Neil's Notebook: Spartans Close GLI on Sour Note
12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
DETROIT -- Jake Hildebrand deserved a better fate in his last two games in the Great Lakes Invitational.
In Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Michigan Tech in the tournament opener, the Michigan State senior goaltender played well enough for a Spartans' victory.
In Wednesday's 2-1 overtime loss to Northern Michigan in the GLI third-place game, Hildebrand again played well enough for his team to win.
There weren't a lot of positive takeaways for MSU in the 51st GLI at Joe Louis Arena. Among the few, there was one in particular that the Spartans have to feel good about:
Jake Hildebrand's game is back at a high level, and that's good news as Michigan State heads into the second half of the season and the meat of the Big Ten schedule.
Hildebrand was less than five minutes away from his third shutout of the season on Wednesday, with MSU holding a 1-0 lead for 54 minutes and 39 seconds. But with 4:15 left in the third period, NMU clicked on a savvy passing play to score a power-play goal and tie the game, 1-1.
And the way things have been going for the Spartans lately, it was no surprise that the Wildcats capitalized on a broken play and bouncing puck after a faceoff in the MSU zone to score the winning goal with 1:22 left in overtime.
Hildebrand wasn't necessarily busy in a 19-save performance, but he was sharp and played with confidence and poise.
On Tuesday, Hildebrand had more challenging shots and he was spectacular on occasion against Michigan Tech.
The Spartans built a 2-0 lead in the first two periods, but couldn't hold it in the third period, as the Huskies scored at 8:44 and with 1:26 left to tie it, and won it with a perfect shot with 1:02 to go in overtime. Hildebrand made 34 saves.
In two games, Hildebrand gave up five games but none were his fault, a far cry from when his game took an untypical dip during a stretch from mid-November to early December.
"Hildy played really well in this tournament,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "He tracked the puck well and made some huge saves. Last night, he made some really big saves and today he was there when we needed him.
"For this team, it might be a matter of finding a piece of our game one at a time and trying to advance it. We're solid in goal and we got better defensively as the week went on. So, that's a positive.''
Last season, Hildebrand was a first-team NCAA West All-American and the Big Ten's Player of the Year and Goaltender of the Year. He had a 2.18 goals-against average and a .930 saves percentage.
This season, with his team struggling on defense, holding leads and winning games, his numbers are down -- 3.00 GAA and .903 saves percentage.
Hildebrand admits he wasn't as his best in an overtime loss and tie against Michigan Tech at Munn Arena in November. And his game wasn't at a high level the next weekend in two losses to North Dakota.
In a 4-2 loss at Penn State on Dec. 4, the Spartans and Hildebrand were overwhelmed by the Nittany Lions, who scored four goals in the second period, three in less than four minutes. Hildebrand was pulled after the middle period and replaced by backup Ed Minney.
Minney played well and got the start in the second game of the series. But he gave up two soft goals in the first 3:50 of the game and another late in the period.
Anastos replaced Minney with Hildebrand, who saw a lot of shots -- 15 in the second period and 21 in the third -- and even though he gave up three goals, he played well and seemed to get some swagger and confidence back.
His rebound continued in a series split with Wisconsin, and in his last three games -- a 2-1 loss at Northeastern the two more one-goal defeats in the GLI, Hildebrand has been the Spartans' best player.
And of course, he has to continue to play at a high level if the Spartans are going to turn things around in the 2016 portion of the schedule.
CHALLENGE AHEAD: The Spartans, who've lost four straight and are 1-10-1 in their last 11, are down, but not necessarily out.
Coach Tom Anastos believes his team will continue to battle and work hard to turn things around and put a shocking 1-6 mark in December behind them.
"Losing leads and losing in overtime like we did, it's going to be a character check for us,'' he said. "With all our guys in the locker room, if there's any group that's going to keep digging and grinding, it's this group.
"We have to make key plays at key times. I'm confident this group will keep working at that. We have competitive guys in there that want to win badly. We're not making our own luck right now so it's frustrating for sure. We'll all lift each other up, deal with it together and keep grinding.''
The Spartans (5-13-2 overall, 1-3-0 Big Ten) are idle until a week from Friday, but they'll be practicing and working on different aspects of their game. They play No. 10 Michigan (11-3-3, 2-1-1-1) in a home-and-home series -- Jan. 8 at Munn Arena and Jan. 9 at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines captured the GLI title on Wednesday, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Michigan Tech, 4-2. They edged Northern Michigan 3-2 in a semifinal on Tuesday.
After the U-M series, MSU faces another difficult test with two games at Minnesota, Jan. 15-16.
"There won't be any quit in our team. I'm confident in that,'' the Spartans coach said. "That's not an issue.''
Joe Cox, a junior right wing who scored MSU's only goal Wednesday, at 1:06 of the first period, believes the team's leaders will keep morale up and the Spartans motivated.
"We have to stay positive and keep the guys going,'' he said. "Maybe some younger guys will say `the puck isn't going our way and we're never going to ...' As leaders, we have to help them along and tell them that it's going to turn and to keep pushing.''
Cox said a focus will be on finishing out games.
"It's more of a heart thing. We have to dig down,'' he said. "Everyone is tired, the other team is tired and we're tired, so we have to dig down and get those clears. We didn't do that in both games (of the GLI) and the puck went into the net.''
NO FINISHING TOUCH: MSU was much better defensively on Wednesday than it was on Tuesday against Michigan Tech. But it was the offense not capitalizing on quality scoring chances that kept Northern Michigan within striking distance and hurt the Spartans in the end.
