Michigan State won the Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament for the first time in program history.

[1] Leaving their young goaltender on an island could have been disastrous but Augustine reveled in he action and gave MSU a chance to win most nights despite allowing nearly 3 goals per game.

hat feat was made all the more impressive with the fact that they had done so while playing ranked teams for the entire stretch and had swept then-#1 Wisconsin in the process.

The fantastic start put the Spartans atop the conference standings and had them well on their way to making their first NCAA tournament appearance in twelve years.

While a bit of inconsistency crept into the scoring in the second half, The Spartans stubbornly remained atop the conference standings and entered the final week of the season needing one win to capture their first Big Ten title since 1976.

a major penalty to Maxim Štrbák resulted in Wisconsin tying the score but Reed Lebster became the hero with a third period goal to put MSU ahead for good.

Even with a loss in the regular season finale, MSU remained on track for a high seed in the NCAA tournament and had a chance to improve their position further.

The freshman made 37 saves in the match, enabling team captain Nash Nienhuis to score the winning goal and propel the Spartans to their first Big Ten title game.

[2] Only long-time rival and two-time defending champion Michigan was left in Spartans' path and the conference two top offenses produced a memorable match.

With about 0.7 seconds left in the middle frame a one-timer from Matt Bagsall was tipped by Tanner Kelly into the Wolverine net and put MSU back on top.

In the back half of the fourth period, Patrick Geary scored the biggest goal of his young career when he fired a shot from just inside the Michigan blueline.

[3] Winning the conference championship lifted MSU up to #4 in the PairWise rankings and gave the Spartans a one-seed in the NCAA tournament.