Michigan State playing physical? Adam Nightingale: 'Our guys have shown they can handle that'

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State’s goal scoring power came back alive on Friday night in an 8-2 victory over Notre Dame. The eight goals scored by Michigan State were the most in a game this season, and the Spartans looked more like the No. 1 team in the country than they did one night earlier. The victory gave Michigan State a two-game sweep of the Irish and a seasonal four-game sweep, after the Spartans netted a 4-2 victory on Thursday while being outshot. Special teams remained consistently strong for Michigan State on the weekend. The Spartans scored three goals on six power play opportunities, Friday. The Spartans added a short-handed goal by Tommi Männistö and also killed off a five-minute major penalty and a 5-on-3 advantage for Notre Dame in the second period. Porter Martone (6-3, 210, Fr., Peterborough, Ont.) netted a hat trick for the Spartans, scoring a goal in each period. Fellow freshman Ryker Lee (6-1, 185, Fr., Wilmette, Ill.) added two goals as well to give 6,555 fans at a sold out Munn Ice Arena plenty to cheer about. Defenseman Owen West and fourth-line winger Griffin Jurecki also scored goals for the Spartans. Michigan State also celebrated two of its three national championship teams on Friday night with the 1966 and 1986 teams at Munn Ice Arena. Nightingale, as not only the Head Coach but also an alum of the program, took a lot of pride in having those former teams in the building celebrating 40 and 60 years since they made history for Michigan State. “I think my favorite part of the night was having the ‘66 and ‘86 group back,” Nightingale said. “You look at the foundation that those guys laid for this program and the success that they’ve had and how much they come back to support our team, it means a lot to our guys. I thought it was awesome the ovation that they got from the crowd. “There’s a lot of people that have come to our games who have been here a long time in support of this program. So, I thought it was a great weekend for our team, some stuff still to clean up, but we get a little breather here and then back at it on Monday.” (MORE inside SpartanMag. Join SpartanMag: $1 to get started, and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership. Get Deal Now! 👉 https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-state-spartans/join/)