MANKATO — Don’t give this team a man advantage.
No. 20 Minnesota State’s power play continued to wreak havoc with two goals in a 4-2 home opening win over RPI Friday. The two meet in the series finale at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.
“It was nice to be home. A lot of our new guys haven’t experienced some of the things that happen here,” MSU head coach Luke Strand said. “We wanted to make sure that we didn’t change our game. The worst thing you can do is try to put on a show for a home group when they want to see you win and play the right way.”
The Mavericks (2-1-2) entered Friday 7 of 22 on the power play through four games. Entering Wednesday it was the fifth-best power play in the country. The Engineers found out the hard way that committing a penalty against MSU is going to be a bad time, especially in the second period.
With a 1-0 lead in hand MSU went on the man advantage when RPI was found guilty of too many men on the ice. Sophomore Alex Zetterberg, a Boston University transfer, fought through several defenders before seeing his shot denied by Nate Krawchul’s left pad. Jack Smith, a Minnesota Duluth transfer, buried rebound for 2-0 lead 13:06 left in second.
The Mavericks went back on the power play with 4:06 left in the second. Smith saw his shot be denied as he fell to the ice. But Jacob Conrad, a Lake Superior State transfer, buried the rebound glove side for 3-1 lead with three minutes to go until intermission.
By the end of the night the Mavericks power play was 2 of 4, improving to 9 of 26, a 34.6% success rate. No. 3 Michigan entered the weekend with a nation-best 45.8% success rate on the power play.
“I liked their patience and their command,” Strand said of the power play units. “I thought they got a lot of pucks back. Then when it was their time to strike, it was their time to strike. They were good about it.”
The Mavericks put the game out of reach when a beautiful series of passes set up junior defenseman Evan Murr unoccupied from the slot for a wide-open look. He buried a slap shot for a 4-1 lead 3:35 into the game.
MSU struck first when Tristan Lemyre, a Western Michigan transfer, nearly executed a perfect give and go with junior Luigi Benincasa, but the Mavericks center was denied on his shot attempt. Lemyre found himself wide open to bury the rebound top shelf for a 1-0 MSU lead 11 minutes into the game.
The Mavericks also unveiled the championship banners from last season’s CCHA MacNaughton Cup and Mason Cup Championships from the 2024-25 season.
Zetterberg finished with two assists. Tracy finished with 17 saves off 19 shots.
In his first home game with MSU Smith tallied a goal and an assist.
“I loved it. It was a great crowd out there,” Smith said. “I can tell they’re the best fans in college hockey. I’m excited to play here all year for sure.”
Other CCHA scores from Friday night
Bowling Green 4, Lake Superior State 1
Michigan Tech 5, Ferris State 1
Michigan State 4, Northern Michigan 0
Bemidji State 1, Augustana 0
Providence 0, St. Thomas 0 OT