Spartans, Irish Renew Acquaintences in Key CCHA Battle

Tim Kennedy scored the game-winner against the Irish last year to send MSU to the Frozen Four

1/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Jan. 10, 2008

East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State hosts Notre Dame in a battle of top-10 teams. The two squads are among the top four in the CCHA standings - MSU has two conference losses entering the weekend, Notre Dame three. The squads have developed a bit of a rivalry in recent seasons - only heightened by the Spartans ending Notre Dame's best-ever campaign in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final last March. The teams will play Friday in East Lansing, then again on Sunday afternoon in South Bend.

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series history
MSU owns a 58-32-8 mark against Notre Dame overall, which includes a 2-1 mark in 2006-07. Each team won in its home barn during the regular season, and the Spartans emerged victorious in the biggest meeting of the teams, in the Midwest Regional Final in Grand Rapids (2-1) to earn their spot in the Frozen Four. The teams face off on Friday in East Lansing, where the Spartans own a decided 34-13-2 edge; they then face off on Sunday afternoon in South Bend, where Michigan State owns a 21-19-6 record. Michigan State has won two straight and seven of eight in the series.
scouting report
Notre Dame, ranked a consensus No. 6 in both national polls this week, has split its two weekends since the holiday break, which snapped a nine-game winning streak dating back to mid-November. T he Irish lost to Massachusetts in the semifinals of the Lightning Classic, but rebounded with a 3-1 win over RPI in the consolation. Last weekend, Notre Dame split a pair of 2-1 decisions with Northern Michigan in Marquette.
Notre Dame is one of the least-penalized teams in the country, amassing an average of 11.2 minutes per game. It also boasts the nation's fifth-ranked penalty kill (102/114, 89.5%).
Junior Erik Condra paces the Irish scoring efforts with 26 points (10g, 16a). Sophomore Ryan Thang leads the team in goals (11), and is fourth in points (15) - Mark Van Guilder (8-10-18) and Kevin Deeth (4-12-16) are also among the team's scoring leaders. The Irish defense, ranked fourth nationally (1.92 gpg) is backstopped by junior Jordan Pearce, who owns a 2.06 GAA and .909 save percentage. Brad Phillips, who played in ND's most recent win at Northern Michigan, has made four starts and boasts an 0.75 GAA and .958 save percentage.
last time out
Michigan State earned a three-point weekend at home against clustermate Lake Superior State, posting a commanding 8-2 Friday night victory before settling on a 3-3 deadlock on Saturday. MSU finishes the season series with LSSU at 3-1 after a December sweep in Sault Ste. Marie.
On Friday, the Spartans got two goals and an assist from both Tim Crowder and Michael Ratchuk, and a 1-3-4 performance from Matt Schepke. Jeff Lerg made 29 saves in 53 minutes before making way for Bobby Jarosz, who made three stops in the balance of regulation.
Saturday was a much tighter affair. The Lakers got on the board first and got superior goaltending from Brian Mahoney-Wilson, who made 20 first-period stops en route to 36 in the game to forge a 3-3 final. Chris Mueller and Bryan Lerg scored for MSU in the first frame, and Ratchuk got the third-period game-tying tally. Jeff Lerg made 34 saves in a quality outing in his own right.
f
it to be tied
The Spartans are undefeated in their last 18 overtime games (6-0-12), and have not dropped an overtime contest since Nov. 12, 2005 against Nebraska-Omaha (3-2).
Michigan State is 0-0-3 in overtime games this season, its most recent deadlock coming against Lake Superior State (1/5). MSU also played to a pair of ties in the College Hockey Showcase against Minnesota and Wisconsin (Nov. 23-24).
the race is on
MSU sits in fourth place in the CCHA standings, three points out of the three-way tie for first among Michigan, Miami and Notre Dame. MSU has played two fewer conference games than all the Irish or RedHawks, and has six games remaining on its schedule against Notre Dame (2) and Michigan (two at home, one on the road, one at Joe Louis Arena).
The Spartans have the second-fewest losses in conference play after last weekend, however - Michigan leads the pack with just one, while both Notre Dame and Miami have three.
roadies
The Spartans have played 12 of their 21 games at home this season, but own a 5-1 mark in six road contests. All five victories have come as part of CCHA sweeps - at Alaska and Lake Superior, and in a home-and-home with Ferris State.
quite the cluster
MSU has played half of its cluster games, and is 5-0-1 with sweeps at home against Northern Michigan (5-4, 3-2), at Lake Superior (3-2, 5-2) and a three-point home effort against the Lakers (8-2, 3-3). Michigan has also swept both upper peninsula schools, and Northern Michigan swept Lake Superior in a home-and-home.
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 juniors 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. Fourteen 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 five losses this season, and three were to teams which held the No. 1 ranking at the time of the game.
streaking
Michigan State owns a six-game winning streak in CCHA contests (5-0-1).
two-game high
The Spartans allowed nine goals in the two games at the Great Lakes Invitational (two were empty-net tallies). It was the most goals allowed by the Spartans in a weekend this season.
strong starts
MSU has scored the first goal of the game in seven of its last nine games. The Spartans own a 11-1-1 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and are 2-4-2 when letting its opponent get on the board first.
MSU lost for the first time this season when netting the first goal of the game, against Providence.
home cooking?
With a 4-1 victory over Ferris State on Dec. 8, MSU snapped a four-game winless streak at home (0-2-2), its longest streak at Munn since an 0-3-2 streak in November of 2005. The Spartans are now unbeaten in their last five at Munn (2-0-3).
Friday's Notre Dame game ends a three-game homestand for the Spartans, and Sunday kicks off a four-game road swing which includes a series next weekend at Ohio State and a single game at Michigan (Jan. 25).
specialties
The MSU power play ranks fifth nationally (26/113, 23.0 percent). The power play rebounded from a 1-for-17 performance over its previous four games to post a 4-for-11 ledger against LSSU (Jan. 4-5)
Against Lake Superior, the Spartans also had their second `perfect' weekend of the season on the penalty kill, extinguishing all eight chances against. The Spartans were 6-for-6 in the College Hockey Showcase against Wisconsin and Minnesota. The penalty kill is now at 80.9 percent for the season (72/89).
high yield
In its first nine games, MSU scored nearly half (15 of 34) goals on the power play. That pace has slowed somewhat, as 11 of its last 41 have come with a man advantage.
its hot when we win
MSU has converted 23 of 66 chances on the power play (34.8%) in its 13 victories, while scoring just once in 25 opportunities (4%) in its five losses.
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. The Spartans had their second-highest shot output of the season on Dec. 1 at LSSU (41 shots).
peppered, part II
Rick Comley has noted that he feels the Spartans have been giving up too many shots in recent games. The Spartans have allowed 35.0 shots per game over its last six contests, which included three of its four highest shots-against totals this season. On the year, the Spartans are allowing an average of 29.6 shots per game.
Since the Dec. 7 game against Ferris State, the Spartans have twice given up 40+ shots (including a season-high of 45 to Providence).
In its first nine games of the season (8-1-0), MSU allowed 25.5 shots per game - in the 12 games since (5-4-3), the Spartans have allowed 32.3 shots per contest.
fast starts, tough thirds ...
The third period is the only one in which MSU does not hold a scoring advantage - the Spartans hold a 31-16 edge in the first period and 19-14 in the middle frame, but have been outscored 26-23 in the final frame. Opponents have scored four empty-netters, compared to three for Michigan State.
MSU has allowed multiple third-period goals on five occasions. The Spartans allowed a season-high four goals to Providence in the third period on Dec. 29.
that said ...
If Michigan State holds a lead entering the final period, its a good bet to finish off the game. The Spartans are 12-0-0 if they lead at the second intermission.
choir boys?
Only three times this season - the Nov. 3 game at Alaska and the Nov. 30 and Jan 4. games against Lake Superior State - 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 0.63 points per game. The overall breakdown:


