MSU Returns to CCHA Play with Set at Lake State

11/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Nov. 28, 2007

Date/Time: Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2007, 7:05 p.m.; Sault Ste. Marie, Mich..
Live Statistics: |
Audio: WJIM 1240 AM (Fri.) / WVFN 730 AM (Sat.)/ msuspartans.com
Scott Moore (PBP) and Rob Woodward `00 (Analysis)
Television: none
Live Video Webstream: Lake Superior State provides a webstream through the b2 Networks (Click on link on right)
Download MSU Hockey Notes (PDF)

in brief
Michigan State returns to CCHA action for the final four games before the holiday break, and spends the weekend in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The Spartans will tangle with CCHA clustermate Lake Superior State, which comes in with a 2-9-1 record (0-6-0 CCHA). The Spartans are winless in their last four games, and are 8-3-2 overall, 4-2-0 in conference games.
roadies
The Spartans take to the road for just the third road trip this season. MSU opened the season with a single game at North Dakota, then played a pair at Alaska the first weekend in November.
series history
MSU is 62-29-10 all-time against Lake Superior State, and is 21-12-6 in games played in Sault Ste. Marie. Comley owns a 47-21-8 mark in his coaching career against his alma mater, which includes a 9-1-2 mark as the head coach of the Spartans.
Michigan State is undefeated in the last nine matchups against the Lakers (7-0-2), which included three wins last season (3-2 OT and 4-0 in the regular season at Munn, and 7-6 (OT) in the CCHA consolation game).

scouting the lakers
Lake Superior brings a five-game skid into the weekend set with the Spartans - the Lakers' last win came back on Nov. 9 against Wayne State. LSSU split with the Warriors, then dropped two home games to Michigan (5-1, 6-2) and another two in a home-and home with rivalry partner Northern Michigan (4-2, 3-1).
The Lakers' offense is paced by senior Dan Eves, but a trio of underclassmen follow him on the scoring chart. Eves has a team-best 10 points (4g, 6 a), but sophomore Nathan Perkovich leads the squad with seven goals. Freshmen Chad Nehring and Rick Schofield each have 2-4-6 scoring lines.
After the graduation of LSSU netminding mainstay Jeff Jakaitis, the crease is patrolled by the tandem of sophomore Pat Inglis and freshman Brian Mahoney-Wilson. Inglis has some experience against MSU, as he played in last year's 3-2 overtime loss; he owns a 1-4-1 record, a 4.31 GAA and .845 save percentage. Mahoney-Wilson has a 2.96 GAA and .894 save percentage.
last time out
Michigan State skated to a pair of ties in the College Hockey Showcase, tying Minnesota, (3-3), and Wisconsin (4-4).
Against the Gophers, the Spartans played catchup most of the night, rallying to tie the game three times. MSU never trailed by more than a goal, and got the eventual game-tying goal from Tim Kennedy while skating shorthanded at 12:41 of the third period. Andrew Rowe and Chris Mueller each netted second-period scores for Michigan State, and got 19 saves from Jeff Lerg.
In the Wisconsin game, the Badgers rallied back from 2-1 and 4-2 deficits to force the 4-4 deadlock. The teams were tied at two at the second intermission thanks to a Blake Geoffrion goal with 5.6 seconds remaining in the middle frame. MSU put a pair of goals on the board 28 seconds apart by Matt Schepke and Bryan Lerg to take the 4-2 advantage, but saw the Badgers claw back with a goal at 10:53 by John Mitchell and a breakaway by Ben Street at 14:03. Despite a power play for the final 1:18 of overtime, the Spartans could not solve freshman netminder Scott Gudmandson (23 saves) over the balance of the game and settled on the deadlock. Jeff Lerg made a season-best 33 saves, including 16 in the third period and overtime.
an early look at the CCHA race
Miami has jumped out to a lead in the CCHA standings, with 18 points (9-1-0). Northern Michigan has played the most conference games, (12), followed by Miami, Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha with 10 played each.
The Spartans, Alaska, and Lake Superior, with just six CCHA games under their belts, have the fewest number of league games played.
Only Michigan has remained unbeaten in CCHA play (8-0).
law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 188 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, 11 months.
high-yield returns
Michigan State is one of four teams in the CCHA that returned 20 letterwinners this season, the highest number in the CCHA. The Spartans returned 83.9 percent of their goal scoring from a year ago (115 goals), tops in the league. MSU returned 73.9 percent (263) of its points from a year ago, which ranks second in the CCHA behind Miami (81.5%). The Spartans returned five of their top six forwards: seniors Bryan Lerg and Chris Mueller and the all-junior line of Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder.
if it was baseball, they'd win the cy young
MSU has won 20+ games in 15 consecutive seasons.
let's end this streak
The Spartans will look to snap a rather inauspicious streak: neither of the last two NCAA titleists made the tournament the year after they won the championship: both the Denver Pioneers (2005 champions) and Wisconsin Badgers (2006 titleists) failed to qualify for the 16-team field.
home sweet home
In 2007-08, MSU will play 20 regular-season games at Munn Arena, compared to 15 a year ago. Fifteen of the 20 will be televised.
the number ones
The opening-game loss to North Dakota snapped a two-game winning streak for the Spartans against teams ranked No. 1 in the national polls. In last year's NCAA Tournament, the Spartans defeated both Notre Dame (2-1) and Boston College (3-1) when they held the top ranking.
Michigan State has three losses this season, but all were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game.
fit to be tied
Michigan State played to a pair of ties in the College Hockey Showcase last weekend. The Spartans are undefeated in their last 17 overtime games (6-0-11), and have not dropped an overtime contest since Nov. 12, 2005 against Nebraska-Omaha (3-2).
strong starts
MSU scored the first goal of the game against Wisconsin, potting the game's opening goal for the first time in four contests. The Spartans own a 6-0-1 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and are 2-3-1 when letting its opponent get on the board first.
home cooking
Last weekend's series wrapped a streak of six straight home games for Michigan State. Dating back to Oct. 19, Michigan State had 10 of 12 games in the friendly confines of Munn Ice Arena.
MSU is winless in its last four games at home (0-2-2), its longest streak at Munn since an 0-3-2 streak in November of 2005.
The next month brings six games for the Spartans: three on the road, one at home, and two at Joe Louis Arena (Great Lakes Invitational).
road successes
The Spartans have won two of three road contests this season - MSU swept Alaska (3-1, 3-1) and lost at North Dakota (6-0).
oh-so-special
The MSU power play has scored just twice in 26 chances over its last four games after a torrid start to the season. Before this four-game drought, the power play was 6-of-12 in its previous three tilts and had five games with multiple power-play strikes.
At 23.62% (17-for-72), the power play now ranks seventh nationally and third in the CCHA. The Miami series snapped a streak of five straight games in which the Spartans had registered multiple power-play tallies, which began with a 3-for-4 effort against Northern Michigan on Oct. 27.
The Spartans' penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6 on the weekend against its Big Ten bretheren, and has killed off its last 10 chances against dating back to Nov. 16 against Miami.
octane "o"
Michigan State's scoring offense - currently at 3.38 goals per game - ranks third in the CCHA and eighth nationally.
peppered
Michigan State's 52 shots on net against Mercyhurst (Nov. 10) was the most since a 52-shot effort against Wayne State in a 7-2 victory on Nov. 21, 2003.

