East Lansing, Mich.. –    No. 6 Michigan State skated to a 5-2 win on the road at Wisconsin on Friday night, securing its first-ever Big Ten title. 
 
The Spartans (22-8-3, 16-5-2 Big Ten) got a pair of goals from senior Jeremy Davidson, a goal and two assists from his linemate Reed Lebster, and a 44-save performance from freshman goaltender Trey Augustine to capture its first regular-season conference title since winning the CCHA regular-season crown in 2000-01. 

That's a HUGE go-ahead strike by Reed Lebster! pic.twitter.com/ir0iHKb9d4

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 2, 2024

 
The game-winner came from the stick of Lebster with 7:10 remaining in the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock.  Artyom Levshunov pushed the puck out of the defensive zone up to Lebster, who made a dash for the net with Davidson streaking up the right side.  Lebster drove to the net, waited out McClellan, and scored his sixth goal of the season. 
 
MSU took a 2-1 advantage into the first intermission behind goals from Levshunov and Davidson, but saw the home team tie it up with a power play goal for the Badgers on a major penalty kill midway through the second frame.  The Badgers outshot the Spartans by a 34-14 margin over the first two periods but got the goaltending from its freshman phenom to keep them in the game. 
 
The Spartans scored a pair of empty-net tallies in the final two minutes with McClellan on the bench.  Davidson's second of the night and a Tiernan Shoudy tally iced the game for MSU, which has not only claimed the Big Ten title outright, but has earned the overall No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament and a bye in the quarterfinal round.  MSU will host a Big Ten semifinal on March 16. 
 
Augustine was spectacular throughout, tying his career-best with 44 saves on the night.  Both Shoudy and Levshunov had a goal and an assist to go with Lebster's three points and Davidson's two scores. 
 
David Silye had assists on the two Badger goals, which were scored by Daniel Laatch and Mathieu De St. Phalle.  Kyle McClellan had 22 saves for No. 4/5 Wisconsin, which falls to 24-9-2, 15-7-1 in conference play.  The Badgers will host Ohio State in next weekend's quarterfinal round. 
 
Michigan State and Wisconsin complete their four-game regular-season series on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.  The puck drops at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT. 
 
 
 
 
 STATISTICS OF NOTE
 

• The Spartans have 52 points in the Big Ten standings, its most ever - MSU's previous best was 37, when it finished in second place in 2014-15.  In its nine other B1G seasons, MSU has not finished better than fifth place (three times, most recently in 2022-23).
• The Spartans captured their first regular-season league title since 2000-01, which was its seventh (and final) CCHA regular-season championship. 
• MSU becomes the sixth different Big Ten school to capture a regular-season title in the 11 years of the Conference.   Michigan is the only school to not win a regular-season title, but has won the last two post-season tournaments and three overall. 
• MSU improves to 9-5-1 mark in true road games, and is 11-5-2 away from Munn overall to go with its 11-3-1 mark at home.
• The Spartans own a 5-2-1 record in games this season where they enter the third period tied. 
• MSU is looking for its first-ever four-game sweep of an opponent in Big Ten history when it takes on Wisconsin on Saturday.   MSU won 4-2 and 3-2 decisions in East Lansing when the teams met back in November. 
• Reed Lebster tied his career best with a three-point night, posting a goal and two assists.  His last three-point effort came almost a year ago to the day – on March 4, 2023 at Maine while skating as a senior at UMass.  It was his second multiple-point game as a Spartan. 
• MSU freshman blueliner Artyom Levshunov scored his ninth goal of the season to put MSU on the board in the first period. He later added the primary assist on Lebster's game-winner in the third.    
• Jeremy Davidson's first-period goal was his ninth of the season, and he added his 10^th with the empty netter late in the game.  He pushed his season total to 20 points (10g, 10a), his third consecutive 20-point season for MSU.   Davidson also had two goals in the games against Wisconsin in the November meetings. 
• Trey Augustine's 44 saves tied his career high for his most in a game.  He originally established the mark in a 3-3 overtime tie at Minnesota on Nov. 24.  Augustine won his 20^th game in the Spartan crease. 
• Tiernan Shoudy's goal and assist was his second multiple-point game of the season.  He had a goal and an assist on Feb. 10 against Michigan in a 3-2 win. 
• Joey Larson's assist on the first-period Levshunov goal was his first helper since the Feb. 2 game at Notre Dame and his 16^th of the season. 
• Junior Red Savage skated in his 100^th career game against the Badgers. 
• Karsen Dorwart had an assist on Shoudy's empty-netter, his 17^th of the season.  That matches his freshman season total, and gives him 30 points on the year – giving MSU four players with 30+ points.
• David Gucciardi had five of MSU's 13 blocked shots, including three on the major penalty in the second period.  Matt Basgall had three blocks. 
• MSU was 0-for-3 on the power play, and Wisconsin was 1-for-4.  MSU killed nine minutes of penalties, and the Badgers six. 

 
 
First Period:  The home team came out buzzing and looked to set a tone – and that energy paid off right away as the Badgers jumped on the scoreboard before the game was a minute old.   Daniel Laatsch's shot from the left point eluded traffic and beat a screened Augustine for the junior's second goal of the season.    Four minutes later, the Spartans got the equalizer on a rush, as Tiernan Shoudy fed Artyom Levshunov through the neutral zone.  Levshunov skated into the offensive zone and put the puck on net – it went off McClellan's glove and over his head into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the season.  Wisconsin continued to pour on shots – to the tune of a 19-7 edge in the period – but Trey Augustine was up to the task, gloving some dangerous chances and directing rebounds to the corners and out of harm's way on others.  Each team had a power play chance, and MSU's defense was on point during the kill, blocking five shots (three by David Gucciardi) to keep it a tie ballgame.  With two minutes to go in the period, the Badgers looked to collect their offense for a rush – but Ben Dexheimer and Simon Tassy collided in the neutral zone, turning over the puck to create a two-on-one rush for Reed Lebster and Jeremy Davidson, who went streaking up the left side.  Lebster got it to his running mate, who beat McClellan blocker-side for a 2-1 Spartan lead late in the period.  It was the ninth of the season for the senior. 
 

Neutral-zone collision by two Badgers means a 2-on-1 break for MSU.

S-N-I-P-E-.

Jeremy Davidson's ninth of the season. pic.twitter.com/DMGocqV5or

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 2, 2024

 
Second Period:   MSU opened the second period by extinguishing the remaining penalty time that carried over from the opening frame.  There was a considerable drop in shot volume in the early part of the frame – through the first 10 minutes, it was just a 6-2 advantage for Wisconsin.  At the 10:31 mark, Maxim Štrbák was sent off on a boarding major, giving the home team an extended power play.  MSU killed off the opening two minutes without a shot on goal, but just after the first two minutes had expired, a Ben Dexheimer shot from the point was tipped in front by Mathieu De St. Phalle for the senior's 11^th goal of the season and a tie game.  The Spartans went into the locker room deadlocked at 2-2, and were outshot 15-7 in the frame – buoyed by the strong play of its netminder, which included a stop on a shorthanded breakaway
 
 
Third Period:     Lebster gave the Spartans the go-ahead strike with seven minutes remaining, streaking up the left side with Davidson looking for the pass on the right.  Lebster opted to keep the puck, held it for an extra beat, and scored as he cut across the goalmouth for his sixth goal of the season.  Augustine turned away each of the 12 shots he faced in the period to finish with his career-best 44, and both Davidson and Shoudy scored into an empty net for the final 5-3 margin.