Class (no.) GP  G-A-P   PPGFreshmen (6)    79  12-26-38    0.48Sophomores (4)  61  6-19-25 0.41Juniors (8) 156 40-59-99    0.63Seniors (5) 99  17-32-49    0.49

offensive outburst
Tim Kennedy is among national scoring leaders in several categories: he ranks second in game-winning goals (5), fifth in power-play tallies (7), tied for eighth in shorthanded goals (2), and ranks 16th in goals per game (0.68).
Kennedy has more than a third of the Spartans' game-winning goals (five of 13), and a nearly a third (7) of MSU's total power play tallies (26).
to the winners go the spoils
Tim Kennedy has scored five of MSU's game-winners, has assisted on two others, and has been on the ice for eight of 13 game-winners this season. Daniel Vukovic has been on the ice for nine of 13 winners, and has had a hand in scoring six of them (1g, 5a).
Kennedy has also been on the ice for both of MSU's game-tying goals this season, and had a hand in scoring both - he netted the tying goal against Minnesota (Nov. 23), and assisted on Michael Ratchuk's equalizer in the Lake Superior State deadlock (Jan. 5).
offensive defensemen
Michigan State owns the top-scoring defensive unit in the country. MSU's blueliners average 2.86 points per game (10-50-60).
The Spartans boast two of the nation's top-scoring defensemen - Michael Ratchuk ranks sixth (0.86 ppg, 18 points) and Daniel Vukovic ranks 10th (0.71, 15 points). Bowling Green and Providence also have two defensemen among the top ten.
Jeff Petry had a pair of assists in the LSSU series as well, and is the team's top-scoring first-year player. The freshman has been a standout so far this season on the blueline, and owns a 1-12-13 stat line.
multiplicity
Matt Schepke leads the Spartans with seven multiple-point outings this season, followed by Tim Kennedy and Michael Ratchuk (6), Bryan Lerg, and Tim Crowder (5), and then Justin Abdelkader with four.
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 surpassed that total in 15 games.
tight squeezes
Jeff Lerg is now 5-0 this season in one-goal games - the most recent when he posted a 4-3 win at Ferris State in Big Rapids on Dec. 7, while making 37 saves.
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.
once again, a workhorse
Jeff Lerg leads all collegiate goaltenders in minutes played, entering the weekend with 1204:05. He is third in percentage of team minutes played, (94.4%), trailing Peter Mannino of Denver (1189:19, 99.1%) and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux of North Dakota (1107:44, 98.9%).
In 2006-07, Lerg logged 96.9% of available minutes for MSU, (2465:06), which ranked second only to Boston College's Cory Schneider.
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 Played    Player, Team    Years   Cons. G    David McKee, Cornell     2004-06    102    Brant Nicklin, Duluth   1996-98 76    Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62
     NCAA  - Consecutive Games Started    Player, Team     Years  Cons. St.    Brant Nicklin, Duluth    1996-98    76    Jeff Lerg, MSU  2005-07 62    Blair Allison, Maine    1994-95 51

