Michigan State University Athletics
Icers Tangle With Miami
1/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 14, 2009
Michigan State comes off of an idle week and makes the first of three straight road trips to close the month of January. The Spartans travel to Oxford, Ohio to tangle with Miami.
Date/Time/Location: Jan. 16, 8 p.m./ Jan. 17, 5 p.m.; Oxford, Ohio
Audio: Fri: WJIM 1240 AM./ Sat: WVFN 730 AM All audio can also be heard at msuspartans.com
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series history
Michigan State is 65-22-5 all-time against the Red Hawks, but Miami has won each of the last four meetings, all of which were played at Munn Arena; Miami swept November series from the Spartans in both 2007 and 2008.
MSU owns a 26-9-2 record against the RedHawks in Oxford, and the teams split their last series at Cady Arena - Miami won on Friday, (5-2), but the Spartans rebounded with a 4-1 victory on Saturday in what served as head coach Rick Comley's 700th career victory.
In the series back in November, Miami took 5-1 and 3-1 decisions from MSU. Corey Tropp had a hand in both MSU goals, scoring one and assisting on a Matt Schepke tally as well. Seven different Miami players lit the lamp in the series, but Justin Mercier was the only player with multiple goals (2-1-3).
when we last left our heroes
MSU split its most recent CCHA series, earning a 2-1 victory over Alaska on Jan. 2 before the Nanooks rebounded with a 3-1 win on Jan. 3.
In the Friday tilt, goals by Daultan Leveille and Dustin Gazley scored less than 90 seconds apart in the last 3:35 of the game to turn a 1-0 deficit into a one-goal victory. Jeff Lerg made 35 saves in the win.
The next night's game was also a tight affair. The teams traded second-period goals - MSU's came from Andrew Conboy on the power play - before Alaska rallied for a pair of third-period markers for the 3-1 win. Derek Klassen's goal at 14:28 of the third was the backbreaker for MSU, as it settled on a split. Lerg made 29 stops in the contest.
a tough go
At the end of 2008, the Spartans stood at 5-12-3, the lowest number of wins at the holiday break since the late 70's. in 1977-78, MSU was 4-12-0 at the holidays, and was 5-13-0 a year later in the 1978-79 season.
on an upswing
Michigan State has split each of its last two weekends of action.
a chance to get back in it
While MSU's next two weekends are daunting - the Spartans tangle with second-place Miami and a surging Michigan - the schedule then sees four straight weekends against teams that the Spartans will be battling with head-to-head to earn home ice in the first round of the conference playoffs. This stretch, featuring a set at Lake Superior, home-and-home series with Ferris State and Bowling Green in addition to a home series against Ohio State, will go a long way in determining MSU's postseason fate.
losing ledgers
MSU had a winless November (0-7-2), its first losing month in more than a year. The last sub-.500 month for Michigan State was in Feb. 2007, going 3-4-2. Incidently, the Spartans were also sub-.500 in November that season as well.
gaining ground
Rick Comley owns a 745-573-97 (.560) career overall coaching record, and just moved ahead of Bob Peters (744) for fourth place on the all-time wins list. Peters coached from 1964-2001 at North Dakota and Bemidji State.
Former MSU coach and athletic director Ron Mason finished his career behind the bench in 2002 with 924 wins, while Jerry York of Boston College has 812 and Jack Parker of Boston University has 795.
traveling road show
Michigan State is in a rather daunting stretch of the schedule - between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, the Spartans will play 21 games - and the Alaska series was the final of five of them which will be played at home. MSU's next home game is Feb. 6 against Ferris State.
around the league
There are five CCHA series on tap this weekend, with only Northern Michigan idle. Alabama-Huntsville plays at Western Michigan in the only non-conference action of the weekend.
As for conference series, Nebraska-Omaha is at Alaska, Ohio State is at Ferris State, and Notre Dame is at Lake Superior State. Bowling Green and Michigan engage in a home-and-home set, with the Falcons traveling to Yost on Friday to start the series.
roster shuffles
Head coach Rick Comley has announced two roster changes at the end of the first semester: freshman forward Mike Merrifield will return to junior hockey to play the remainder of the season, while defenseman Ryan Turek has been dismissed from the squad for failure to meet team expectations.
