DETROIT - The decision had to be made in 30 seconds.

With the No. 6-ranked Michigan hockey team trailing rival Michigan State by a goal with just more than 5 minutes to play Saturday night, Red Berenson pondered whether to take his chances with a Kevin Lynch penalty shot or to opt for a 4-on-3 advantage with a power play unit that hadn't scored on its first two opportunities.

Berenson sided with Lynch, but Spartans goalie Will Yanakeff stonewalled his point-blank chance, preserving a 2-1 Michigan State win in front of 17,577 at Joe Louis Arena that snapped the Wolverines' five-game winning streak.

The loss also dropped Michigan (17-7-4, 14-5-1) out of first place in the CCHA standings after Notre Dame beat Miami in a shootout victory earlier on Saturday. The setback was the Wolverines' first on a Saturday night this season and Michigan's first loss in regulation since Nov. 28.

"It's gut-check time," said senior forward Louie Caporusso, who scored Michigan's lone goal in the loss. "I think we were almost not being true to ourselves. We won games that maybe we shouldn't have won and maybe we had this confidence we really shouldn't have had.

"Maybe this is a wake-up call and hopefully, it will be a good motivator for next weekend."

Lynch's missed penalty shot opportunity came 2 1/2 minutes after Michigan State took a 2-1 lead on Joey Shean's rebound goal. Shean, who hadn't scored in two years, was in the perfect spot after Zach Josepher's point shot hit goalie Shawn Hunwick in the chest and bounced in front of the net.

Shean grabbed the puck and slipped the puck past Hunwick, who was 9-1 since taking over full-time for injured Bryan Hogan just prior to the Big Chill at the Big House.

Hunwick's only loss came against the Spartans (11-13-4, 7-11-2 CCHA), who had some motivation after ninth-year coach Rick Comley announced earlier in the week he was retiring at the end of the season.

Berenson acknowledged the news may spark the Spartans, who were coming off a loss to Ferris State Thursday night.

"As a team, we kind of came together and said, 'Hey, let's do this for coach,'" Michigan State captain Torey Krug said. "He's had so much success and he deserves nothing more than to go out on top."

Yanakeff made certain Comley beat Michigan in his final regular-season chance. The Wolverines and Spartans split the season series 2-2.

The freshman made 34 saves - including 14 in the third period when Michigan had several chances to either take the lead or bounce back from Shean's goal. There was, however, no bigger chance than on the penalty shot.

Lynch, who has struggled to score this season, made a decent move on Yanakeff, but couldn't push the puck to the back of the net. The stop allowed the Spartans to hang on to the one-goal lead.

Had Berenson not gone with Lynch, Michigan would have had a 4-on-3 power-play chance for two minutes.

"You may not even get a chance that good on the power play - a breakaway opportunity like that with no pressure - nobody chasing you down the ice," Berenson said.

After Yanakeff's save, Michigan kept pressuring the Spartans. Greg Pateryn fired a shot from inside the blue line that clanked off the left post. For the night, Michigan outshot Michigan State, 35-30, but couldn't bounce back from falling behind twice.

After 39 scoreless minutes, the final 52 seconds of the second period proved to be eventful.

Michigan State took advantage of its first power-play chance as Jake Chelios slipped a shot to the left side of the net past a sprawled out Hunwick, giving the Spartans a sudden advantage.

But Michigan, which wiped out a two-goal advantage against Michigan State earlier this month in East Lansing, wasted little time in gaining the equalizer.

Caporusso took a pass from Mac Bennett and beat Yanakeff with a nifty goal with just 15.4 seconds remaining in the period. Berenson hoped the late goal would provide a momentum shift heading into the final 20 minutes, but the Wolverines couldn't add to it the rest of the way.

"We knew how precious goals would be and if Michigan State got the first goal, it could be a tough game," Berenson said. "It was anyone's game in the third period and they got the go-ahead goal. We had our chances at the end, but when you're playing from behind, it's always tougher to score."

Michigan, which has won nine of its last 11 games, now must rebound next weekend with a tough road trip against third-place Miami. The RedHawks played to a pair of ties against Notre Dame this weekend and have plenty of firepower to attack a Wolverines' defense that didn't make the progress Berenson wanted to see this week.

With only eight league games remaining, Michigan realizes if they hope to remain in the championship chase, they have to find a groove. And soon.

"We haven't been playing our best hockey - even though we were picking up wins, we knew we weren't playing strong," said Hunwick, who finished with 28 saves. "Maybe a loss will ignite everybody."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.