Neil’s Notebook: Spartans and No. 3 Irish Battle to Deadlock on Friday
11/23/2019 8:49:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Michigan State did not win on Friday night. But it also didn't lose.
The Spartans tied No. 3/3 Notre Dame 1-1 with a tight, hard-fought defensive battle.
But for MSU, the deadlock in the Big Ten series opener felt a little like a loss because it was so close to skating off with a significant victory.
The Spartans, playing one of their best defensive games of the season, took a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second period, and shut out the Irish for 58 minutes and 21 seconds.
That's when the visitors finally solved MSU goalie John Lethemon (36 saves) and spoiled the Spartans' solid third period and hopes for a 1-0 victory. A faceoff win, pucks to the net, a good bounce and a rebound led to Michael Graham's tying goal with 1:39 left in regulation time.
Neither team scored in overtime so the game goes down as a tie in each team's overall record. In the Big Ten, however, tied games after the 5-on-5 overtime go to a five-minute 3-on-3 overtime, and if no one scores, the shootout decides the extra point.
Despite a few good chances for both teams in the second OT, the game went to a shootout, won by Notre Dame, 1-0. So, the Irish (8-1-2 overall, 4-1-2-1 Big Ten) earn two points in the Big Ten standings and MSU (5-5-1, 3-1-1-0) earns one.
"That was a battle. That's kind of the way the games have gone the last few years with Notre Dame,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Our guys worked really hard. For the most part, I thought we did a nice job in the third period.
"We were moving pucks and getting up (the ice). There's one bounce and, unfortunately, they got (the puck) in there. We had some chances. We hit a crossbar and (defenseman Jerad) Rosburg had a great chance in overtime. That's the way it goes.
"Our guys battled hard and Notre Dame played really well. It felt like a playoff hockey game.''
Lethemon had another outstanding game with 36 saves, including 14 in the third period and four in overtime.
When the Irish scored late in the third period, it ended Lethemon's shutout streak of 147 minutes and 16 seconds, going back to the middle of the second period of MSU's 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 14. He then added 60 minutes of not allowing a goal to the Wolverines last Saturday and tacked on another 58:21 on Friday.
"He was outstanding. The goal was no fault of his own,'' Cole said of the senior Spartan goalie who was making his fifth consecutive start. "It was one of those things. We'll battle through that. The important thing is to take (the good things) out of tonight's game, build on them and get ready for tomorrow.''
The Spartans, unbeaten in their last three games at 2-0-1 and 3-1-1 in their last five, and the Irish meet in the series finale at 7 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.
"We did a lot of really good things tonight. We're not going to get too down on ourselves,'' Lethemon said. "We'll just come back stronger tomorrow night.
"You want to win that game 1-0, but when they did score, with our mentality, we didn't freak out.''
Lethemon made a sprawling save in the first overtime on a quick break-in by Cal Burke, Notre Dame's top scorer. Burke drove in from the right side with MSU defenseman Butrus Ghafari backchecking hard on the play. Burke cut to the net, Lethemon slid to his right to make the save and prevent a heartbreaking loss.
"In a split second, you think 'should I go out and try to play it', but you figure you should be safe than sorry,'' Lethemon said. "Bootsie did a great job coming back and putting pressure on their guy. I tried to match his speed and follow the puck across the crease.''
Notre Dame's tying goal came with goalie Cale Morris pulled for a sixth attacker. The Irish won faceoff in the MSU zone controlled the puck in the right corner, got it out front and Graham, standing to the left of the net, gobbled up the rebound and scored.
"Give credit to them. They had the goalie pulled and they knew what they wanted to do – get bodies to the net and put pucks on net,'' Lethemon said. "I'll have to look at that one but the puck kind of bounced around and went to the side. They made a good play.
"I thought we battled hard defensively and that was our one little hiccup there.''
Michigan State's goal came on a tip by senior captain Sam Saliba after a faceoff win in left circle in the Irish zone. Freshman Josh Nodler won it, got it to left wing Logan Lambdin, who sent the puck back to defenseman Cole Krygier at the left point.
