EAST LANSING — They say there’s always a calm before the storm. A moment of peace before chaos ensues. 

However, as soon as the puck dropped in the rivalry matchup between the No. 15 Michigan hockey team and No. 7 Michigan State, there was no room for calm. By the end of the game, the storm of Wolverine goals — along with 37 total penalties — overpowered the Michigan State barn. 

On Friday, Michigan (11-7-3 overall, 4-5-2-0-1 Big Ten) took on the Spartans (15-5-3, 9-2-2) in a highly anticipated matchup, a rivalry filled with hatred and history. And from the first period, the rivalry was felt by players and fans alike. But, by creating an early storm in the form of goals, the Wolverines catapulted to a 7-1 win.

“They’re a good team, it’s a tough place to play,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “A lot of prep has gone into this (game) and I’m just really proud of the guys for sticking to it.”

Early in the first, sophomore forward Frank Nazar III took a penalty, forcing Michigan into early submission to Michigan State. However, that submission was short-lived, and the Wolverine storm quickly took control. 

Shortly after killing off the penalty, sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty potted his first goal in a Michigan sweater since his November injury. Senior defenseman Steven Holtz started with the puck in the Michigan defensive zone and passed to an unchecked sophomore defenseman Tyler Duke. Duke then passed to McGroarty in the neutral zone, and McGroarty capitalized on a breakaway. 

As Michigan State went on the penalty kill,  a hush fell over a raucous crowd at Munn Ice Arena. Duke, once again, cleared the puck through the air to a waiting Nazar in the offensive zone. Without even looking, Nazar passed to sophomore forward Kienan Draper, who scored a short-handed goal that fueled the fire for the Wolverines. 

Even when Michigan State had an advantage, it didn’t look like it.

Although Michigan took some penalties, the favor was soon returned as the Wolverines received two overlapping power plays, earning a 37-second five-on-three advantage. And in the final seconds, sophomore defenseman Seamus Casey propelled an offensive drive and passed to junior forward Dylan Duke, who sunk the puck at the netfront. 

“I thought right away that we came out ready to play, and we showed that,” graduate goaltender Jake Barczewski said. “It’s pretty obvious we want to make a statement here this weekend, and coming in and starting the game the way that we wanted to start it was huge.”

Heading into the locker room with a three-goal lead, the Wolverines knew the storm they created couldn’t only last one period. They had to continue that dominance and make a Michigan State comeback out of reach.

As most rivalries go, the heat between the two teams was evident in the form of penalties and scrums. In the second period, Spartan Tanner Kelly received a five-minute major penalty for face masking, and Michigan capitalized with another goal from Dylan Duke. And this penalty was just foreshadowing the chaos that would soon descend on the game.

Although the Wolverines scored another three goals in the third period, it hardly defined the 20 final minutes. A new kind of storm was brewing under the surface to the likes of 30 penalties in a single period. 

Clear frustration came over both teams quickly after Michigan State potted its first goal and the teams got chippy. Scrums broke out across the ice, and five Michigan skaters and six Spartans all received misconduct penalties. 37 total penalties were dealt across the teams over the sixty minutes, leaving both benches depleted as the clock counted down to a 7-1 win for the Wolverines.

“It’s a rivalry game, so things are gonna happen,” Dylan Duke said. “Once it’s up by six or seven, the game is out of reach for the other team and has a tendency to always end up getting pretty chippy. That’s hockey, it’s gonna happen, you just have to do your best to stay out of it.”

While the storm was overpowering today, it’s far from over. Friday was only the first game of the series, and Saturday, the storm will enter Ann Arbor.