Merrifield will return to junior hockey for the spring semester, and will play for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. His coach in Green Bay is John Cooper, who coached Merrifield last season in the North American Hockey League with the St. Louis Bandits. Merrifield will return to the Spartans in the fall of 2009 as a sophomore.
ccha outlook
The Spartans, who finished third in the 2007-08 season, are projected fifth in the CCHA's preseason coaches poll (96 points), while the media surveyed had MSU third, with two first-place votes and 776 points. The groups were split on their decisions - the coaches selected Notre Dame (128 pts., eight first-place votes) as the favorite, followed by Michigan (122 points, three first-place votes), Miami (108 points, one first-place vote), Northern Michigan (102 points), and the Spartans. From the media poll, the Wolverines were selected as the front-runner (945 points, 43 first-place votes), then Notre Dame (915 points, 35 first-place votes) and the Spartans. In the media poll, Miami was fourth (746 points, two first place votes) and Northern Michigan fifth (700 points, one first-place vote). Ferris State was the consensus sixth-place finisher.
compete with the east
The Spartans opened the 2008-09 season with four straight games against Hockey East competition: the Spartans went 1-1 at the season-opening Icebreaker Tournament, as MSU defeated Massachusetts, 3-1, in the season-opening game, then fell to host Boston University, 2-1, in the championship tilt. In the season's second weekend, the Spartans split a home series against UMass-Lowell.
law of averages
MSU's roster averages: 6-0, 175 lbs., and the average age is 20 years, six months. Among CCHA schools, MSU is one of seven that averages 6-0, the Spartans are the lightest team on average, and are tied with Notre Dame as the second-youngest. (Michigan's roster averages 20 years, five months.)
if it was baseball, we'd win the cy young
MSU has won 20+ games in 16 consecutive seasons, and has won at least 25 in three straight.
national prominence
The Spartans made their 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008 - their third straight selection to the field - and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals for the third straight season. Just three programs have been in an NCAA regional final in each of the last three seasons - Michigan State, North Dakota, and Boston College.
quite the cluster
Michigan State and Michigan are paired with Miami and Ohio State in the 2008-09 season as clustermates; the schools will all play four times, and face off with the remaining eight schools in the conference twice.
Michigan, Miami, and Michigan State were the top three teams in the CCHA a year ago, and combined for a 91-26-10 record overall; MSU and Miami reached NCAA regional finals, and Michigan advanced to the Frozen Four. Both MSU and Michigan were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament by Notre Dame.
strong second halves
During the Rick Comley era, the Spartans have traditionally been a second-half team. The first three months (October, November, December) of his first six seasons (2002-07), the Spartans have been a combined 60-48-10 (55%), then compiled a 82-40-13 mark in the second half (66.3%). The 2007-08 Spartans had their best first-half record under Comley (12-5-2, 68.4%), and were 13-7-3 in the 2008 portion of the schedule (63%). This year, MSU finished the first half 5-12-3 (.325), and are gunning for marked improvement as the calendar turns to 2009.
strong starts
MSU scored the first goal of the game in 19 of its final 28 games a year ago and in 25 games overall. The Spartans owned a 22-1-2 record when scoring the game's opening tally, and were 3-11-3 when letting their opponent get on the board first. MSU's only loss when netting the first goal of the game came against Providence in the GLI (Dec. 29).
MSU is 4-5-1 this season when netting the game's first goal, and 1-7-2 when allowing its opponent the first strike. MSU had scored first in five straight games, until the Alaska series, and Matt Schepke has three of those "first" tallies.
you miss 100% of the shots you don't take
Michigan State has been outshot in 15 of its 22 games this season, with its largest shot disparity coming in the Dec. 28 game against Michigan in the GLI final. The Wolverines held a 18-15 shot advantage after one period, but went on to outshoot the Spartans, 54-20, in the game. Jeff Lerg made 49 saves, one off his season-best of 50 set against Wisconsin on Nov. 28.