Krygier's let go with a quick shot that was tipped by Saliba into the top right corner at 5:17 of the second period. It was Saliba's first goal of the season.
"It was really good play. After an extended timeout when (the officials) were reviewing a hit, it's how we drew it up,'' Saliba said. "It was a good draw by Nodler and Lambdin did good to get it back to Cole. I was able to get some positioning (between the hash marks) and was able to tip it. It looked like it went over Morris' shoulder.''
Like his coach, Saliba said there was a lot to like about the way his team played against the No. 3-ranked team in the country.
"It's tough. You're up one with two minutes left, but they're a good team and they were coming,'' he said. "We're not going to be satisfied with the point, but overall it was a hard-fought game and it could have gone either way.
"I thought we started the third period perfect – just like we wanted. We had a 1-0 lead and we took it to them, especially in the first 10 minutes. We did a good job getting pucks behind them. It was a chess match out there.''
Actually, MSU had Notre Dame pretty frustrated most of the third period. The Irish would dump the puck in and the Spartans would clear the zone quickly and make the visitors go back and retrieve it. Notre Dame rarely forechecked more than one man late in the period.
But the Irish capitalized with the extra man and found a way to avoid their second shutout loss in the last three games.
In the shootout, Morris made a huge save at the side of the net after several moves by MSU's Lambdin. Notre Dame then won it when senior defenseman Torey Dello skated in left to right and beat Lethemon with a wrist shot.
Dello also beat MSU with a shootout goal after a 1-1 tie last season at Notre Dame.
"I thought we played a solid 200-foot game. Outside of the last 2-3 minutes, I thought we took it to them,'' Saliba said. "We played physical, we played hard and were good in the areas we need to be good in – blue lines and in the neutral zone.''
Notre Dame continues to be a tough team to score on – or even get quality scoring chances.
"They're just good defensively. They have four drafted guys back (on defense), their forwards come back hard and they're good at closing in the defensive zone,'' Saliba said. "And, obviously, they have an All-American in net.
"So, it's pretty tough to get the puck by him. It takes tips and screens.''
On four penalties were called in the game – two on each team. But there were only two power plays – one by each team in the first period.
MILLER, DEFENSE SOLID: All six MSU defensemen made an impact Friday with quick puck retrieval, strong defensive zone exits and offensive zone entries. And they were helped out by aggressive forechecking by the forwards.
One defenseman who's been particularly noticeable this season is junior Tommy Miller. He's known as a reliable stay-at-home defender but this year he's improved as a puck mover and is providing an offensive touch, and his confidence has grown.
"Tommy has been unbelievable,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "He had a great second half last year. I look at him and Brody Stevens and Tommy Apap who were really good in the second half of the season. They're not always the prettiest players but they lay it out there on the ice. And all of the picked up at the beginning of the season just where they were (at the end of last year.''
Miller, a 6-foot-2, 193-pounder from West Bloomfield, has four assists in 11 games, which is just as many points as he had last season. He's also a strong penalty killer.
"Tommy is making passes, using the centerman on breakouts and getting pucks to the net. Players decide who plays and he made us put him on the second power play,'' Cole said. "He's done a nice job back there. He's been outstanding. He works hard and he's a great teammate.''
MORE ICE TIME: Sophomore forward Wojciech Stachowiak played in only one game in each of the first five MSU series. He didn't dress at all for the two games at Penn State two weeks ago, but played in both Michigan games, picking up an assist in the first game in Ann Arbor.
Stachowiak, 20, a 6-1, 186-pounder from Gdansk, Poland, has played in the last three games. He dressed Friday as MSU's extra forward but saw several shifts on a line with Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski and had a strong overall game with two shots on goal and one blocked shot.
