Michigan State 2, Wisconsin 1
11/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Recap?|? Final Stats
Michigan State vs. Wisconsin Nov. 23, 2001
Michigan State head coach Ron Mason
"Obviously at the bench I didn't see it. All I know is that it went in. But watching the replay on it Hutchinson threw it in front, their goalie hit it and it went on the back of one of their players, we hit one of their players and it went in the net. Technically, it's a legal goal unless it was a crosschecking penalty. Who knows if it was or it wasn't? There's a lot of stuff that goes on in front of the net all the time.
I thought we played real well when the game was tied. That was really critical. I thought we played real well in the third period. That was maybe our best period of all. It was a big win for us because they're the kind of team that's going to beat a lot of hockey teams. They're very well-coached defensively. It's hard to get to their net, their goalie played extremely well and they're good penalty killers.
Getting out, not playing the most intelligent game, I thought in the third period we really worked hard and obviously we got the winning goal."
"We've had to work pretty hard here. Miami made us work extremely hard as well. I think Ryan Miller had to make saves when he had to make them. In the first period I thought we had a lot of good chances and their goalie kept them in as well. They're a good team. They're an experienced team, a lot like us last year. You can tell they were experienced, just the way they played. We were off and on in our intellectual game which quite often plays into the other teams hands."
On Minnesota: "It will be a completely different game on Sunday. They're real good skilled talented finesse type hockey team that plays very well on the defensive side of the puck. For us to have success against them we're going to have to play to the same tempo they play at and hope that Ryan has a big game."
On Penalty Killing: "I thought that defensively they were a very good team all night long. They played very patient especially in the first period. They didn't forecheck us very often. They're a darn good defensive team. You can see their experience upfront. They made intelligent plays, especially us in the second period. They were a lot more intelligent than we were. It's that intelligent sometimes that makes the difference. Fortunately it was tied at the end of the second period where I thought they played really well. They hit a couple of goal posts. I thought the third period was our best period. I thought our kids played with a lot more passion. I thought we controlled that period. That was good for us because being in a one-one game like that you never know how it's going to be, especially with the pressure on you at home. Sometimes you don't play that well and you're worried about mistakes."
More jump: "I thought we controlled the puck in the first period. They controlled the tempo in the second. I just challenged our players, 'We're at home and we have 20 minutes left, we have to control the tempo in the third period.' I think our players bought into that and got a lot more passion about getting the loose pucks and playing a little more physical, getting some hits in and making some things happen."
Senior Defenseman Andrew Hutchinson "Basically I tried to make a play up front, tried to throw it soft so it would sit up nice in the crease so it wouldn't go through, give them a chance to break out. Give them some offense there at the end of the game. Fortunately the goalie deflected it and it went off the guy's leg and made a nice play. A lot of intensity in front of the net, pushed a guy on his back and it went in. I thought that (freshman defenseman Lee Falardeau) scored it. He's the guy that made the play happen. It was two guys fighting for the puck."
"I think the veterans that have been around have been in a lot of games like this. This year I think the younger guys will get chance to feel what it's like to play a one-one game in the third period and I think we played a strong third period. I hope it will carry over to Sunday."
"We came in the locker room (after the second), we weren't playing our top game. We needed to come out and start playing Michigan State hockey intensity, getting in their face, getting pucks out, dumping pucks in and getting after it. I think we created a lot of chances off it."
On Penalty killing: "I think the core guys who go out that go out for the penalty kill know the system well and the guys that are younger that are filling in are doing a great job. Everyone's jumping on loose pucks quick. Ryan's doing a good job of playing the puck when it gets dumped in. I think we're making a lot of good plays at the blue line and not giving them a chance to get started."
