No. 18 Michigan State Ties No. 7 Minnesota, 2-2
11/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 26, 2005
"I thought it was really good how we battled back tonight, we definitely leave the building feeling better about ourselves," head coach Rick Comley said. "Through this whole stretch, I think the effort has been there, and I was encouraged by how we played with top 10 teams both nights. I think we are starting to get our game back."
The Spartans tied the contest at 11:14 of the first. Senior defenseman Jared Nightingale (
Just 21 seconds later the Spartans evened the score at two goals a piece. The newly formed line of Tyler Howells (Eden Prarie,
The first big scoring chance of the second period occurred in the opening minute. MSU forward Bryan Lerg (
The Golden Gophers had a golden opportunity of their own a little more than five minutes into the period. Irmen found Kessel breaking for the net on a 2-on-1, but Vicari stretched out his left pad and kept the score tied for the moment.
The Spartans spent the majority of the final five minutes on the penalty kill. The Spartans were able to kill off a Crowder slashing penalty at 13:22 of the period as well as an interference call on Nightingale at 16:24. The highlight of the kills was a stellar pad save by Vicari on Gopher defenseman Alex Goligoski.
At 1:03 of the overtime period, the Spartans were given a power play of their own when defenseman Derek Peltier hauled down Booth and was called for interference. Fretter had a premium chance to win the game on a one timer from point-blank range, but Frazee snatched it with his glove.
After the penalty expired, neither team was able to generate a quality chance and the game ended in a tie for the third time in past five meetings between the two schools in the Showcase.
The Green and White return to action next Friday, Dec. 2, when they play the front end of a home-and-home with the Bowling Green Falcons. The opening face off is scheduled for 7:05 EST.
Spartan Notebook
* Freshmen Tim Crowder and Justin Abdelkader teamed up for the first Spartan goal, to draw the score even at one a piece. Crowder continues to set the pace for MSU rookies in goals (six) and points (seven), while Abdelkader leads the first-year Spartans in assists (three) and is second in scoring with five points.
* Senior defenseman Jared Nightingale also registered an assist on the play, picking up his first point in six games.
* Michigan State's second goal, Tyler Howells' fifth of the season was also his first ever in front of the home crowd. Howells found the back of the net just 0:21 after the Gophers had taken a 2-1 lead. The junior from Eden Prairie, Minn., has now more than doubled his goal output from the previous two seasons combined (two). For Howells it was just his second point in the past seven games after registering a seven-game point streak to open the season.
* Senior forward Colton Fretter extended his team best point-streak to four games with an assist on Howells' game-tying goal.
* The Michigan State penalty-kill bounced back in a big way this weekend holding Wisconsin and Minnesota a combined 0-9 in the College Hockey Showcase. Prior to this weekend the Spartans had been allowing opponent power-plays to operate at nearly 25%.
* With a tie vs. No. 7 Minnesota the Green and White now stand 4-2-2 vs. ranked opponents in 2005-06; and just 1-4-2 vs. the rest of its schedule.
* The Spartans remain winless in their last eight contests (0-5-3), the longest such mark since the 1980-81 season. That year MSU dropped seven of eight contests, managing just one tie, during a late season span from Jan. 23, 1981 to Feb. 14. It was current athletic director Ron Mason's second season behind the Michigan State bench.
