Neil's Notebook: Keller's Hat Trick Not Enough
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING - Ryan Keller on Friday night had his greatest game in three seasons at Michigan State.
Unfortunately, the junior left wing got no satisfaction out of scoring his first career hat trick - one goal in each period - and instead of savoring his productive night, he was dealing with a devastating defeat.
Despite Keller's three goals and the Spartans' resiliency in battling from behind, Michigan State's hopes of clinching a top two finish in the Big Ten was stifled by Michigan in front of a sellout crowd of 6,681 at Munn Arena.
The Wolverines, who held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, broke a 3-3 tie with 5:03 left in the third period and went on to a 5-3 victory over MSU and climb ahead of the Spartans and into a first-place tie with Minnesota with one game remaining in the regular season.
U-M and Minnesota each has 36 points. MSU has 34, while Penn State, a 5-0 loser at Minnesota, has 31.
"We can't hang our heads. Once you do that, it's over,'' said Keller, a 6-foot-2, 193-pounder from Farmington Hills. "We have to keep our heads up and go to work on Saturday.
"They came out strong tonight with a good road start. They jumped on us early and beat us to the front of the net. We can rebound, we can fix that. It was close game, a good game.''
Michigan State (16-15-2 overall, 10-7-2-2, 34 points, Big Ten) doesn't control its own destiny but can still finish first or second in the Big Ten if it defeats Michigan (20-13-0, 12-7-0-0, 36) in the series finale at 5 p.m. Saturday in Ann Arbor and Minnesota (20-12-3, 11-7-1-0, 36) loses at home to fourth-place Penn State (18-13-4, 10-8-1, 31 points) at 8 p.m.
After Keller's third goal, his 11th of the season, tied the game 3-3 at 4:52 of the third period, Michigan regained the lead for good when senior Travis Lynch took a pass from Andrew Copp from behind the net and, from the slot, fired the puck past MSU goalie Jake Hildebrand at 14:57.
With Hildebrand pulled for a sixth attacker with 1:40 left, MSU had the puck down low and in and around the crease for a few seconds but couldn't get to loose pucks. U-M cleared the puck the out of danger and Tyler Motte scored into an empty net to wrap up the crucial victory.
"They kind of laid off of us (in the second half of the third period) and let us throw the puck around and they kept throwing it back in deep,'' Keller said. "You could tell all night they were going into the corner and throwing it on net, and they kind of got the puck behind the net and threw it out front for the goal.''
Keller's three goals came in vastly different ways.
After Michigan stunned the Spartans with two goals in the first 10 minutes - by freshman Dexter Dancs at 3:54 and defenseman Cutler Martin at 9:42, Keller got MSU back into the game when he scored on rebound in the slot at 13:43 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
On the play, nine Spartans touched the puck in succession on a rush -- Joe Cox, Mike Ferrantino and defensemen Ron Boyd and Brock Krygier and finally Keller, who scooped up the puck between the legs of U-M defenseman Zach Werenski in the slot and turned and fired it into the far right corner.
Krygier's one-timer from the right point hit the stick of Wolverine goalie Zach Nagelvoort but the puck bounced out front, and Ferrantino got a skate on it to nudge it toward Keller.
In the second period, Keller tied it 2-2 with an unassisted highlight-reel goal at 11:59. He chipped the puck past U-M's Andrew Copp just inside the MSU blue line and went around Copp on the right to chase down a loose puck into the Michigan zone.
Nagelvoort came out of his net in an attempt to clear the puck, but Keller won the race. Keller lunged forward between the circles to tip the puck between Nagelvoort's legs from 20 feet out and it slid into the vacated.
Dylan Larkin's goal from the slot off a rebound gave U-M a 3-2 lead with 2:21 left in the second period, but Keller still had the goal-scoring touch and he delivered early in the third period.
Keller got the puck from freshman defenseman Josh Jacobs at the U-M blue line and carried it along the left boards. He centered the puck toward the front of the net, trying to hit the onrushing Jacobs. But the puck deflected off the stick of Wolverine defenseman Michael Downing and then caromed off Nagelvoort's left skate before sliding through his legs and into the net at 4:52 to get the sellout crowd fired up.
Keller extended his point streak to seven games with six goals and four assists for 10 points, starting with the Wisconsin game on Feb. 20. He scored two goals against the Badgers in a 3-0 won on Feb. 21.
"I felt good from the start. My linemates were going too so they were contributors,'' Keller said. "I thought we played well as a line and hopefully, we can carry it over into Saturday.
"On the first goal, (the puck came to me in front) and I just turned and fired. On the second, I created a footrace for myself and happened to beat the goalie to the puck, and on the third one, I just found a stick out front and it happened to go in.''
After the third goal, MSU captain and center Mike Ferrantino had a message for Keller, his linemate along with Joe Cox.
"I told him that once you get over the red line, `just put the thing toward the net. It's going to hit some (and maybe go in),''' Ferrantino said. "He really had it going.
"It's tough for him (to get three goals and not come away with a win), especially on Senior Night when we really wanted to do it for the seniors. We just have to bounce back and return the favor on Saturday.''
FRONT-OF-THE-NET ISSUES: MSU coach Tom Anastos liked his team's compete level, for the most part, and it's resiliency, but said the game was decided by plays in front of the net.
Michigan did a good job, the Spartans did not.