tough thirds
The third period is the only one in which MSU does not hold a scoring advantage - the Spartans hold a 17-12 edge in the first period and 15-8 in the middle frame, but have been outscored 16-12 in the final frame.
MSU surrendered eight of those 16 third-period markers in their first four games, and an additional two were empty-netters against Miami. In that opening four-game span, the Spartans twice gave up three goals in the third- at North Dakota on Oct. 13, and at home against Northern Michigan on Oct. 26 - and gave up two to Colgate in the final frame on Nov. 19 and to Wisconsin on Nov. 23.
choir boys?
Only once this season - the Nov. 3 game at Alaska - has MSU been assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent.
In the Nov. 16 game against Miami, MSU was whistled for season-highs in both penalties (10) and penalty minutes (28)
class system
Which class is the most productive for the Spartans? The eight-member junior class has an average of 0.65 points per game. The overall breakdown:

Class (no.) GP  G-A-P   PPG Seniors (5)    58  9-23-32 0.55 Juniors (8)    85  25-30-55    0.65 Sophomores (4) 36  1-10-11 0.30 Freshmen (6)   52  9-17-26 0.50

offensive outburst
Tim Kennedy has scored a goal in a career-best nine of his last 11 games. He is tied for the national lead in game-winning goals (4), for second in power play (7) and shorthanded (2) goals, and fourth in goals per game (0.85).
His 11 goals on the year is the third-highest total in Division I .

