Michigan State 6, Clarkson 1

It was a tough opener for Clarkson, as Michigan State cruised to a five-goal win Friday night before 4,190 fans at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Mich.

The most decided advantage the Spartans had was in special teams. Michigan State went 3 for 8 on the power play and held Clarkson to just 1 of 6 on its man-up chances.

The game was even after one period, even though Michigan State had a 15-11 edge in shots.

Corey Tropp scored a power-play goal at 16 minutes, 21 seconds and Clarkson answered with a power-play goal from Matt Beca at 18:22, with Nick Tremblay assisting.

The Spartans blew the game open in the second period with goals from Dustin Gazley (2:04), Andrew Rowe (14:53) and Zach Josepher (17:36). Clarkson coach George Roll called Josepher's goal a "backbreaker".

Michigan State scored two early goals in the third on shots from Derek Grant (1:20) and Josepher (4:17).

Three stars

No. 3: Dustin Gazley (Michigan State): one goal and one assist, game-winning goal in second period.

No. 2: Corey Tropp (Michigan State): one goal and one assist, including opening goal of game.

No. 1: Zach Josepher (Michigan State): defenseman scored two goals and had two assists and ended with a plus-three rating

A Look at the Numbers

The score was onesided but the other statistics were not. Clarkson outshot the Spartans 29-28. ... Defenseman Bryan Rufenach and forward Brandon DeFazio each had four shots on goal for Clarkson. Defenseman Mark Borowiecki and forward Scott Freeman each had three shots. ... Clarkson had two more penalties than the Spartans, finishing with eight. Tom Pizzo was the only Golden Knight to get more than one penalty. He was called for interference and hooking.