Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Lake Superior
MSU Hockey Squeaks Past Lake Superior State
1/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 12, 2001
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - I'd rather be lucky than good, someone once said. The Michigan State hockey team was a little of both Friday night against Lake Superior State.
John Nail (Brampton, Ont.) scored a bizarre game-winning goal with 1:26 left in regulation and Ryan Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) made 18 saves in a record-setting shutout as the top-ranked Spartans (17-1-4 overall, 10-1-3 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) escaped Taffy Abel Arena with a 2-0 victory over the Lakers in the first of a two-game CCHA series in Sault Ste. Marie. MSU extends its unbeaten streak to 19 games (16-0-3) in the process while LSSU lost its fourth straight game.
Nail's goal, a blast from just inside the center line, somehow eluded Lake Superior State netminder Jayme Platt. The Spartan senior, who entered the weekend tied for sixth among NCAA Division I skaters in game-winning goals with three, admitted he wasn't sure how the puck got past Platt.
"I saw it go it," said Nail. "The shot had a little curve or sink to it. It was a lucky bounce. It's one of the wierdest goals I've ever scored."
The Spartans outplayed Lake Superior State for most of the first two periods, outshooting the Lakers 22-13 over the game's first 40 minutes. MSU's power play, which had clicked at a .333 scoring rate in its last four outings, was shut down, however, and Platt did his best to keep the Spartans at bay. Ironically, junior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson (Rochester Hills, Mich.) let loose with a blast in the first period from about the same spot where Nail scored his winner. The puck deflected off Platt's glove and caromed off the goal post.
While MSU notched the only goals of the final period, it was Miller that made the late-game heroics possible. The sophomore denied the Lakers all night, including an acrobating save with 3:21 left in regulation when he dove back into the crease to smother a puck batted out of the air by LSSU's Jason Nightingale.
"(Nightingale) actually punched at it," said Miller. "(Referee Brian) Aaron said it wouldn't have counted."
Miller's shutout was his second in a row and 13th of his MSU career. He now owns the school record outright, having passed Chad Alban for sole possession of first place. He also moved out a first-place tie with Alban on the CCHA's shutout list by posting his 11th whitewash in league play.
"It's nice for me personally to be able to accomplish something like this," said Miller. "But our guys are working hard and that's what makes all this possible."
Senior Andrew Bogle (Calgary, Alta.) scored an empty-net goal with four seconds left to provide the final margin of victory.
"I don't know how many teams can be patient under these circumstances and not self-destruct," said MSU head coach Ron Mason. "We've been real consisted during this unbeaten streak."
