MSU upsets Michigan hockey 2-1 at Joe Louis Arena

Matt DeBlouw was standing in the right place at the right time. He was rewarded with a tie-breaking goal that gave Michigan State a 2-1 upset win over No.13-ranked Michigan.

A shot by MSU defenseman Rhett Holland deflected off DeBlouw's stick, then off his skate and in to break a 1-1 tie at 1:58 of the third period. It was DeBlouw's fifth goal of the season and first since. Dec. 14.

"We talked ad nauseam about going to the net – ad nauseam," said Michigan State coach Tom Anastos. "To score goals you have to go to the net and he has a tendency at times to just kind of stand away from it. Earlier in the game….we moved the puck around, had a great blast and looked at him and he's standing at the other side of the dot. I gave him a pretty good stare."

In the third period, DeBlouw stood right where Anastos wanted when Holland attempted his shot.

"In that situation, he goes to the net, just like we work on, and it goes in," Anastos said.

Michigan State killed off a late Michigan power play to hold on for the win.

The loss for U-M snapped a seven-game winning streak, which was longest in the nation.

The Wolverines came into the game leading the nation in scoring, averaging 4.36 goals per game. They were held to one goal for the first time since a 5-1 loss at Boston College on Dec. 13.

"Everyone built this game up as an offense vs. defense and you know what happens, defense wins," said Michigan coach Red Berenson. "The puck isn't going to go in every night and we've gotta play better than we played if we're going to win close games. We've had it pretty easy the last few games and the puck has gone our way and it didn't tonight."

Michigan beat Michigan State, 2-1, to win the Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena on Dec. 29.

"They've got a certain amount of confidence, maybe they didn't have at the GLI," Berenson said. "Tonight they had the desperation and we didn't."

Jake Hildebrand made 29 saves for the Spartans (10-11, 2, 4-3-2-2 B1G); Zach Nagelvoort made 26 saves for the Wolverines (15-8, 7-2-0-0 B1G).

U-M had a chance with a late power play, after MSU forward Mackenzie MacEachern took a hooking penalty with 3:23 left.

Dylan Larkin, selected 15th overall by the Red Wings in the first round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, scored a power play goal to tie the game at 16:08 of the first period for the Wolverines.

Michigan failed to take the lead on some good scoring chances in the second period.

After the Wolverines won a faceoff, Alex Kile's shot hit the left post with 7:50 left in the second period.

Larkin tried to score on a wrist shot with 6:30 left in the second period, but MSU goaltender Jake Hildebrand made a stop with his right pad.

Playing 4-on-4 with 5:34 left, Michigan captain Andrew Copp was hooked, but appeared to score as the referee blew his whistle. The goal was immediately waved off and U-M failed to score on a 4-on-3 power play.

The Wolverines killed off a late MSU power play after Larkin went off for rouging at 16:10.

U-M trailed 1-0 when the Spartans were penalized for too many men with 5:07 left. The Wolverines came into the game with a 42.9% success rate (15-for-35) on the power play since Nov. 29.

Larkin kept the power play rolling with his 10th goal of the season. He quickly knocked a puck down with his glove and shot from the right circle went into the top left corner to tie the game at 16:08 for the Wolverines. Zach Hyman assisted on Larkin's goal, as both players extended point streaks to eight games. Hyman has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points over that stretch.

Larkin, who leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists), has eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points over the past eight games.

The Spartans scored on a 2-on-1 rush to take a 1-0 lead at 3:09 of the first period. Villiam Haag scored his fifth goal of the season, finishing off a pass from Joe Cox that beat U-M goalie Zach Nagelvoort to the glove side. It was Haag's third goal in his last five games and the first point for Cox since Dec. 29.