6, 2021 against Michigan.
• Loughran tallied multiple points in a game for the 19th time in his career with his two-point performance on Friday as he also recorded an assist on Giampa’s first goal of the contest.
• Giampa recorded multiple points in a game for the first time in his career with his three-point performance on Friday.
• Senior defenseman Luke Farthing picked up his first point in a Canisius uniform with an assist on Giampa’s second tally of the contest.
UP NEXT
Canisius makes its home debut Nov. 3-4 when it entertains Holy Cross in an Atlantic Hockey Association series. Puck drop for the series opener is slated for 6 p.m. while the finale will be a 7 p.m. start.
The team will be unveiling its 2023 Atlantic Hockey Association Championship banner in a pregame ceremony prior to the start of Saturday’s contest.
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