Miami 3, Michigan State 1
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 16, 2007
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Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
On Miami's speed...
Well they are good. They do a lot of things very well. Whatever you might say about your own team, you better start talking about their team because that's national-championship caliber team. And they played like it all week. We fought hard; I thought we played a lot better tonight. I thought Jeff was really, really good. But they just don't give you anything. We never really got to their net until the end. We had several flurries at the end but Zatkoff came up big. They're good, I give them all the credit in the world.
On not getting anything to the net until late in the third period...
They don't let you; they've been through it. It's a sign of an older team, a mature team. Real good leadership, their good players play well. Good balance, I like their team a lot. But that game was there to be had; they got those two goals there so quick, together, and they were fluky- type goals. And then they get to play with the lead and we got to try and play catch-up the whole night, it takes so much energy out of you. But we knew this two-week stretch was going to be the toughest of the year. So hopefully we will learn from it and make some corrections work-wise in the areas that we need to.
On if he was more pleased with the play tonight, compared to last night...
I thought that we played better tonight, I did. For whatever reason last night we just seemed to come out flat. But the building was great tonight, they were here early and there was a great crowd and a great atmosphere and it just helps so much when it's like that . It was great - it was a good college hockey game. They really tested, we haven't been tested even close to that as far as confined areas, and corners and strength and contact. Our kids are beat up and have welts all over their bodies but they were in two very tough games this weekend.
On what the locker room is like...
They are okay. It's November. That's the one thing about hockey; you play a lot of games and how you do down the stretch is much more important than how you do now. But that's not to discredit Miami; I thought Miami was as good a team as we've seen in a long time.
Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi
Overall impressions...
I thought tonight was probably the best game I've seen two teams play all year. It was back and forth, and there was great goaltending. Again, I think getting that early lead really helped us out.
On the play of Jeff Zatkoff...
He had some big saves at the end there. I don'tknow if you're ever going to get two better goaltenders in a game, with Zatkoff and Lerg, than you did tonight. Those two big saves he made on the two-on-ones were huge.
On getting the sweep...
We're very satisfied obviously. Our philosophy is to take it a day at a time and to try and get better every day. I thought last weekend playing Notre Dame really helped us in preparation for this weekend's series in terms of intensity, puck protection, and what you have to do down low. I told our guys that we have to play our best hockey to be successful and that's what we focused on all week. I thought, for the most part, our guys did a good job of that.
Michigan State Center Bryan Lerg
What can be taken away from weekend ...
We had our spurts this weekend, as you look at the end, we had a chance but hit the post at the end. There were a couple two-on-ones. We had some chances, I thought we played hard, but we just didn't play all 6 -minutes either night. I don't think we played hard enough collectively as a group. I thought our defensive zone was a little sloppy this weekend. Obviously, the positive is you have to look at next weekend. We saw where we matched up with the best team in the nation. That is probably their best, probably what their peak is right now, and obviously we're not at our best. It's going to take time for us, and we just have to take what we can off of this weekend and build into next weekend.
As the captain, what he will say in the locker room about the series ...
We just have to stay positive and look at this weekend - it is very frustrating, but a lot of special teams out there both nights. There were a lot of guys not even getting on the ice, like our third and fourth lines, some of the guys didn't hit the ice as much. You have to stay positive though. I thought Jeff played really well this weekend. We just have to generate more offense. We didn't cycle down low like we normally can. We just went up and down the ice, sort of like Michigan runs up and down the ice, but that's not our style. We have to chip it in and cycle. I think that is stuff we have to work on this week. Generating more offense is obviously a key when we scored only one goal tonight. We just have to look at the positives this week in practice, and keep battling. We aren't in trouble right now, it's not a thing we are too worried about, but obviously when you lose two at home you want to be somewhat concerned.
On Jeff's play ...
I thought Jeff had a really good weekend all around. He kept us in, and he shut the door like we told him - We told him to shut the door, and we will score for you. He did his part, but we had trouble doing ours. I give him a lot of credit, he stands on his head. Everyday you can always expect the best out of him. I thought he played really well, and there was not much more he could have done this series. It falls back on us - the defense getting the puck out of the zone, and us forwards playing in their zone. If anyone gets credit this weekend, it's him.
Michigan State Center Justin Abdelkader
On Miami handling his line ...
They are a really good defensive team. Their defense is really good, and they really shut us down. I think our problem was that we didn't get any low play down in their zone. We didn't cycle the puck. We had a one shot, they got the rebound, they got the puck right out. On our forecheck we really were inconsistent, and they would make one pass, and it would beat two guys. I think the key to our play is to get the cycle and open things up.
On his last play hitting the post ...
I thought it was in, I just threw it behind me and it hit the post. The puck was laying right there, and the guy tied me up. I think Crowder had a whack at it too. It is just one of those plays where it's just a bounce. It's a bounce that wins the game, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't, and we didn't get the bounce today.
On Miami's penalty kill ...
I think we hadn't really faced pressure like theirs all year yet, so it was a little different for us. I think we adjusted, we got a little better as the weekend went on. We have to be ready for pressure like that. A team like Miami, they are really good at the penalty kill, they will send all three guys on the puck, so we have to outnumber them. Sometimes they would outnumber us on the powerplay, which can never happen. If they have three, we have to have four. We have to outnumber them on the puck - a team like that is going to pressure the whole time. We have to adjust. Obviously it is still early in the season, so we have a couple of things we still need to work on and hopefully get better for next week. Those are a couple of big games we have coming up with Minnesota and Wisconsin.