in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into the top 10 in several netminding categories at Michigan State: Career wins (55), eighth; career games played (93), seventh; career GAA (2.29), 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.
milestones
Tim Crowder skated in his 100th career game on Dec. 1 against LSSU, the first junior to reach that milestone. He celebrated with a goal and an assist, which snapped a five-game scoreless streak.
Justin Abdelkader reached the 100th-game plateau against Michigan Tech (Dec. 28), and had an assist on a Tim Kennedy goal.
Several Spartans are closing in on 100 career games: senior Jeff Dunne (93 GP), and juniors Nick Sucharski (98), Jeff Lerg (93), and Tim Kennedy (92).
at the dot
MSU benefits from a deep corps of quality centermen. On the year, Chris Mueller has won 147 of 257, for a team-best 57.2 percent. Justin Abdelkader has won 242 of 447 (54.1%), Zak McClellan is at 54.5 percent (72 of 132), and Nick Sucharski is at 51.5 percent (103 of 97).
schep-ping up
Matt Schepke has already bettered his sophomore-year point total (2-3-5) with his 8-13-21 scoring line through 21 games. He has had two, two-goal games this season and had a career-best four-point night against LSSU on Jan. 4 (1g, 3a). He has multiple-point efforts in five of his last nine games, is a team-best +10, shares the team lead in assists, and ranks third in goal scoring.
career years
Five veterans have already surpassed their single-season bests through the midpoint of the season. In addition to Schepke, senior blueliner Daniel Vukovic, who recorded a 7-5-12 stat line in what was a breakout junior season. This year, he has two goals and 12 assists for 14 points - the 12 assists betters his career total of nine coming into the season.
Sophomore Michael Ratchuk has bettered his 12 points he recorded as a freshman (6-12-18), while classmate Ryan Turek and junior Brandon Gentile are also already ahead of their totals from a year ago. Turek has four assists this season after just two as a freshman, while Gentile's six helpers betters his total of four last year.
firsts
Sophomore Justin Johnston has appeared in five of the last six games for the Spartans, and has steadily shown growth and improvement this season. He recorded his first collegiate point against Providence (Dec. 29), a blast from the left point that set up Dustin Gazley's first-period goal.
double dips
MSU has boasted two, two-goal scorers three times this season, the most recent Michael Ratchuk and Tim Crowder against Lake Superior State on Jan. 4.
Dustin Gazley and Matt Schepke each had two-goal outings on Oct. 19, a 6-2 victory over Colgate, and Schepke and Bryan Lerg completed the feat again against Wisconsin (Nov. 23) in a 4-4 tie.
collegiate debuts
The freshman class has found ways to make an impact through the first half 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 1-12-13 line. Dustin Gazley had an impressive home debut, netting a pair of goals in his first home game (Oct. 19 vs. Colgate) and currently has three goals and eight assists. Corey Tropp leads freshmen in goal scoring (5-6-11) and is third in freshmen 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 five games, and still looks for his first collegiate tally - but has played well in his role when called upon.
spartans "shoot for a cure"

The Michigan State hockey team is joining the fight against children's cancer. For the past three years, team members have been volunteers at the Sparrow Hospital Pediatric Ward. Through the Spartan Buddies program, they have visited with many children who have had to face this awful disease. In an effort to help, MSU juniors Justin Abdelkader and Daniel Sturges have spearheaded an initiative called "Shoot for a Cure"
Every home game between now and February 22nd, 200 pucks will be sold for $1 each. Fans can purchase as many pucks as desired, but only 200 will be sold at each home game. Each night, a puck number will be drawn from those sold at that game The winner receives a prize package, courtesy of the MSU hockey family. Fans should bring their purchased pucks to the February 22nd game against Michigan. That night, fans will "Chuck A Puck" onto the ice during intermission to win the grand prize package of items donated by former Spartans now playing in the NHL.
short of a dozen
A total of 11 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 continues a four-game road swing with a series at Ohio State.