Michigan State had its doors blown off by Michigan during a heated college hockey rivalry bout in East Lansing on Friday night. The Spartans completely melted down.
Multiple fights broke out during the third period of a 7-1 road win for the Wolverines.
Frustration festered for the home team as the game went on and tensions ultimately boiled over. Both teams combined for 11 different 10-minute misconduct penalties during the final period of play.
The initial scrap broke out on the boards when some chirping back and forth escalated to pushing and shoving. Michigan State was at the center of the kerfuffle as multiple Michigan players bullied forward Tanner Kelly up against the glass. They even knocked the bucket from his head.
Things getting testy here.
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) January 20, 2024
Here’s a non-BTN-plus look-in. pic.twitter.com/Ro229oiRi3
While that one wasn’t so bad, the frustration continued as the visitors extended their lead. It was ugly.
Although the college hockey game was long out of reach, the Spartans were finally able to snap their shutout with seven minutes left. Unfortunately, their lone positive moment of the evening quickly turned sour when a full-blown line brawl broke out between the two in-state rivals.
Where Michigan State’s goal served as a small win amid an awful performance, any momentum quickly swung in the other direction. Multiple brawls ensued. Michigan either won them all or held their own.
MSU scores (to make it 6-1) and fights break out. pic.twitter.com/IbGbjRJWi5
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) January 20, 2024
It was a pretty embarrassing effort. Not only did the home team not earn the right to fight with their play, they lost the fight as well. Yikes.
Four players on both teams were ejected from the contest as result of the late brawl. The Wolverines didn’t care. They threw salt on the Spartans’ wound by finding the net, again, with about two minutes left to extend their lead to six.
Michigan extended its win streak against Michigan State to four with the 7-1 victory and won the fights.