Hockey Falls To No. 3 Minnesota, 5-0

Nov. 28, 2004

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - No. 3 Minnesota picked up a 5-0 victory over Michigan State in game two of the College Hockey Showcase on Saturday night (Nov. 27) in Minneapolis. With the win, the Golden Gophers improved to 10-3-0 overall, while MSU fell to 6-7-1 overall.

"Minnesota is a good team and on their ice, they are excellence," said MSU head coach Rick Comley. "I thought the only chance that we had was to score first. We lost two players to injury last night and that really hurt us. This was two tough games on the road for us."

Minnesota took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Chris Harrington at the 7:17 mark of the opening stanza as both teams were skating 4-on-4. Harrington took a pass from Tyler Hirsch and broke in alone on MSU's Dominic Vicari and buried a shot for his second goal of the season.

The Golden Gophers made it 2-0 on a goal by Kris Chucko at the 15:40 mark of the opening stanza. All told, Vicari stopped 10 shots in the first period, including a pair of point-blank chances by Ryan Potulny, the nation's leading goal scorer.

Three second-period goals gave the Golden Gophers a 5-0 lead after 40 minutes of play, including a pair of goals in a span of 1:15.Alex Goligoski gave the Golden Gophers a 3-0 lead on a blast from the point at 4:32, before Mike Howe buried a short-handed goal off a MSU turnover at 5:47 for the Golden Gophers' fourth goal of the game. Potulny increased the Minnesota lead to 5-0 with a power-play marker at the 9:07 mark. For Potulny, it marked his 15th goal of the season.

Vicari (12 stops) and Matt Migliaccio (12 stops) combined for 24 saves for MSU. Minnesota netminder Kellen Briggs finished with 23 stops en route to the shutout.

MSU faces Bowling Green in a home-and-home series next weekend. On Friday, Dec. 3, the teams meet in East Lansing, while on Saturday, Dec. 4, the series switches to Bowling Green, Ohio. Starting time is set for 7:05 p.m. both nights.

Spartan Notebook
* Tonight's game marked the homecoming for three Spartans as A.J. Thelen (Savage), Tyler Howells (Eden Prairie) and Jim McKenzie (Woodbury) all returned to their home state of Minnesota.

* Six rookies - Jim McKenzie, Bryan Lerg, Peder Skinner, Chris Mueller, Jeff Dunne and Daniel Vukovic -- were dressed for Saturday's match-up against Minnesota.

* Minnesota holds a 101-40-9 in the all-time series which began with a 2-0 Golden Gophers win on Feb. 29, 1926. The Gophers are 50-13-6 all-time in games played in Minneapolis.

* SO G Dominic Vicari started the game for the Spartans and made 12 saves on 17 shots in 29:07 before being replaced by SR Matt Migliaccio, who also finished with 12 stops.

* The Spartans are 0-7 when trailing after 40 minutes of play this season.

* MSU is 0-5 this season when the opponent scores the first goal.

* State is 2-4-1 in games following a win.

* MSU was shutout for the first time since the March 27, 2004 game vs. Minnesota-Duluth.

* State finished the College Hockey Showcase with a 1-1 mark, after beating Wisconsin 4-0 on Friday and falling to Minnesota 5-0 on Saturday.

* MSU was without the services of SR F Mike Lalonde and SO D Ethan Graham against Minnesota. Both players suffered knee injuries in last night's game at Wisconsin.