Danc's first goal of the game, Larkin's goal to make it 3-2 U-M and Lynch's game-winner were scored by being open in front of the net and receiving passes from behind the net. MSU defenders failed to pick them up.
"They did a better job in front of the net than we did,'' Anastos said. "We gave up goals too easily. They were miscues by us and they took advantage of it.
"They won the out-front battles and that's something we thought was going to be the key to the game. We had guys standing by their guys that scored and we didn't cover them. We practiced against it all week and didn't execute. They did and got good results.''
On U-M's first goal, JT Compher got possession behind the net and sent a quick backhand pass out front to an open Dancs, who fired quickly and the puck ended up in the net.
Larkin's goal in the second period, which game U-M a 3-2 lead, was set up by a pass out front by Zach Hyman. Larkin fired the puck and Hildebrand made an alert save, but the puck rebounded back to Larkin and the 2014 Red Wings' first-round draft pick fired it again and it ended up in the back of the net.
Lynch had time and space in front, to the left of the net, and he took a nifty pass from Copp from behind the net and he rifled it into the left corner for arguably Michigan's biggest goal of the season.
"They're a good offensive team and we didn't do a good job defending them,'' Anastos said. "We gave up too many attempts and goals in front of our net.
"That's where the game was lost tonight - in front of the net, in the center of the house.''
Michigan outshot the Spartans 44-27 with Hildebrand making 39 saves. Motte and Alex Kile led the Wolverines with seven shots on goal, while Zach Hyman had six and Larkin and Cristoval Nieves had five apiece.
"They passed out front, had open looks and they got their shots off quickly,'' Hildebrand said. "We knew they were going to do that but they executed.
"They have a great team and you have to play them tight and try not give them many chances.''
Still, the biggest game of the season for both teams was tied with six minutes left. MSU failed to convert a few chances but Michigan was able to execute when the game was on the line and skated off with the victory.
"They made the plays. We have to be better defensively,'' Ferrantino said. "They like to take the puck behind the net and throw it out front. Sometimes it hits our sticks, sometimes it hits theirs. We have to be better against that.''
OPERATION REBOUND: Two weeks ago, Michigan State lost one of the toughest games of the season at Minnesota in the series opener. MSU had taken a 3-0 lead early in the first period,+ and after the Gophers cut their deficit to 3-1 late in the opening period, Minnesota scored three times in the second period and added an empty-netter to pull out a 5-3 victory.
But the Spartans, facing some adversity with regular defenseman Travis Walsh out with a fractured jaw, bounced back with its best victory of the season in the series finale with a 4-2 decision over the Gophers.
On Saturday, Michigan State will try to draw on those lessons and put itself in position to close out the regular season with a victory over Michigan at Yost Arena, and finish higher than the Wolverines.
"It's disappointing to end our home season on that note, because we've been playing really well,'' Anastos said. "But all those lessons you learn help you grow up and be prepared.''
The Spartans had won seven home games in a row and were 7-0-1 in their last eight at Munn.
"Tomorrow is a new day. We have to learn from tonight and get right after it,'' Anastos said. "We'll deal with this tonight and focus on the next game. We have to get in the right frame of mind.''
BIG TEN RACE: Michigan State can still finish anywhere from first to fourth place. Michigan and Minnesota can only wind up first, second or third. Penn State's loss at Minnesota means the Nittany Lions can't finish first or second and won't get a coveted first-round bye in the Big Ten Championship next weekend in Detroit.
U-M and Minnesota enter Saturday's play tied for first with 36 points, two in front of MSU and five up on Penn State. If the Wolverines and Gophers end up tied, U-M gets the higher seed because of the first tiebreaker - Big Ten victories. Entering Saturday, U-M has 12 wins in Big Ten play, while Minnesota has 11. MSU and PSU have 10.
If the Spartans lose and Penn State wins on Saturday, the teams will end up tied for third with 34 points, but the Nittany Lions will earn the No. 3 seed and MSU will be No. 4 because of more Big Ten victories (11-10).
Minnesota can finish first for the second consecutive season if it beats PSU and Michigan loses to MSU or wins or loses in a shootout.
MSU can finish first and U-M second with a Spartan victory and a Gophers loss on Senior Night against the Nittany Lions.
Meanwhile, in the other Big Ten game on Friday, fifth-place Ohio State and sixth-place Wisconsin battled to a 2-2 tie in Madison, with the Buckeyes winning a 10-round shootout, 4-3, to earn the extra point.
SPARTAN POTPOURRI: MSU honored five seniors in ceremonies before the game. Forwards Matt Berry, Brent Darnell and Tanner Sorenson, defenseman Ron Boyd and walk-on goalie Zach Cisek were introduced and took the traditional skate around the rink, while stopping to greet their parents in front of the visitors' bench. Sorenson was in the lineup as an extra forward and Cisek was on the bench for the first time in his career as MSU's No. 3 goalie . . . Sophomore defenseman Chris Knudson suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice on Thursday so MSU, with junior Travis Walsh out for the season with a fractured jaw, is down to six defensemen. Freshman defenseman Carson Gatt is back practicing with the team but his suspension for a violation of team rules is still in effect and he didn't dress for Friday's game. . . . The last time MSU won at Yost Arena was on Nov. 13, 2009 -- a 3-2 victory. . . . Keller's had trick was MSU's second of the season. Mackenzie MacEachern, like Keller, scored all three of his team's goals in a 3-2 victory over Penn State on Feb. 14 at Munn Arena.
