No. 18 Michigan State Ties No. 7 Minnesota, 2-2

Nov. 26, 2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 18 Michigan State ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with No. 7 Minnesota in the second game of the College Hockey Showcase, Saturday night, Nov. 26 at Munn Ice Arena. Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari (Clinton Township, Mich) made 32 saves in the tie, which puts the Spartans record at 5-6-4 on the season.

"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."

Minnesota got on the scoreboard first when they created a turnover off a strong forecheck. Golden Gopher forward Phil Kessel fed linemate Danny Irmen in the slot. Irmen beat Vicari five-hole with a wrist shot at 1:16 of first period.

The Spartans tied the contest at 11:14 of the first. Senior defenseman Jared Nightingale (Cheboygan, Mich.) intercepted a Golden Gopher clearing attempt at the right point and fired a wrist shot towards the net. Freshman Tim Crowder (Victoria, B.C.) was able to redirect the shot enough to fool goaltender Jeff Frazee. It was Crowder's sixth goal of the season, the most among Spartan freshmen.

Minnesota took the lead once again when an Irmen shot from the left circle deflected off of a Spartan player and fluttered over Vicari. Irmen's second goal of the night and the season came at 15:08 of the period and Kessel once again had the lone assist.

Just 21 seconds later the Spartans evened the score at two goals a piece. The newly formed line of Tyler Howells (Eden Prarie, Minn.), David Booth (Washington, Mich.) and Colton Fretter (Harrow, Ont.) executed a perfect 3-on-2 rush. Booth rushed down the right wing and dropped a pass to Fretter in the high slot. Fretter's shot was stopped by Frazee but a streaking Howells knocked in the rebound.

The first big scoring chance of the second period occurred in the opening minute. MSU forward Bryan Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) picked a Minnesota defenseman's pocket on the Gopher blue line, broke in on Frazee and let a shot go from the right portion of the slot. Frazee made his best save of the night when he made a glove save on the Lerg shot.

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.

Minnesota had the majority of the quality chances for the second stanza, but Vicari and the Spartan defensemen kept the Gophers from taking the lead despite being out shot 11-5 for the period. Minnesota kept up that momentum for the first few minutes of the third period, but again Vicari turned them away.

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.