Neil's Notebook: Spartans Skate Past Wisconsin
2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
MADISON, Wis. - There's nothing better than a series sweep in college hockey. And nothing worse than getting swept.
A series split?
It depends on the opponent and time of the season. Some splits are rewarding and help build confidence and hope. Others are frustrating and raise concerns, especially at home and against teams you expect to beat.
Michigan State's Big Ten series split at last-place Wisconsin was one that left a bad taste for the Spartans because of Friday's 2-1 loss, but Saturday's 3-0 victory at the Kohl Center was still one to savor in a quiet way.
MSU returned to the way it's been playing during its recent surge and it avoided the gloom and doom of getting swept by a Badgers team that started the weekend with three victories all season.
And it kept the Spartans (13-13-2 overall, 7-5-2-2 Big Ten) in the conference race for one of the top two spots, with six games remaining.
MSU got back on track on Saturday with every facet of its games improved from Friday's flat, uninspired and forgettable one-goal loss to the struggling Badgers (4-20-4, 2-10-2-2).
"We played as a team tonight. Last night, we kind of played as individuals, just all around the ice,'' said sophomore center Thomas Ebbing, who scored MSU's third goal early in the third period and delivered a strong all-round game.
"We weren't about to go home without winning this game. We dug down, we rebounded and it feels great to win a road game like this, especially in an environment like this. Wisconsin has a great student section and the crowd (announced as 12,715) was good tonight. But we shut down the crowd early with those two goals.''
The Spartans, who fell behind 2-0 on Friday, turned the tables on the Badgers Saturday by scoring twice in less than five minutes in the first period. Junior forward Ryan Keller got both goals for his fifth and sixth of the season at 12:02 and 16:43, setting the tone for a strong MSU rebound.
"We played our game tonight, right from the start to the finish,'' MSU coach Tom Anastos said. "It was a huge rebound from where we were last night, and it's an important three points - it allows us to get back in the (Big Ten) race.
"We haven't made it easy for ourselves but that's how it's been. I do like the resiliency of our team. To our credit, we had a good response.''
MSU and Penn State are now tied for second place with 25 points, as first-place Minnesota and the Nittany Lions split their series. The Spartans and PSU are two points out of first place and one point ahead of fourth-place Michigan, which plays Ohio State at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
"Tonight, we won the key moments. We scored key goals, Jake Hildebrand made key saves and we killed penalties very well,'' Anastos said.
On Friday, the Spartans not only didn't execute in key moments, they didn't have the mental edge to be able to perform at a high level and together as a team. That changed drastically in Saturday's crucial series rematch.
"We just weren't our team on Friday. And I don't want to take anything away from Wisconsin, but we didn't do the things we need to do to be a good team,'' Anastos said. "So, after the game, I talked about it to our team and today I talked about it at great length.
"We talked in team meetings. I told the guys to watch video of themselves and learn from it and embrace who we are. We didn't play with the energy that we need to have success and the question becomes `why'?
"Are you not taking your opponent seriously? And who are we not to take opponents seriously. We spent a lot of time talking about the mental approach to the game.''
Apparently, the Spartans listened this time and came out prepared, showed some energy early and pretty much said to the Badgers, "this is going to be different.''
The Spartans outshot the Badgers 13-4 in the opening period and struck for two goals by Keller, his first two-goal game of his career and fourth goal in his last eight games.
On Keller's first goal, he took a pass from linemate Mike Ferrantino near the right circle and fired it past Wisconsin goaltender Joel Rumpel, who had just made a big save on Spartan defenseman Travis Walsh.
Keller's second goal was more of the highlight-reel variety. Brent Darnell got the puck in the left corner from Ferrantino and found Keller open at the top of the crease with a nifty pass. Keller got the puck and made a nice spin move and went to his backhand to slide the puck between Rumpel's pads for a 2-0 lead.
For sure, Keller was thrilled about his offensive contributions but equally happy to help ignite the rebound and salvage at least three points from the weekend.
"It feels really good to get it on the road and rebound after a tough one on Friday,'' said Keller, who set up Joe Cox for MSU's only goal on Friday and who had a goal in each game in a sweep of Ohio State Jan. 23-24.
"We talked about it all day that we needed to rebound and how we had to do the simple things. We turned it around. We never let up, never gave them a chance.''
The Badgers, trailing 2-0, had two power plays in the second period and two in the third, but they were behind 3-0 at that point.
"Our penalty killing was great, Hildy was very good, we made plays and executed really well,'' Keller said.
After skating off a penalty in the first minute of the third period, the Spartans got some breathing room, extending their lead to three goals when Ebbing converted Cox's pass into the slot at 4:57.
David Bondra, a sophomore left wing, earned an assist on the goal for his first point of the season in only his fifth game.
"Bondra came in strong, forced a turnover and Cox feed me backdoor,'' Ebbing said. "It was pretty much just a tap-in.''
To their credit, the Badgers kept coming, trying to at least avoid the shutout and got pucks into the crease. But Hildebrand kept everything out. Wisconsin had 17 shots on goal in the final period after Hildebrand faced only 14 shots over the first 40 minutes.
"Hildy made some tough saves look easy and we kind of rallied around that, and our penalty killing was strong and we built around that,'' Ebbing said. "We capitalized on our chances, and obviously Keller had a great game.''
