According to the broadcast, the last time that Michigan State beat Boston University in Boston was all the way back in 1958. At least that was the case until last night. After splitting their season-opening series with the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, the Spartans faced a much tougher opponent in the top-ranked Terriers. It also meant that Porter Martone and Shane Vansaghi would face fellow Flyers prospects Carter Amico, Jack Murtagh, and Owen McLaughlin.
Vansaghi was one of the standouts in this contest, second to maybe only his linemate Cayden Lindstrom, with a game-high 10 shot attempts (six on goal, tied for game-high) and his first tally of the season. His line with Lindstrom and Gavin O’Connell was the most dangerous line for either team in this one, creating plenty of chances and cashing in twice.
The Spartans took an early lead when Charlie Stramel deflected a point shot into the net, but the vibe quickly turned sour after Austin Baker was given a game misconduct for a crosschecking Cole Hutson up high. Discipline had been an issue for Michigan State in their season opening loss to the Wildcats, and an early major could’ve derailed their strong start. However, this would not be the case, as Eric Neilson was able to take advantage of a mishandled pass, steal the puck, and fly in on a breakaway shorthanded to increase Michigan State’s lead to two.
Bookending the major were penalties from two Flyers prospects in Amico and Martone; yeah, they’re certainly Flyers.
Boston University would cut the lead to one at the 13:17 mark of the first, with a Sascha Boumedienne point shot finding its way to the back of the net on the power play. Murtagh would pick up the secondary assist on the play following a strong cut to middle of the ice and quick pass to Conrad Fondrk, who then found Boumedienne at the point.
MIH: BU GOAL – Sascha Boumedienne scores on the power play for BU to bring the Terriers within one.
— BU Game Day (@BUGameDay) October 17, 2025
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/NY6VCl7vtf@hockey_east | @espn#GoBU pic.twitter.com/Q3Fyevkyls
Murtagh had a very active game for the Terriers, drawing multiple penalties and taking a rather silly one himself when he attempted to throw his stick to his defenseman while backchecking.
#NoContextCollegeHockey @Buccigross @ColbyCohen36 pic.twitter.com/5ODkUICIp9
— Ryan Sikes (@rms_hockey) October 18, 2025
Was it legal? No. Did it work? Also no. But we certainly respect the effort and creativity. Maybe just don’t try that again.
A little less than two minutes after the Boumedienne tally, Lindstrom re-upped the Spartans lead to two with yet another breakaway goal from Michigan State. Drafted fourth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2024, Lindstrom missed the entire 2024-25 regular season (then a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL) with a back injury. After two relatively uneventful games in the season opening series, it was great to see Lindstrom get on the scoresheet and really shine in this one. His line with Vansaghi and O’Connell (who made a fantastic pass that led to Lindstrom’s breakaway goal) seemed to have a lot of chemistry, and were constantly pushing play into the Terriers’ zone.
One such play from the trio was a three-on-two that saw Amico get caught at the offensive blue line, going for a hit at the start of the bench. While his physicality shined with a big hit to deny a zone entry later, his step-up leading to an odd-man rush was reminiscent of Flyers’ past. It’s something that both Sam Morin and Phil Myers — even Rasmus Ristolainen, really — would get in trouble with from time to time, and Amico will have to keep it from becoming a trend to get to the next level.
Vansaghi would continue to impress, finding Lindstrom for a great chance in close and coming close to his first of the season on the rebound, batting it out of mid-air. While that chance was thwarted, he wouldn’t have to wait much longer for his first. Early in the third, he and Lindstrom would once again connect to increase the Spartans’ lead to three.
P3 | 1:58 | MSU 4 – BU 1
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 18, 2025
Shane Vansaghi collects the rebound and scores! Cayden Lindstrom with the assist off his skate in front of the BU goal. pic.twitter.com/rRuOgX49iH
O’Connell makes himself available for a support pass from the defense and quickly ships the puck off to Lindstrom in the neutral zone. Lindstrom gets stepped up on and makes an accurate read to send the cross ice pass to Vansaghi. Vansaghi then gets a shot off, deflected by the defender, that Terriers’ netminder Mikhail Yegorov only gets just enough of to keep it from going in the net. The puck then bounces off the boards to the side of the net, where Lindstrom makes a slick kick pass towards the net that ends up on Vansasghi’s stick, who makes no mistake. It was a well deserved goal for Vansaghi, who was having a wonderful game well before the goal happened.
Shortly after, Martone had his best chance of the night, ringing a shot off of the bar from the left side on the power play. It was a bit of an off game for Martone, especially compared to his two games from last week. He had positive moments, but overall he and his line didn’t get much going at even strength. There was this shift from the first period which was electric, but there’s not much else to mention from his game last night. It’s not a big deal, assuming this is a rarity. It’s also not as if his shifts were hurting Michigan State, there just wasn’t a ton happening in general, especially after the first period.
Porter Martone with a monster shift, beautiful checking leads to a chance directly infront of the net and then he flattens a dude at center ice, before making another huge hit at the aid of his teammate (no replay of that). He's playing especially physical tonight.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/pEjRB7vxng
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) October 17, 2025
One final note on Martone; he actually got ejected from the game after a late scrum. The Spartans were on the hunt for an empty net goal before going offside. Martone and Cole Huston engage, which somehow leads to Martone getting the only penalty as well as an ejection. He did briefly end up putting Hutson in a headlock, and that may be what caused the misconduct call. Still, it didn’t really feel like the punishment fit the crime here.
It was also a bit funny to see Martone, Murtagh, and McLaughlin all involved in this scrum to varying degrees. It was a real meeting of the Flyers prospects. Speaking of McLaughlin; while he hasn’t been mentioned here since the introduction, it’s not as if he was a complete passenger. He might not have popped as much as the others, but still did some good things with the puck, helped the Terriers’ transition game, and went 10-for-16 on the faceoff dot.
A late power play goal from Ritchie Ryder got the Terriers to within two, but that’s all the offense they could muster. Michigan State would take this one by a final score of 4-2. These two teams will meet once again tonight, with puck-drop set for 7 p.m. to conclude their weekend series.
