Neil’s Notebook: Buckeyes Top Spartans in Defensive Battle
12/1/2019 9:16:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michigan State held an advantage over Ohio State in several areas on Saturday night at Value City Arena.
The Spartans outshot the Buckeyes 27-21. They had 55 attempts at the net to 40 for OSU. And in the faceoff circle, MSU won 33 draws and lost 22, led by center Tommy Apap's stellar 12-1 edge.
Neither team had a plethora of great scoring chances but the game came down to execution.
Ohio State capitalized on two shots from the left circle – one in the second period and one in the third – and the No. 11/11 Buckeyes held on for a 3-1 victory over the No. 20 Spartans in front of an announced crowd of 4,251.
"It was a good, hard-fought game and they were in able to get a couple in from shots off the rush,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "I thought our guys kept pushing and we did a lot of good things throughout the game. And there are things we can do better.
"We battled and had it at 2-1 with the goalie pulled. That's the way it goes sometimes.''
Michigan State, which saw its unbeaten streak come to an end at four games (3-0-1), fell behind 2-0 on goals by Gustaf Westlund at 8:50 of the second period and Ronnie Hein at 2:10 of the third.
The Spartans (6-6-1 overall, 4-2-1-0 Big Ten) finally solved OSU freshman goalie Ryan Snowden, making his first career start because of an injury to junior standout Tommy Nappier, with 4:49 left on a fluke goal by Mitchell Lewandowski.
The Spartans junior forward got possession behind the net, sent the puck out front and it deflected off Snowden's pass and slid into the net.
MSU pressed for the tying goal with goalie John Lethemon (18 saves) pulled for a sixth attacker, but OSU's defense defended well and the Buckeyes got credit for an empty net goal by Hein with 7.9 seconds left. Hein was going for a loose puck was tripped in the left circle by MSU defenseman Jared Rosburg, and officials awarded OSU the goal – even with the puck not entering the net.
Both teams were solid defensively with OSU limiting open shots and blocking 17 and MSU getting in front of 11 shots.
"They did the same thing we did. They kept things to the outside and tied up guys on the inside,'' Cole said. "We held them to 21 shots. If you talk about defense, I'll talk about our defense.
"There are things we can do better offensively. We had a few chances to get to some pucks and we need to keep shooting and bang some rebounds. As it happened, the goal (we got) was kind of weird, an ugly one, but we need a few of those.''
The Spartans will try to salvage a split in the Big Ten series when they face the Buckeyes (8-4-1, 4-3-0-0) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (BTN) at Value City Arena.
Ohio State's first two goals came on wrist shots from the left circle that beat Lethemon to his stick side. Westlund, with only the Buckeyes' second shot on goal nine minutes into in the middle period, fired the puck into the left corner, and Hein, skating left to right, shot the puck into the left corner two minutes into the third period.
Two good shots, two goals.
"Games kind of game down to that,'' Cole said. "You have to keep putting pucks on net.''
The MSU coach said that Snowden's presence in goal for OSU didn't change the Spartans' approach. Snowden replaced Nappier last Saturday to start the third period of the Buckeyes' second game at Penn State. He took over with the game tied and got the victory when OSU scored the game-winner with seven minutes left and held on for a 4-3 win.
"Whoever is in there, we want to shoot. You don't say 'it's a freshman and we want to change our game.' We want to shoot more no matter who's in there,'' Cole said.
Overall, Cole is looking for his team to do a few things better, including to shoot more and be in position for rebounds, but he had few complaints about Saturday's effort.
"They're good and they don't give you much. You just have to stick with it,'' he said. "I thought our guys did. They played a good 60 minutes tonight.''
FLUKE GOAL, NO PROBLEM: Mitchell Lewandowski has scored 38 goals in his two-and-a-half seasons as a Spartan and most have come from in the slot or one of the two faceoff circles in the offensive zone.
On Saturday, the junior forward scored his third goal of the season and first in five games from an unusual location –behind the net. He shot the puck off goalie Ryan Snowden's pad and it deflected into the net at 15:11 of the third period to cut MSU's deficit to 2-1 and give his team a chance to rally.
