Michigan State forward Shane Vansaghi puts a heavy hit on the Gophers' Axel Begley in the second period. The Spartans did even more important work in the third. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

When Gophers forward Brody Lamb pounced on a rebound in front of Trey Augustine and swatted the puck past the Michigan State goalie 3 minutes, 21 seconds into the third period Saturday, the roar of the 9,922 at 3M Arena at Mariucci was full throat. Lamb’s goal gave top-ranked Minnesota a two-goal lead over the No. 3 Spartans, and the crowd was prepared to celebrate a win in the series finale between Big Ten powers.

Turns out, Michigan State had other plans.

Trailing by two goals with less than nine minutes to play, the Spartans got goals from Isaac Howard, Maxim Štrbák and Charlie Stramel in a span of 2:51 to stun the Gophers 5-3 and silence the crowd. Red Savage set the final score with an empty-net goal with 35 seconds to play.

“We ran out of gas,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said. “Momentum flipped on us, and that’s what we were afraid of. We were running on fumes.”

Instead of entering their three-week break on a winning note, the Gophers (15-3-2, 8-1-1 Big Ten, 24 points) took only one of a possible six points over the weekend. The teams tied 3-3 Friday, with MSU winning a shootout for the extra point.

On Saturday, Brodie Ziemer and Aaron Huglen scored second-period goals for Minnesota, and goalie Liam Souliere made 25 saves.

Howard also scored in the second period for Michigan State (13-2-1, 6-1-1, 19 points), which got 24 saves from Augustine.

“Getting the lead in the third, we’ve got to figure out a way to hold that, especially in big games like this,” Lamb said. “So, that’s going to sting for two weeks going into the break, but we’ll be back.”

Michigan State’s rally started when the Gophers, thin especially at forward because of injuries, had trouble clearing their zone in the third period.

First, Howard scored his second goal of the game at 11:08 of the third, beating Souliere from the left circle to make it 3-2.

Štrbák followed at 13:06 to tie the score 3-3 on a shot from just inside the blue line and through traffic.

And after a Gophers turnover, Stramel, a Wild first-round draft pick from Rosemount, took a pass from Savage in front of the net and beat Souliere for the winner.

“We’d love to go back and not turn a couple of those pucks over that we turned over,” Motzko said.

The back-and-forth game saw Michigan State take a 1-0 lead on Howard’s one-timer at 8:07 of the second. The power-play goal came after Gophers defenseman Sam Rinzel was called for holding — a call with which Rinzel and the crowd vehemently disagreed.

Minnesota responded to take a 2-1 lead in the second on goals by Ziemer, who toe-dragged the puck and fired a laser over Augustine’s right shoulder, and Huglen, who took a backhand pass from John Mittelstadt and roofed the puck over Augustine.

Afterward, Motzko and his players were disappointed in the opportunity lost but not in the first half of the season that the team has put together.

“Our guys had a terrific first half,” Motzko said. “… That [loss] doesn’t define what we did in the first half."

Added Huglen: “Like Coach said, we’re going to be in games like this at the end of the year. Every team is going to be good, so we’re going to find a way to win in those moments.”