"Players decide ice time. He's found his way into the lineup, which is the first step, and now he's finding more ice (time), but he has to keep going,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "If he does the right things (he'll stay in the lineup). He's got speed that a lot of our guys don't have and he's got good puck pursuit, which a lot of guys don't have.
Stachowiak played in 27 games last season and had four goals and no assist.
"If he does it the right way and stays on the right side of pucks and forechecks and backchecks and defends well, then he's going to make us play him more, and that would be a great thing.''
IN THE BIG TEN: Minnesota scored two quick goals early in the first period and went on to a 4-1 victory over No. 16 Wisconsin on Friday in Minneapolis.
The Gophers (5-6-2, 2-3-2-2) got goals from Blake McLaughlin at 4:26 and Scott Reedy just 1:07 later to take a 2-0 lead.
Sean Dhooghe scored midway through the second period for the Badgers (6-7-0, 1-4-0-0) to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Minnesota regained its two-goal lead when Jonny Sorenson scored early in the third period, and Sampo Ranta's unassisted goal with seven minutes left wrapped up the victory.
No. 6/5 Penn State topped No. 11/11 Ohio State 5-4 in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions (10-2-0, 6-1-0-0) broke a 1-1 tie with two quick goals midway through the second period.
After the Buckeyes (6-4-1, 2-3-0-0) scored early in the third period to cut PSU's lead to 3-2, the Nittany Lions made it 4-2 just 44 seconds after OSU's goal.
After Sam Sternschein scored into an empty net with 2:15 left – his second goal of the game and ninth of the season – Ohio State roared back to come within a goal as Matthew Jennings scored at 18:34 and Tanner Laczynski found the back of the net with an extra attacker goal at 19:07.
But PSU survived the last 53 seconds to win its fourth straight game since losing to Michigan State, 2-0, on Nov. 14, and earn its seventh victory in the last eight games. Nate Sucese, the Big Ten's leading scorer, had one assist for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan ended a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) with a 4-1 victory in the first game of a non-conference series at New Hampshire. Freshman Johnny Beecher had two goals, the last one into an empty net, for the Wolverines (4-7-2, 0-5-1-0).
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Michigan State did not win on Friday night. But it also didn't lose.
The Spartans tied No. 3/3 Notre Dame 1-1 with a tight, hard-fought defensive battle.
But for MSU, the deadlock in the Big Ten series opener felt a little like a loss because it was so close to skating off with a significant victory.
The Spartans, playing one of their best defensive games of the season, took a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second period, and shut out the Irish for 58 minutes and 21 seconds.
That's when the visitors finally solved MSU goalie John Lethemon (36 saves) and spoiled the Spartans' solid third period and hopes for a 1-0 victory. A faceoff win, pucks to the net, a good bounce and a rebound led to Michael Graham's tying goal with 1:39 left in regulation time.
Neither team scored in overtime so the game goes down as a tie in each team's overall record. In the Big Ten, however, tied games after the 5-on-5 overtime go to a five-minute 3-on-3 overtime, and if no one scores, the shootout decides the extra point.
Despite a few good chances for both teams in the second OT, the game went to a shootout, won by Notre Dame, 1-0. So, the Irish (8-1-2 overall, 4-1-2-1 Big Ten) earn two points in the Big Ten standings and MSU (5-5-1, 3-1-1-0) earns one.
"That was a battle. That's kind of the way the games have gone the last few years with Notre Dame,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Our guys worked really hard. For the most part, I thought we did a nice job in the third period.
"We were moving pucks and getting up (the ice). There's one bounce and, unfortunately, they got (the puck) in there. We had some chances. We hit a crossbar and (defenseman Jerad) Rosburg had a great chance in overtime. That's the way it goes.
"Our guys battled hard and Notre Dame played really well. It felt like a playoff hockey game.''
Lethemon had another outstanding game with 36 saves, including 14 in the third period and four in overtime.
When the Irish scored late in the third period, it ended Lethemon's shutout streak of 147 minutes and 16 seconds, going back to the middle of the second period of MSU's 4-3 win at Michigan on Nov. 14. He then added 60 minutes of not allowing a goal to the Wolverines last Saturday and tacked on another 58:21 on Friday.