The Spartans are averaging 24.5 shots per game this season, which ranks 53rd of 58 teams nationally.
specialties
Michigan State's penalty kill is 20th in the latest NCAA statistics, extinguishing 96 of 111 chances against on the season (.865). The Spartans have been perfect on the penalty kill in 11 of 22 games this season.
seeing the spectrum
MSU now ranks 35th nationally in team defense, averaging 2.91 goals against per game; six weeks (and 45 goals) ago, the Spartans were seventh in the country in team defense.
MSU's offensive average of 1.59 goals per game (35 goals in 22 contests) ranks 12th in the CCHA and 57th nationally.
playing with fire
MSU allowed (and killed off) a season-high nine power play chances against on Nov. 29 against Wisconsin, bettering its previous single-game high of eight allowed against Miami on Nov. 15. The Spartans allowed nine chances to Michgian on Dec. 28, but allowed two goals to the Wolverines.
pk success is continued success
The Spartans have allowed just 15 power-play strikes in 22 games, and has allowed more than one in a game just five times in 46 games dating back to last season.
Michigan State allowed just seven power play goals in its final 24 games a year ago, and earlier in the season had a streak of 32 consecutive kills over eight games. The kill was 9-for-9 in its two NCAA Tournament games. In those 24 games, the Spartans killed 102 of 109 chances against (93.6%). The penalty kill finished at 87.3 percent for the season (165/189) and ranked seventh nationally. The MSU power play ranked 10th nationally (48/230, 20.9 percent).
Dating back to last Feb. 29 (27 games), MSU has killed off 128 of 144 power-play chances against (.888).
finally!
Matt Schepke's Dec. 5 shorthanded goal was the first of the season for the team. MSU has surrendered three in its first 22 games - one shy of last year's total of four.
assert yourself
Only nine times last season was MSU assessed more penalty minutes in a game than its opponent (and was 7-2-0 in those games).
Just three times in its last 16 games has MSU been whistled for more penalties, and three times the teams have been called for the same number of infractions.
block party
On the season, MSU has blocked 443 shots, compared to 266 for its opponents. Leading the way in this category for MSU is defensemen Brandon Gentile (40) and Tim Buttery (39), while Brock Shelgren has 28 and and Jeff Petry 26. Among forwards, Kurt Kivisto leads the way with 30.
in-season honors
Jeff Lerg and Jeff Petry were named to the Icebreaker All-Tournament Team. They were joined by Darcy Zajac of North Dakota, Alex Berry of Massachusetts, and Nick Bonino and Kevin Shattenkirk of Boston University. BU's Colin Wilson was named Tournament MVP.
Matt Schepke was the lone Spartan named to the Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament team on Dec. 29. Schepke had three goals in two games.
didn't take long
The CCHA has introduced the shootout for the 2008-09 season, and Michigan State jumped right into action, skating to a 2-2 tie with Northern Michigan in its first conference game of the season. MSU is one of two teams to have a pair of shootouts already (Western Michigan), and is the only team to have won more than one. MSU has won each of its two shootouts by a 2-1 margin.
Kurt Kivisto and Matt Schepke have each scored two shootout goals for Michigan State, and Jeff Lerg and Drew Palmisano each have a shootout victory on their resume this season.
honor among peers
The CCHA's captain's poll results were released on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Jeff Lerg led all players in the conference with four individual honors, including "Most Respected Player", "Best Difference-Maker", and both goaltending honors, "Best Glove Hand" and "Best Shootout Goalie".
Tim Crowder was the CCHA captain's selection as the "Most Accurate Shot". Crowder was the second runner-up for Most Dangerous in the Slot" to Justin Mercier (Miami) and Ryan Thang (Notre Dame).
Sophomore defenseman Jeff Petry was a runner-up in three categories: first runner up in both "Hardest Slapshot" (Ian Cole of Notre Dame) and "Best 1-on-1 Defenseman" (Teddy Ruth, Notre Dame) and was tied as the second runner-up (with Erik Gustaffson of NMU) as the "Best Power-Play Pointman" behind Eddie DelGrosso of UNO and Chad Langlais of Michigan.
He's No. 1 ... and No. 4
Jeff Lerg became Michigan State's all-time saves leader at MSU on Oct. 31. Lerg broke Dave Versical's career record of 3,108 set from 1975-78. Versical and Lerg are the only goaltenders to ever serve as captains of the Spartans.
