Lindstrom's late winner helps MSU hockey knock off North Dakota

The No. 4 Michigan State hockey team faced its toughest test of the young season on Oct. 31, travelling to Austin, Texas to square off with No. 8 North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game. Tied 3-3 late in the third, MSU sophomore forward Cayden Lindstrom scored after jamming at a loose puck in front of the UND net, and with an empty net goal to seal it, the Spartans skated away with a 5-3 victory to improve to 5-1 on the year. Cayden Lindstrom with an immediate response to give us back the lead! pic.twitter.com/EkImzj7558— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 1, 2026"I thought it was a really good hockey game, and this is why we wanted to play it, coming into a tough environment and (UND) did an unbelievable job with the fans and the crowd," MSU coach Adam Nightingale said. "Every game you're trying to learn something, and I liked our response today. It's always about the next shift, and you can't control what happened in the past."This marked Nightingale's 100th win as head coach of the Spartans. MSU opened the scoring less than a minute into the second period, when sophomore forward Anthony Romani fired a shot past UND goalkeeper Caleb Heil on the power play for his sixth goal of the season. Sophomore forward Eric Nilson added to MSU's lead, taking the puck from end to end unassisted before beating Heil for his second tally of the year. The Fighting Hawks battled back, scoring one in the second and another early in the third period to tie it up, but Romani responded with his second goal of the game to restore the Spartans' lead. Like we said, can't give Anthony Romani this much space! His seventh of the year makes it 3-2. pic.twitter.com/E4Sc8cwJsv— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) November 1, 2026"It was great to get that win and they have a great team over there, so we knew coming in it was going to be a tough game," Romani said. "They also have great fans that travelled really well, so it was a big win for us."UND forward Cooper Simpson tied the game late with his second goal of the game, but Lindstrom responded just 19 seconds later. Senior forward Tommi Mannisto added the empty net goal for the Spartans. Freshman goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen made 32 saves on the evening, with 26 of them coming in the final two periods. MSU now returns to Munn Ice Arena and will host Boston University on Nov. 6 and 7 after nearly a month spent playing on the road. Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on X @Nathaniel_BottThis article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lindstrom's late winner helps MSU hockey knock off North Dakota