"He was outstanding. The goal was no fault of his own,'' Cole said of the senior Spartan goalie who was making his fifth consecutive start. "It was one of those things. We'll battle through that. The important thing is to take (the good things) out of tonight's game, build on them and get ready for tomorrow.''
The Spartans, unbeaten in their last three games at 2-0-1 and 3-1-1 in their last five, and the Irish meet in the series finale at 7 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.
"We did a lot of really good things tonight. We're not going to get too down on ourselves,'' Lethemon said. "We'll just come back stronger tomorrow night.
"You want to win that game 1-0, but when they did score, with our mentality, we didn't freak out.''
Lethemon made a sprawling save in the first overtime on a quick break-in by Cal Burke, Notre Dame's top scorer. Burke drove in from the right side with MSU defenseman Butrus Ghafari backchecking hard on the play. Burke cut to the net, Lethemon slid to his right to make the save and prevent a heartbreaking loss.
"In a split second, you think 'should I go out and try to play it', but you figure you should be safe than sorry,'' Lethemon said. "Bootsie did a great job coming back and putting pressure on their guy. I tried to match his speed and follow the puck across the crease.''
Notre Dame's tying goal came with goalie Cale Morris pulled for a sixth attacker. The Irish won faceoff in the MSU zone controlled the puck in the right corner, got it out front and Graham, standing to the left of the net, gobbled up the rebound and scored.
"Give credit to them. They had the goalie pulled and they knew what they wanted to do – get bodies to the net and put pucks on net,'' Lethemon said. "I'll have to look at that one but the puck kind of bounced around and went to the side. They made a good play.
"I thought we battled hard defensively and that was our one little hiccup there.''
Michigan State's goal came on a tip by senior captain Sam Saliba after a faceoff win in left circle in the Irish zone. Freshman Josh Nodler won it, got it to left wing Logan Lambdin, who sent the puck back to defenseman Cole Krygier at the left point.
Krygier's let go with a quick shot that was tipped by Saliba into the top right corner at 5:17 of the second period. It was Saliba's first goal of the season.
"It was really good play. After an extended timeout when (the officials) were reviewing a hit, it's how we drew it up,'' Saliba said. "It was a good draw by Nodler and Lambdin did good to get it back to Cole. I was able to get some positioning (between the hash marks) and was able to tip it. It looked like it went over Morris' shoulder.''
Like his coach, Saliba said there was a lot to like about the way his team played against the No. 3-ranked team in the country.
"It's tough. You're up one with two minutes left, but they're a good team and they were coming,'' he said. "We're not going to be satisfied with the point, but overall it was a hard-fought game and it could have gone either way.
"I thought we started the third period perfect – just like we wanted. We had a 1-0 lead and we took it to them, especially in the first 10 minutes. We did a good job getting pucks behind them. It was a chess match out there.''
Actually, MSU had Notre Dame pretty frustrated most of the third period. The Irish would dump the puck in and the Spartans would clear the zone quickly and make the visitors go back and retrieve it. Notre Dame rarely forechecked more than one man late in the period.
But the Irish capitalized with the extra man and found a way to avoid their second shutout loss in the last three games.
In the shootout, Morris made a huge save at the side of the net after several moves by MSU's Lambdin. Notre Dame then won it when senior defenseman Torey Dello skated in left to right and beat Lethemon with a wrist shot.
Dello also beat MSU with a shootout goal after a 1-1 tie last season at Notre Dame.
"I thought we played a solid 200-foot game. Outside of the last 2-3 minutes, I thought we took it to them,'' Saliba said. "We played physical, we played hard and were good in the areas we need to be good in – blue lines and in the neutral zone.''
Notre Dame continues to be a tough team to score on – or even get quality scoring chances.