In the CCHA, Lerg ranks fourth all-time in career saves. Robbie Moore (Michigan) owns the all-time mark of 4,434, followed by Western Michigan's Glen Healy (3,932), and Bowling Green's Gary Kruzich (3,580). At his current pace of 31.3 saves per game, Lerg could surpass Kruzich this weekend, as he currently has 3,520, 60 behind the former Falcon netminder.
picking up where he left off
Jeff Lerg earned CCHA Goaltender of the Week honors twice in the first four weeks that the conference awarded weekly honors this season.
His first weekly honor came on Oct. 13. He posted a .955 save percentage and 1.50 GAA in the weekend tournament; Lerg's 63 saves (on 66 shots) was the second-most of any goaltender on opening weekend (Juliano Pagliero of Niagara had 68).
He won the award again on Oct. 27, stopping 52 of 54 shots in a four-point weekend against Northern Michigan. He had 24 saves in a 2-2 tie on Friday, but won the subsequent shootout with two saves. On Saturday, he recorded his 11th career shutout (2-0) over the Wildcats.
tight squeezes
On Oct. 25, Jeff Lerg recorded his 11th career shutout. He remains in fourth place in MSU's record book behind Ryan Miller (26), Dominic Vicari (16) and Chad Alban (12).
In his career (132 GP), Lerg has 11 shutouts, and 32 games in which he has allowed a single goal. He has allowed just two goals on another 34 occasions - a grand total of 77 of 132 games that he has allowed two goals or fewer.
death, taxes, and Jeff Lerg
Jeff Lerg is consistently a workhorse for the Spartans, and has been for his two previous seasons as the full-time starter. Despite playing in only 18 of MSU's 22 games this season, he still ranks 16th nationally in minutes played (1072:43).
He ranked fourth in the nation in minutes played a year ago (2464:14), and ranked sixth in percentage of team minutes played, (96.3 percent).
In 2006-07, Lerg logged 96.9% of available minutes for MSU (2465:06), which ranked second only to Boston College's Cory Schneider.
a lot of actual miles
Jeff Lerg became MSU's all-time goaltending leader in games played in the Spartans' last series against Alaska. He passed Chad Alban, who played in 131 games (1994-98)
Lergcollected his 72nd career victory on Jan. 3 vs. Alaska, and he is just one behind Ryan Miller in fourth place in the all-time victories list. Chad Alban (88) is the career leader.
another top-five ranking
Jeff Lerg made a season-high 50 saves for Michigan State in a Nov. 28 loss (3-1) at Wisconsin.
The 50 saves ties the single-game high in Division I hockey this season: Andrew Loewen of Canisius did it first on Oct. 10 vs. Ferris State, and Jerry Kuhn of Western Michigan duplicated the feat on Oct. 18 vs. Minnesota-Duluth.
Lerg owns two of the top five single-game save performances this season: the 50 against Wisconsin and the 49 he made against Michigan on Dec. 28. Earlier this season, Lerg made 46 saves in a loss at Ohio State (Nov. 7) as well.
shooting gallery
Jeff Lerg currently ranks sixth in the country in saves (564), an average of 31.3 shots faced per game (fourth nationally).
Last year, he ranked second among all Division I goaltenders in saves (1,136) and faced an average of 27.7 shots per game, the second-most of any CCHA netminder and 13th nationally. Last year, only three goalies ranked in the top 15 in saves per game played for teams that are better than .500: Lerg, Alex Kangas of Minnesota, and Kevin Regan of New Hampshire.
shooting gallery, part deux
Michigan State allowed 18 first-period shots to Wisconsin on Nov. 28 and again to Michigan on Dec. 28, the most surrendered in the opening frame this season.
Jeff Lerg's 18 first-period saves against Wisconsin tied his career record for saves in a period, tied last on Feb. 10, 2007, against Michigan. In that game, Lerg made his career-best 54 saves.
a peek beyond the present
Michgian State is quite confident about its goaltending, with perhaps the best netminder in the nation (Jeff Lerg) and the top first-year baskstop in Drew Palmisano, according to InsideCollegeHockey's preseason rankings.
