EAST LANSING — The Michigan hockey team landed its final blow long after the game was over.

Fresh off of their sweep of No. 2 seed Michigan State, the Wolverines lined up and faced the glass in Munn Ice Arena. As they raised their sticks in salute, the large concentration of maize-clad fans overtook the building with Michigan cheers.

The only thing the Spartan players — lined up around center ice circle — could do was hang their heads as they waited to salute their half-empty arena.

It was a fitting end to a weekend in which Michigan upstaged Michigan State twice in two days, 5-1 on and Friday 5-3 and on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Spartans (14-8-6 CCHA, 19-13-6 overall) scored with 0.7 seconds left on the clock in the first period to take the lead and grab the momentum for the first time all weekend. But three minutes into the second frame, junior Ben Winnett made a move at the point, jumped into the slot and buried a wristshot to tie the game.

“Once we got that tying goal, I really liked our team,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “From then on, we played well. We played a lot in their zone and this team played hard.”

The goal started a second period that ended with a 16-1 shot advantage for the Wolverines.

As the Spartans headed into the third with an air of desperation, the Wolverines held a death-grip on the game's tempo. Freshman Chris Brown hacked at the puck until it went behind Spartan backup goaltender Bobby Jarosz for what ended up being the deciding goal of the series.

“Me and (senior Brian Lebler) were just hacking and whacking away,” Brown said. “Fortunately, I hit it good enough and it went in.”

In a rare occurrence this season, the Wolverines got the timely goals they needed all weekend. Unlike in games against Notre Dame, Nebraska-Omaha and against Michigan State in Michigan’s first trip to Munn this season, every time the team needed a goal, it got it.

Even with a three-goal lead Friday, Michigan got the clutch goal. The Wolverines did not want a repeat of the teams’ Jan. 30 matchup at Joe Louis Arena, when they scored three first period goals only to have the Spartans come back with four consecutive taillies.

So senior Steve Kampfer made sure history didn’t repeat itself, scoring just 21 seconds into the second period to put the Wolverines up four and in cruise control, for the rest of the game.

“We talked about the fact that we know a three-goal lead against this team is not necessarily safe,” Berenson said after Friday night’s game. “So we have to play better and harder as the game goes on and not let them get a life. We’ve been in this building, the momentum can change dramatically.”

The Wolverines scored 10 goals in the series and are averaging more than five goals per game in the CCHA playoffs. Whether it is the team playing harder because junior Shawn Hunwick is in goal, or because of Michigan’s big guns, junior Louie Caporusso and sophomore David Wohlberg have finally gotten back to their play of the previous season, the Wolverines will gladly take the extra goals.

They will need similar firepower if they want to be saluting the Maize invasion of Joe Louis Arena at the end of next weekend.