Lewandowski said he had better chances in the game but the puck didn't go in.
"It was kind of a weird play. It was more like a 1-on-1 forecheck. I just tried to get inside and saw the goalie come out and push to the side,'' he said of his unassisted goal. "I got of got lucky and shot it out front and it went in.
"I had other chances, some in the slot, and it didn't go in. We did outshoot them. You think we would have done that two years ago? I don't think so. I think we're trending in the right direction.''
Lewandowski credited Ohio State's defense for limiting MSU's scoring opportunities.
"They play a simple game where they chip it out, chip it in,'' he said. "They're big and strong and make it tough on you. Tonight, there weren't any really spectacular plays or backdoor goals. The best play of the game might be (Lethemon's) save on their power play in the first power play.''
The Spartans senior goalie made a brilliant stop on a wide-open freshman forward Tate Singleton at the edge of the crease midway through the first period, keeping the game scoreless.
"We had plenty opportunities to get to the net,'' Lewandowski said.
PENALTY KILLING SOLID: Michigan State killed three Ohio State power plays while the Buckeyes skated off two Spartan manpower advantages.
It was all part of a night of good defense.
"We did a nice job. A couple guys were a little rusty on the first (power play),'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "The first one was average but the other ones were really good. We outshot them on one power play. I thought all the guys battled hard. The penalty kill did a nice job and Johnny (Lethemon) had the big save that was important early on.''
IN THE BIG TEN: In the only other conference series, No. 19 Wisconsin rallied from a 2-0 deficit and edged Michigan, 3-2, on Saturday in Madison. Badger defenseman K'Andre Miller's centering pass in front deflected off a Wolverine player's skate and into the net with 6:41 left to break a 2-2 tie.
Wisconsin (7-7-1, 2-4-1-1) and U-M (4-9-2, 0-6-1) close out their series at 5 p.m. Sunday (BTN).
In non-conference play, No. 5/4 Notre Dame (8-4-2, 4-2-2-1) got swept by No. 16/15 Bowling Green, losing 5-2 Saturday at BGSU, after losing 5-2 on Friday at Notre Dame. The Falcons (10-5-0, 5-3-0) scored midway and late in the second period to take a 4-2 lead and added a goal in the third period.
No. 7/7 Penn State blanked Merrimack 7-0 on Friday in North Andover, Mass., but lost 3-2 in overtime at No. 15 Mass-Lowell on Saturday. The Nittany Lions (11-4-0, 6-2-0) tied the game on Nate Sucese's goal with 23 seconds left, but the River Hawks (9-3-4, 4-1-3 NCHC) won it 2:43 into OT.
Minnesota had a tough home series against longtime rival North Dakota. The No. 3/3 Fighting Hawks (12-1-2, 5-0-1 NCHC) routed the Gophers, 9-3, on Thanksgiving night. The Gophers (5-8-3, 2-3-3) rebounded with a better performance on Friday but still lost 3-1.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michigan State held an advantage over Ohio State in several areas on Saturday night at Value City Arena.
The Spartans outshot the Buckeyes 27-21. They had 55 attempts at the net to 40 for OSU. And in the faceoff circle, MSU won 33 draws and lost 22, led by center Tommy Apap's stellar 12-1 edge.
Neither team had a plethora of great scoring chances but the game came down to execution.
Ohio State capitalized on two shots from the left circle – one in the second period and one in the third – and the No. 11/11 Buckeyes held on for a 3-1 victory over the No. 20 Spartans in front of an announced crowd of 4,251.
"It was a good, hard-fought game and they were in able to get a couple in from shots off the rush,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "I thought our guys kept pushing and we did a lot of good things throughout the game. And there are things we can do better.
"We battled and had it at 2-1 with the goalie pulled. That's the way it goes sometimes.''
Michigan State, which saw its unbeaten streak come to an end at four games (3-0-1), fell behind 2-0 on goals by Gustaf Westlund at 8:50 of the second period and Ronnie Hein at 2:10 of the third.
The Spartans (6-6-1 overall, 4-2-1-0 Big Ten) finally solved OSU freshman goalie Ryan Snowden, making his first career start because of an injury to junior standout Tommy Nappier, with 4:49 left on a fluke goal by Mitchell Lewandowski.