EBBING THRIVES: Unlike Friday, MSU coach Tom Anastos liked the play of a lot of Spartans on Saturday - Keller, Ferrantino, Darnell, Hildebrand and Mackenzie MacEachern - but he was particularly impressed with Ebbing.
"I thought Ebbing was our best player,'' he said. "He killed penalties, made plays, was strong on the puck, smart with the puck and was one of our best faceoff guys.
"Keller had a great night. We had a good balance of performances across the roster. (On defense), John Draeger had a good game and Ron Boyd recovered well from Friday. Josh Jacobs was strong and Travis Walsh recovered well from a tough game Friday.''
LINE CHANGES PAY OFF: Anastos said MSU's first goal came after he adjusted a line combination because the Spartans had just skated off a penalty.
So, when Mike Ferrantino and Ryan Keller took the ice, Anastos sent out Brent Darnell to play right wing.
"I had to put together a new line for a shift because Cox was tired after the penalty kill, so I put Darnell out because his center, Ebbing, was also tired from his shifts,'' Anastos said. "So Ebbing scores with Ferrantino and Darnell on our first goal.''
Anastos decided to keep them together and move Cox into Darnell's spot with Ebbing and David Bondra.
Keller scored another goal, with Darnell and Ferrantino assisting, and then Ebbing added the third goal, set up by Cox and Bondra.
"Sometimes, you do things and it's just dumb luck and it all plays off,'' Anastos said. "I was thinking about (legendary NHL coach) Scotty Bowman and how he used to change lines minutes into a game, and how things seemed to work out.''
HILDEBRAND STANDS TALL: Junior goaltender Jake Hildebrand is about 5-foot-11 but he's playing like he's 6-foot-3. He's handling long shots, close-in shots and he's been very good at gobbling up loose pucks just outside the crease, inside the crease and even pucks close to the goal line, with forwards of all sizes trying to jam him and the puck into the net.
But they're not having much luck.
On Saturday, Hildebrand was unbeatable, stopping 31 shots, including 17 in the final period, in the 3-0 victory over Wisconsin. The shutout was his fourth of the season, second in his last four games, and the eighth of his career.
One teammate after another summed up Hildebrand's play with similar assessments:
"Hildy was great.''
"Hildy was very good.''
"Hildy was so solid."
"Hildy made tough saves look easy.''
"Hildy was Hildy. He's a great goaltender.''
Over the last two weeks, Hildebrand has given up 0, 2, 2 and 0 goals in two games against Penn State and two against Wisconsin.
Hildebrand has played in all of MSU's 28 games and has lowered his goals-against to 2.18, and boosted his saves percentage to .926, both still the best in the Big Ten in overall games.
In 14 conference games, he has a 1.98 goals-against average and a .937 saves percentage, both No. 1 in the league. He also has a team-leading three shutouts.
With six games remaining, Hildebrand is the leading candidate to be selected first-team all-conference goalie and Big Ten's Goaltender of the Year.
DROUGHT ENDS: MSU'S victory Saturday was its first in Madison in more than 10 years and halted Wisconsin's five-game winning streak over the Spartans at the Kohl Center.
Michigan State's last road win against the Badgers was a 4-0 triumph on Nov. 26, 2004, in the College Hockey Showcase. Former Spartan goalie Dom Vicari posted the shutout.
Last season, MSU went 1-3 vs. the Badgers, losing two in Madison and splitting at Munn Arena, with a 5-4 win and 4-3 loss.
UP NEXT: If the Spartans want to move ahead of the top teams, the best way to do it is to beat them. They'll get that chance this week as they face rejuvenated Minnesota in Minneapolis. The teams meet at 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers, now in first place, are two points up on the Spartans.
Thursday's game is part of a MSU-Minnesota doubleheader on the Big Ten Network. The Gophers and Spartans men's basketball teams collide at 7 p.m. at Breslin Center, followed by the hockey Spartans and Gophers meeting in Minneapolis at 9 p.m. Friday's game is also on BTN.
In early December at Munn Arena, MSU lost to the Gophers 5-0 and the teams played to a 3-3 in the series finale, with the Spartans winning the shootout.
Minnesota, which swept Michigan a week ago at Mariucci Arena, is 6-1-1 in its last eight games.
IN THE BIG TEN: Minnesota's bid to sweep Penn State fell short on Saturday as the Nittany Lions topped the Gophers, 4-3, in overtime on defenseman Luke Juha's power-play goal at 2:13. Minnesota trailed 2-0 and 3-1 but rallied to tie it 3-3 on Sam Warning's goal with 40 seconds left in the third period.
With the victory, PSU took over second place in the Big Ten for about three hours, but Michigan State pulled even with the Nittany Lions (with 25 points) with its 3-0 win at Wisconsin.
Michigan, which lost at Ohio State, 5-3 on Friday, is in fourth place for the moment, but it can climb past MSU and PSU and into a first-place tie with Minnesota with a victory over Ohio State on Sunday at Yost Arena.
If the Wolverines win, that means all six teams in the Big Ten went 1-1 this weekend and standings are the same as they were before Friday's games.
In other games next weekend, Michigan plays host to Wisconsin and Penn State visits Ohio State.