Villiam Haag, Mike Ferrantino and Mackenzie MacEachern had excellent chances to make it 2-0 in the third period and take some pressure off in the final minutes.
"We had our chances to finish. We had a 2-on-1, a nice faceoff play with a scoring opportunity and those add up,'' Anastos said. "We played hard and we played well defensively and that's an important part of our game to pull together.
"We did a good job with that, but obviously we have to finish. We did a good job often times with possession down low but we have to figure out a way to convert. You're not going to win many games scoring one goal.''
Defensemen Travis Walsh and Carson Gatt and center Thomas Ebbing each blocked four shots, while defenseman John Draeger and left wing Ryan Keller each blocked three.
Northern Michigan blocked 18 shots.
PENALTIES HURT: Michigan State's penalty killing was another bright spot from a disappointing GLI, but four penalties and three NMU power plays didn't help the Spartans in trying preserve a one-goal lead in the third period.
MSU found itself shorthanded when Mackenzie MacEachern was penalized for roughing 26 seconds into the period. NMU got one shot on goal but didn't score.
Before MacEachern's penalty expired, standout penalty killer Joe Cox of the Spartans and the Huskies' Darren Nowick were sent off for roughing at 1:26.
Less than three minutes later, MSU freshman defenseman Zach Osburn was called for slashing at 4:11. One again, NMU got only one shot on goal and MSU maintained its lead.
Given one more opportunity, the Wildcats were more precise with their set-up and turned the game around with the tying goal. With MSU freshman forward Brennan Sanford in the penalty box for boarding, called at 14:30, NMU junior right wing Dominik Shine finished off a crisp passing play and by beating goalie Jake Hildebrand from close in to tie the game 1-1.
Northern Michigan was 1-for-5 on the power play.
"There were too many of them,'' Anastos said. "I didn't see the Sanford penalty -- I was in a blind spot on the bench. We knew they made an adjustment to get down low and they made a good play in front of the net to beat us. When you're killing penalties, if you get beat you want it to be a good play and that's what happened.
"You can't keep going to the well because when that happens, the same guys are playing and that's wearing guys down. And more than anything, you're taking momentum away from your side and giving them an opportunity. Those are things that can't continue to happen if we want our fortunes to change.''
MSU had three power-play opportunities -- all in the second period -- and failed to convert, putting two shots on goal.
OVERTIME, BAH HUMBUG: Michigan State is now 0-3-2 in overtime this season, with all three losses coming against Upper Peninsula teams. The Spartans have suffered two OT defeats at the hands of Michigan Tech and one vs. Northern Michigan. There's also been an overtime tie with the Huskies and one against Maine in the season opener in Portland, Maine.
The OT goals in MSU's three losses have come with 41 seconds left, 1:02 to go and with 1:22 on the clock.
NMU's OT winner was unlike the OT goal scored by Michigan Tech on Tuesday. Tech's Brent Baltus won it with a great shot to the top right corner.
The Wildcats' winner came off a broken play and some bounces in the MSU zone, seconds after a faceoff in the right circle.
Mike Ferrantino went up against NMU's Zach Diamantoni on the faceoff and pulled the puck back but it hit his right skate and slid a few feet behind him. Diamantoni reached forward with his stick and tapped the puck back through the circle and toward the blue line in the middle of the ice.
MSU's Ryan Keller chased after the puck but NMU defenseman Ryan Trenz rushed in and tapped it forward, where it appeared to glance off the stick and the right skate of Keller, before hitting the left skate of the Wildcats' Diamantoni at the top of the right circle.
The puck caromed to the left, under the stick of Ferrantino and into the slot and across toward the left circle. Robbie Payne, with his left foot in the left circle and right foot just outside and MSU defenseman Connor Gatt in front of him, saw it coming and reached out and fired the puck toward the net and it hit the left corner for the game-winner.
Hildebrand appeared screened on the play by NMU John Siemer.
In some ways, the goal epitomized the Spartans' first half of the season. Within inches away from clearing the zone, the puck bounces the wrong way and ends up in the net.
"We're finding ways to lose games and that's not a good characteristic,'' Anastos said. "We have to find a way to change that. With puck bounces, you make your own breaks.
"We got trapped (in our own zone) with multiple faceoffs. The irony is we knew coming in that they have a very good faceoff team. They're as good as we've played all season.''
APPLETON PLAYS: Freshman right wing Mason Appleton suffered a lower body injury that impacted his skating in the second period of Tuesday's game with Michigan Tech. He sat out the third period and was a game-time decision on Wednesday.
He skated in warm-ups and felt he could play and did.
"I thought he had a good game, especially since minutes before the game, we weren't positive he could play,'' Anastos said.
"He played strong, played smart, the puck was on his stick and he made good decisions. He played with toughness.''
GLI POTPOURRI: Next season's fourth team in the 52nd Great Lake Invitational will be Western Michigan. The Broncos will be matched up against the Spartans and last at Joe Louis Arena. Michigan Tech will play Michigan ... Bowling Green is the fourth team in 2017, the first in the new state-of-the-art downtown home of the Red Wings. Lake Superior State shows up in 2018 ... The 2015 GLI All-Tournament team included Michigan goalie Steve Racine, defensemen Sam Piazza from Michigan and Mark Auk of Michigan Tech, forwards Kyle Connor of Michigan, Dominik Shine of NMU and Brent Baltus of Michigan Tech. Connor was selected as the most valuable player of the tournament.
