Michigan State University
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Mich
WMU Trips Up Hockey In OT, 3-2
1/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 29, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. - For the second night in a row Michigan State went to overtime with Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. Saturday night, however, the Spartans were not able to come away with a tie to keep pace with first-place Michigan in the CCHA standings.
Western's Corey Waring fired a slapshot low on MSU goaltender Joe Blackburn 3:35 into the overtime period which somehow skipped past Blackburn's stick and between his pads, giving WMU a 3-2 win and their first victory over the Spartans in 10 tries.
"The guy came over the blue line and let it go," Blackburn said. "It was a pretty hard shot and it hit my stick at a funny angle and trickled in. Normally it's a pretty easy save, but those somehow happen every once in a while."
Michigan State falls to 17-8-2 on the year (12-6-1 in the CCHA). Michigan State controlled play for much of the game, including the overtime, but came away empty-handed after tying last night.
"We ran into a hot goaltender this weekend," head coach Ron Mason said. "It's a tough pill to swallow, especially when we're playing well. As long as we keep playing the way we are playing, we are going to get wins. We've just got to keep our game going."
Michigan State played a strong first period but didn't get anything for it, outshooting the Broncos in the scoreless period, 13-4. The best chances of the period came on the same shift near the 16-minute mark, as Shawn Horcoff's line cycled the puck and generated a series of good shots.
When goaltender Jeff Reynaert denied the Spartans, however, the Broncos raced the other way on a three-on-one. The puck ended up sliding through the crease behind MSU goaltender Joe Blackburn, but no Bronco was there to put it in.
Michigan State got the scoring started in the second on the power play, with junior Rustyn Dolyny blasting a one-time from freshman Brian Maloney. The Spartans, on a five-on-three advantage, worked the puck low before Dolyny's blast from inside the left wing circle at the 1:28 mark of the second.
Western got that goal back less than six minutes later on a scramble in front of MSU's net. Brent Rumble ended up chipping the puck in past a prone Blackburn.
Sophomore Adam Hall, a Kalamazoo native, put the Spartans back up by a goal with his team-leading 17th goal of the season. Horcoff, tripped up slightly on the left wing, got up and faked a shot, only to fire a perfect pass to Hall on the right post. He redirected the puck past Reynaert for a 2-1 lead at the 10:26 mark of the second.
The Spartans appeared to take a 3-1 lead around the 16:00 mark of the second period, when junior John Nail, alone in the slot, made a nice move from Reynaert's right to left and shot as the goalie lunged his glove along the ice. Although the puck looked as if it crossed the goal line, referee Matt Shegos ruled that he had blown the whistle before it did.
How important was that call for the Spartans?
"Huge," said Mason. "I think the puck was definitely free, but when the referee looses sight of it, they are supposed to blow the whistle and that's what he said he did. I didn't hear a whistle."
With new life just two minutes later, WMU evened it up with just 2:05 left in the second period. David Gove, the third-leading scorer in the CCHA who had been shutout in the weekend to that point, made a nice pass to Ben Gagnon in front. He deked from Blackburn's right to left and made it 2-2.
Neither team could score in the third, as Blackburn and Reynaert kept things tied at 2-2.
The Spartans managed three shots in the overtime before Waring blasted home the game-winner.
Michigan State returns to action Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 5, against Lake Superior. The Lakers are now tied with the Spartans for third in the CCHA standings with 25 points, although MSU has played one less game. Thursday's game is in Sault Ste. Marie, while the two teams move to Joe Louis Arena for Saturday's matchup.