offensive stay-at-home defenseman?
Senior Daniel Vukovic registered his 12th point of the season on Nov. 23 against Wisconsin, tying his single-season career best set last year. Vukovic ranks in a tie for sixth nationally in points per game by a defenseman (0.92).
offensive D, part 2
Sophomore Michael Ratchuk was the only player to register a point in each of the two games against Miami (Nov. 15-16), posting an assist each night.
Ratchuk has six assists this season, one off his freshman-year total of seven.
play the percentages
Kennedy has exactly half of the Spartans' game-winning goals, and nearly seven (41%) of MSU's total power play tallies (17).
No. 1s are a streak killer
Kennedy recently had an eight-game point-scoring streak, his career best. Kennedy had scored in seven straight games to end the 2007 season (3/10/07 vs. Nebraska-Omaha - 4/7/07 vs. Boston College;), and had registered 5-5-10 during that streak. His streak was halted by the North Dakota shutout of the Spartans in the season opener, but Kennedy rebounded in the second game of the Colgate series and went on to put up 10-5-15 in the next eight games. He has 16 goals and 10 assists in his last 20 games.
multiplicity
Kennedy leads the Spartans with five multiple-point outings this season, followed by Bryan Lerg Matt Schepke, and Daniel Vukovic with three. Four MSU players have two: Justin Abdelkader, Chris Mueller, Dustin Gazley, and Michael Ratchuk.
Vukovic entered his senior campaign with two career multiple-point games, which he has already surpassed this year. Ratchuk had two as a freshman, and has tied that total in 11 games.
after the seventh game, he rested
Jeff Lerg recently set the school record for consecutive goaltender appearances and games started, (63). The previous mark was held by Joe Selinger from Jan. 15, 1957-March 14, 1959. Lerg's streak ranks second all-time in the NCAA annals for consecutive starts and third in consecutive games played.
Lerg played in the first seven games of the year, and made his 63rd consecutive start on Nov. 9 against Mercyhurst. The next night, Lerg was relegated to door duty as sophomore Bobby Jarosz got his first collegiate start, and made 24 saves.

NCAA - Consecutive Games PlayedPlayer, Team    Years   Cons. GDavid McKee, Cornell     2004-06    102Brant Nicklin, Duluth   1996-98 76Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62
NCAA  - Consecutive Games StartedPlayer, Team     Years  Cons. St.Brant Nicklin, Duluth    1996-98    76Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62Blair Allison, Maine    1994-95 51

back where he belongs
Jeff Lerg made a season-best 33 saves in his most recent outing against Wisconsin. It is his fourth game with 30+ saves this season.
in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (50), eighth; career games played (85), eighth; career GAA (2.24), third; career save percentage (.918), third; career shutouts (6), T-fifth; Wins in a season (26), T-fifth; games played, season (42), T-first; saves, season (1,042), fourth.
With two likely starts in the crease this weekend, Lerg will move ahead of Dave Versical for seventh place in career games played (86).
stopper
Jeff Lerg stopped a second-period penalty shot on an attempt by Colgate's Tyler Burton (Oct. 20) to preserve a 2-1 MSU lead that held up as the final. It was the first time an MSU goalie had stopped a penalty shot since Chad Alban denied Brendan Concannon of UMass-Lowell in the 1996 NCAA West Regional.
one stops `em, the other puts `em in
Bryan Lerg emerged as one of the most dangerous - and exciting to watch - forwards in the CCHA. Lerg recorded four assists on Oct. 19 against Colgate, tying his career best that he set on Oct. 29, 2005 at Cornell. It also tied his single-game high for points, set in the same game.
The senior captain had a two-goal effort against Wisconsin, the second serving as his 100th career point. He has 53 goals and 47 assists in 140 career games.
at the dot
Michigan State has had significant success this season on faceoffs - three players are well over 50%. Chris Mueller has a 56.27% success rate (91-of-162) Nick Sucharski has won 57 of 104 (54.8%), and Justin Abdelkader is at 54.4% (153-of-281).
b>
schep-ping up
Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 7-3-10 scoring line through 13 games. He has had two, two-goal games this season - including a pair of goals in MSU's most recent games against Wisconsin. He ranks second on the team this season in goal scoring.
collegiate debuts
The freshman class is finding ways to make an impact in the early part of the season. Five of the six MSU freshmen have recorded their first collegiate goal, with blueliners Jeff Petry and AJ Sturges getting their first on Nov. 10 against Mercyhurst. Petry, a regular on the MSU power play, currently has a 1-6-7 line. Dustin Gazley had an impressive home debut, netting a pair of goals in his first home game (Oct. 19 vs. Colgate) and currently leads the class with two goals and six assists. Corey Tropp leads freshmen in goal scoring (3-4-7) and is tied for second in points. Andrew Rowe played in his first game in green and white on Oct. 26 against Northern Michigan, and has a pair of goals on the season. Forward Joey Shean has played in four games, and still looks for his first collegiate tally - but has played well in his role when called upon.
double dips
Dustin Gazley and Matt Schepke each had two-goal outings on Oct. 19, a 6-2 victory over Colgate. It was the first time that MSU had two, two-goal scorers in the same game since Dec. 1, 2006 against Ohio State when Tim Kennedy and Chris Mueller each scored twice in a 4-1 victory. Schepke and Bryan Lerg completed the feat again against Wisconsin (Nov. 23) in a 4-4 tie.
an even dozen
A total of 12 former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters: David Booth (Florida), Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Adam Hall (Pittsburgh), Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton), Duncan Keith (Chicago), John-Michael Liles (Colorado), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Jim Slater (Atlanta), Bryan Smolinski (Montreal), Mike Weaver (Vancouver) and Mike York (Phoenix).
up next
Michigan State wraps up its pre-holiday schedule with a home-and-home series against Ferris State. The teams will face off on Friday in Big Rapids, then will play Saturday night at Munn in a game that will be televised live on Comcast Local.