Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State 3, Alaska 2
1/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 12, 2007
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley Opening statement...
We took a big penalty going into overtime, and got a big goal in overtime to win. I think they played their game and I don't know this, but I think they played okay. Obviously Greentree and Fraser are two outstanding players. I really like [Dion] Knelson, and Wylie Rogers did a really nice job. It was a very hard-fought game and it is unfortunate that we had the incident after the game. We had a couple defensemen turn the puck over and struggle tonight. They came out hard fore-checking, and made it very tough. They're always tough to play against because they're a good team.
On the second period...
We only attempted four shots, I think, with at least one power play and maybe two. I thought they played very well.
I thought it was a struggle all night. I thought our top guys didn't have top games and Alaska had a lot to do with that because they're so big and strong.
Overall impressions on the game...
It's a playoff-type game and I though it was pretty good. We had a tough time getting clean shots on net and penalty killing groups did a pretty good job. I know Alaska has lost six in a row now, but they've played pretty well. The game I watched Sunday at Ohio State I thought they played well.
On coming back to tie the game...
It's a good sign that you don't get too down and don't quit playing even when you're not playing well; to win a game when you're not playing well when you have to kill a penalty in overtime. Emotionally that's a big win. Everybody obviously is going to be on edge going into tomorrow's game.
On Kennedy's overtime winning goal...
He's the one guy that can do that. He's our best player and we need him to come through at a time like that.
Alaska Head Coach Tavis MacMillan
Overall impressions...
It was a great game. I really sound like a broken record right now because that's three out of our last four games that we've had a 2-1 lead in the third period and lost. Our kids are playing hard, they're playing well. We had opportunities where we were just missing one or two guys to make that play, to score that goal, to put teams away. Our kids are playing hard and they're playing well but we've got to find a way to win. In the second period we held Michigan State to four shots attempted. I don't remember in all my years of being Nanook coach ever holding a team to four shots attempted, and we did it on the road against a very good team.
On Tim Kennedy's overtime goal...
He's such a skilled player. If you would've said, "Who you do not want to roll off of the boards and into the slot with the puck?", I would've said either Kennedy or (Bryan) Lerg. Sure enough, I looked up and it was Kennedy. He's scored some big goals against us in this building that have hurt us in the past; that is what big-time players do - they score goals like that.
Michigan State Sophomore Forward Tim Kennedy
Opening statement...
I thought the game was just how we thought it would be. They're a huge team, they're very big, they can hit and they can skate. We played very well. I thought it was going to be a tight, close game and that's how it was the whole game. We just pulled one out.
On his winning goal...
I got the puck on the boards and I didn't think I was going to be able to get the puck through Greentree, but somehow it went through his stick and there was nobody on me, so I just kept my blade on the ice. I think I passed the puck 25 times tonight so I figured I'd shoot this one, and it happened to go in.
On being a man down heading into overtime...
Our team is strong, we've been peaking in the last five or six games. So we're very confident. But, it's always hard to start, especially in overtime, when you're down one man. So we were confident going in, but you can't like starting on a penalty kill so I had mixed emotions.
On being a passer all game before scoring on the last shot...
I was trying to make a pass but there was no one open except for Mueller who was at the far blue line. I don't know why, but I passed it back instead of taking the shot, and as I came off the ice, coach was screaming at me, "Shoot the puck, shoot the puck." So I said, "Okay, I'll shoot the puck."
Michigan State Sophomore Forward Justin Abdelkader
On re-joining the team after playing at the World Junior Championships...
It felt good to get back out with the guys and get playing. I felt like I got better as the game went on. I felt a little slow at the start of the game, but I felt like as the game went on I got better and better. That's kind of my type of game - high-intensity and a rough game.
On Alaska's play...
Every time we play Alaska, it's always a tough series with them. They always have a big team, they're always an older, veteran-type team too, so they always come out hitting and they're always tough to play against.
On what goes through his mind when he faces a one-on-one situation with the opposing goalie...
Sometimes, you have to let the goalie make the first move - you don't always make the first move - you have to see what the goalie does. That time I made the move to try to get the goalie out of position, and found an opening and shot it.
Michigan State Sophomore Goalie Jeff Lerg
On the amount of traffic in front of the goal...
There was a lot of traffic but I'm used to that - that's pretty much the scouting report on me, shoot high and get a lot of traffic in front, so they knew what they were doing. Pretty much every game the same thing, but they did an especially good job of creating traffic. During their power play, they had me looking around here and there trying to find the puck, and I had to kind of battle through that. It was pretty much a regular game for me traffic-wise, because every team does that.
On Curtis Fraser's goal in the third period...
It was shot from the point and got all the way through, I think it might have hit something, it was rolling up on the edge, so it was in the air a little bit and it wasn't a puck I could control with my stick. I had to kick my leg out because it came through someone's legs, and then it went through Greentree's legs, and he tried to put the rebound in the open net, and it went through his legs, and then Fraser was there and I tried to make a desperation play and hit it with the shaft of my stick, but he cleared it over my stick.
On what the team will take from this game...
It was just a tough game, a one-goal game, we got them when we had the chance to just fold it in or come back and play hard after we got down. We started playing well. Once they scored, all of a sudden the next shift, we were out hitting. It kind of woke us up a little bit. That was one of the things we just have to learn, from the drop of the puck. If we start playing like that, we don't have to get into those situations. It was good, we know that those two points were huge and with how close the league standings are, and it was a good character win. But, we shouldn't be putting ourselves in that situation to begin with.