Drew Palmisano won his first collegiate start on Oct. 17, a 2-1 victory over UMass-Lowell. Palmisano, who had 21 saves, is the 14th netminder (of 20) since 1980 to win his first start at Michigan State. All three of MSU's current goaltenders have won their debut: Jeff Lerg had 22 saves against Cornell (a 4-3 victory) in October of 2005, Bobby Jarosz had 24 saves in a 5-2 win over Mercyhurst a year ago.
Palmisano has made four starts, the most recent on Nov. 29 at Minnesota. He owns a 2.56 GAA and .911 save percentage with a 1-1-2 overall record. He owns one shootout victory, over Western Michigan on Nov. 1.
in the annals
Jeff Lerg has moved into top-10 positions in several netminding categories at MSU:
Career records:• Wins: 72, fifth (record: 88)• Games Played: 132, first (Previous record: 131)• Consecutive Games Played: 61, first• GAA: 2.30, third (record: 1.54)• Saves: 3,520, first• Save Percentage: .921 second (record: .941)• Shutouts: 11, fourth (record: 26)
Single-Season records:• Wins: 26, (2006-07), fifth; (2007-08), eighth• Games: 42, (2006-07), 41, (2007-08), third• GAA: 1.96, (2005-06), seventh; 2.22, (2007-08), ninth• Saves: 1,136 (2007-08), third; 1,042 (2006-07), fifth• Save Pct. .928 (2006-06), fourth; .926 (2007-08), sixth
*complete goaltending records can be found on pgs. 110-111 of the Michigan State media guide
a hot hand
Matt Schepke had a pair of goals in MSU's Dec. 27 victory over North Dakota, his first multiple-goal game since Nov. 24, 2007 against Wisconsin. It was his third career two-goal game.
He recently had a four-game goal scoring streak and leads the Spartans with 10 scores. He was MSU's lone representative on the Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team.
m.a.s.h. unit
Several Spartan veterans have missed time with injuries this fall. Senior Nick Sucharski, who suffered two shoulder injuries this fall, will be taking a medical redshirt this season and will return as a senior next fall to complete his eligibility. Sophomore blueliner AJ Sturges is also out for the season.
Freshman Andrew Conboy has missed five games with injury, including the series against UNO and Michigan. Conboy returned to the lineup for the Great Lakes Invitational.
Corey Tropp missed five games with illness, but returned in the Ohio State series. Andrew Rowe missed three games with injury in October. This weekend, the Spartans will be without the services of freshman blueliner Matt Crandell.
rookie kudos
Daultan Leveille was named the CCHA Rookie of the Month for October, as released by the league office on Nov. 5.
Leveille led the Spartans over the course of the month with a 3-2-5 scoring line. He had his first career two-goal game on Oct. 31; two of his three goals on the season have been game-winners, tying him for second in the CCHA in that category.
Leveille's two goals against Minnesota (Nov. 29) were his first scores since a two-goal outing against Western Michigan on Halloween.
worth the wait
Kurt Kivisto's first-period goal against UNO on Nov. 22 was his first of the season and second of his career; he scored the first on Oct. 28, 2006 vs. Sacred Heart at Munn Arena.
Classmate Dan Sturges' first-period goal against Minnesota on Nov. 29 was his first since Dec.29, 2006 against Harvard at the Great Lakes Invitational.
Joey Shean recorded his first collegiate point on Matt Schepke's first period power-play marker against North Dakota on Dec. 27.
milestones reached
Alternate captain Brandon Gentile reached the 100-career games mark on Oct. 16 vs UMass-Lowell.
Dustin Gazley's two assists on Oct. 24 against Northern Michigan tied his single-game career high, set in Nov. 2007 against Wisconsin in the College Hockey Showcase. His two goals against Michigan on Dec. 6 also tied a career single-game best, first set against Colgate in his second collegiate game.
Jeff Lerg surpassed Dave Versical's school record in career saves on Oct. 31.
Tim Crowder recorded his 100th career point, an assist on a Matt Schepke power-play goal on Nov. 22.
multiplicity
Sophomore Andrew Rowe had his first career two-goal game on Oct. 24, and has four goals through the first 18 games of the year. Rowe had three goals in all of his freshman year. Daultan Leveille has had a pair of two-goal games through the first two months of the season.