"They're just good defensively. They have four drafted guys back (on defense), their forwards come back hard and they're good at closing in the defensive zone,'' Saliba said. "And, obviously, they have an All-American in net.
"So, it's pretty tough to get the puck by him. It takes tips and screens.''
On four penalties were called in the game – two on each team. But there were only two power plays – one by each team in the first period.
MILLER, DEFENSE SOLID: All six MSU defensemen made an impact Friday with quick puck retrieval, strong defensive zone exits and offensive zone entries. And they were helped out by aggressive forechecking by the forwards.
One defenseman who's been particularly noticeable this season is junior Tommy Miller. He's known as a reliable stay-at-home defender but this year he's improved as a puck mover and is providing an offensive touch, and his confidence has grown.
"Tommy has been unbelievable,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "He had a great second half last year. I look at him and Brody Stevens and Tommy Apap who were really good in the second half of the season. They're not always the prettiest players but they lay it out there on the ice. And all of the picked up at the beginning of the season just where they were (at the end of last year.''
Miller, a 6-foot-2, 193-pounder from West Bloomfield, has four assists in 11 games, which is just as many points as he had last season. He's also a strong penalty killer.
"Tommy is making passes, using the centerman on breakouts and getting pucks to the net. Players decide who plays and he made us put him on the second power play,'' Cole said. "He's done a nice job back there. He's been outstanding. He works hard and he's a great teammate.''
MORE ICE TIME: Sophomore forward Wojciech Stachowiak played in only one game in each of the first five MSU series. He didn't dress at all for the two games at Penn State two weeks ago, but played in both Michigan games, picking up an assist in the first game in Ann Arbor.
Stachowiak, 20, a 6-1, 186-pounder from Gdansk, Poland, has played in the last three games. He dressed Friday as MSU's extra forward but saw several shifts on a line with Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski and had a strong overall game with two shots on goal and one blocked shot.
"Players decide ice time. He's found his way into the lineup, which is the first step, and now he's finding more ice (time), but he has to keep going,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "If he does the right things (he'll stay in the lineup). He's got speed that a lot of our guys don't have and he's got good puck pursuit, which a lot of guys don't have.
Stachowiak played in 27 games last season and had four goals and no assist.
"If he does it the right way and stays on the right side of pucks and forechecks and backchecks and defends well, then he's going to make us play him more, and that would be a great thing.''
IN THE BIG TEN: Minnesota scored two quick goals early in the first period and went on to a 4-1 victory over No. 16 Wisconsin on Friday in Minneapolis.
The Gophers (5-6-2, 2-3-2-2) got goals from Blake McLaughlin at 4:26 and Scott Reedy just 1:07 later to take a 2-0 lead.
Sean Dhooghe scored midway through the second period for the Badgers (6-7-0, 1-4-0-0) to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Minnesota regained its two-goal lead when Jonny Sorenson scored early in the third period, and Sampo Ranta's unassisted goal with seven minutes left wrapped up the victory.
No. 6/5 Penn State topped No. 11/11 Ohio State 5-4 in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions (10-2-0, 6-1-0-0) broke a 1-1 tie with two quick goals midway through the second period.
After the Buckeyes (6-4-1, 2-3-0-0) scored early in the third period to cut PSU's lead to 3-2, the Nittany Lions made it 4-2 just 44 seconds after OSU's goal.
After Sam Sternschein scored into an empty net with 2:15 left – his second goal of the game and ninth of the season – Ohio State roared back to come within a goal as Matthew Jennings scored at 18:34 and Tanner Laczynski found the back of the net with an extra attacker goal at 19:07.
But PSU survived the last 53 seconds to win its fourth straight game since losing to Michigan State, 2-0, on Nov. 14, and earn its seventh victory in the last eight games. Nate Sucese, the Big Ten's leading scorer, had one assist for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan ended a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) with a 4-1 victory in the first game of a non-conference series at New Hampshire. Freshman Johnny Beecher had two goals, the last one into an empty net, for the Wolverines (4-7-2, 0-5-1-0).
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