Matt Schepke is the latest with a two-goal effort, scoring twice against North Dakota on Dec. 27.
the young ones
Inside College Hockey has ranked MSU's freshman class fifth nationally, behind Boston College, Minnesota, Boston University, and North Dakota. Daultan Leveille was ranked sixth among incoming freshmen forwards, and Drew Palmisano was the top-ranked freshman goalie recruit.
graduation comes early
Senior Kurt Kivisto has completed his requirements for his bachelor's degree in civil engineering and graduated in December. He begins graduate work this spring.
academic kudos
MSU's hockey program recorded a 3.05 cumulative grade-point average in the fall semester, an all-time best. Seventeen players recorded a semester GPA of 3.0 or better, highlighted by a perfect 4.0 semester for first-year blueliner Brock Shelgren.
more kudos for Lerg
Jeff Lerg is among twenty collegiate hockey players who have combined excellence in athletics, academics and community service were announced on Dec. 30 as candidates for the men's hockey division of the 2008-09 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The winner will be announced at the Frozen Four on April 10.
The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports based on achievements in the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.
The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who fulfill their entire athletic eligibility and pursue the many rewards of a senior season and complete college education.
feeling a draft
Three of Michigan State's freshmen were selected in the last two NHL entry drafts. Forward Daultan Leveille was the only Spartan taken in 2008, but did not wait long to hear his name called as he was selected by Atlanta in the first round, the 29th pick overall. Both Trevor Nill and Andrew Conboy were selected in the 2007 NHL draft - Conboy went to Montreal in the fifth round (pick 142), while Nill was the seventh-round selection (190th overall) of the St. Louis Blues. Overall, the Spartans have six players who have been drafted by NHL teams. The upperclassmen are Tim Crowder (Pittsburgh, 2005, 5/126), Nick Sucharski (Columbus, 2006, 5/136), and Corey Tropp (Buffalo, 2007, 3/89).
powerful influences
Former Michigan State hockey standouts Ryan Miller and Tom Anastos were recognized on the Hockey News' annual list of the 100 People of Power and Influence. Miller, a goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres, was listed at No. 25 while Anastos, the current commissioner of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, was slotted at No. 86.
eleven in the show ...
Eleven former Spartans are currently on NHL rosters, the second-most in the CCHA behind Michigan. In the most recent transactions, Drew Miller was called up by Anaheim on Jan. 3, and Andrew Hutchinson was traded earlier this season from to Dallas from Tampa. The others are: Jim Slater (Atlanta), Ryan Miller (Buffalo), Rod Brind'Amour (Carolina), Duncan Keith (Chicago); John-Michael Liles (Colorado); Shawn Horcoff (Edmonton); David Booth (Florida); Mike Weaver (St. Louis); and Adam Hall (Tampa).
... and eleven more in the A
Eleven Spartans are currently on American Hockey League rosters. Jim McKenzie (Binghamton Senators), Justin Abdelkader (Grand Rapids Griffins), Jared Nightingale, Corey Potter and Ethan Graham (Hartford Wolfpack), Chris Mueller (Lake Erie Monsters), Michael Ratchuk (Philadelphia Phantoms), Colton Fretter and Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates), Bryan Lerg (Springfield Falcons) and Mike York (Syracuse Crunch).
pro notables
• Drew Miller has appeared in four of five games since joining Anaheim on Jan. 3. At the time of his callup, he led the Iowa Chops in scoring with 14 goals and 11 assists and was named to the AHL All-Star Game.
• Tim Kennedy (Portland Pirates) ranks seventh in the American Hockey League (AHL) in rookie scoring with 28 points, and leads all first-year players in assists with 23. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres on Dec. 27 against the New York Islanders. He has been selected to the AHL All-Star game on Jan. 26.
• Justin Abdelkader ranks ninth in AHL rookie scoring with 12-13-25 in 27 games for Grand Rapids.
• David Booth's 18 goals and 28 points lead the Florida Panthers.
• John-Michael Liles is the top scoring defenseman (5-15-20) for the Colorado Avalanche.
next up
MSU has a Joe-and-road series with Michigan next weekend. The teams will face off in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, then will tangle on Saturday at Yost to close out the regular-season meetings between the teams.