The Spartans junior forward got possession behind the net, sent the puck out front and it deflected off Snowden's pass and slid into the net.
MSU pressed for the tying goal with goalie John Lethemon (18 saves) pulled for a sixth attacker, but OSU's defense defended well and the Buckeyes got credit for an empty net goal by Hein with 7.9 seconds left. Hein was going for a loose puck was tripped in the left circle by MSU defenseman Jared Rosburg, and officials awarded OSU the goal – even with the puck not entering the net.
Both teams were solid defensively with OSU limiting open shots and blocking 17 and MSU getting in front of 11 shots.
"They did the same thing we did. They kept things to the outside and tied up guys on the inside,'' Cole said. "We held them to 21 shots. If you talk about defense, I'll talk about our defense.
"There are things we can do better offensively. We had a few chances to get to some pucks and we need to keep shooting and bang some rebounds. As it happened, the goal (we got) was kind of weird, an ugly one, but we need a few of those.''
The Spartans will try to salvage a split in the Big Ten series when they face the Buckeyes (8-4-1, 4-3-0-0) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (BTN) at Value City Arena.
Ohio State's first two goals came on wrist shots from the left circle that beat Lethemon to his stick side. Westlund, with only the Buckeyes' second shot on goal nine minutes into in the middle period, fired the puck into the left corner, and Hein, skating left to right, shot the puck into the left corner two minutes into the third period.
Two good shots, two goals.
"Games kind of game down to that,'' Cole said. "You have to keep putting pucks on net.''
The MSU coach said that Snowden's presence in goal for OSU didn't change the Spartans' approach. Snowden replaced Nappier last Saturday to start the third period of the Buckeyes' second game at Penn State. He took over with the game tied and got the victory when OSU scored the game-winner with seven minutes left and held on for a 4-3 win.
"Whoever is in there, we want to shoot. You don't say 'it's a freshman and we want to change our game.' We want to shoot more no matter who's in there,'' Cole said.
Overall, Cole is looking for his team to do a few things better, including to shoot more and be in position for rebounds, but he had few complaints about Saturday's effort.
"They're good and they don't give you much. You just have to stick with it,'' he said. "I thought our guys did. They played a good 60 minutes tonight.''
FLUKE GOAL, NO PROBLEM: Mitchell Lewandowski has scored 38 goals in his two-and-a-half seasons as a Spartan and most have come from in the slot or one of the two faceoff circles in the offensive zone.
On Saturday, the junior forward scored his third goal of the season and first in five games from an unusual location –behind the net. He shot the puck off goalie Ryan Snowden's pad and it deflected into the net at 15:11 of the third period to cut MSU's deficit to 2-1 and give his team a chance to rally.
Lewandowski said he had better chances in the game but the puck didn't go in.
"It was kind of a weird play. It was more like a 1-on-1 forecheck. I just tried to get inside and saw the goalie come out and push to the side,'' he said of his unassisted goal. "I got of got lucky and shot it out front and it went in.
"I had other chances, some in the slot, and it didn't go in. We did outshoot them. You think we would have done that two years ago? I don't think so. I think we're trending in the right direction.''
Lewandowski credited Ohio State's defense for limiting MSU's scoring opportunities.
"They play a simple game where they chip it out, chip it in,'' he said. "They're big and strong and make it tough on you. Tonight, there weren't any really spectacular plays or backdoor goals. The best play of the game might be (Lethemon's) save on their power play in the first power play.''
The Spartans senior goalie made a brilliant stop on a wide-open freshman forward Tate Singleton at the edge of the crease midway through the first period, keeping the game scoreless.
"We had plenty opportunities to get to the net,'' Lewandowski said.
PENALTY KILLING SOLID: Michigan State killed three Ohio State power plays while the Buckeyes skated off two Spartan manpower advantages.
It was all part of a night of good defense.
"We did a nice job. A couple guys were a little rusty on the first (power play),'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "The first one was average but the other ones were really good. We outshot them on one power play. I thought all the guys battled hard. The penalty kill did a nice job and Johnny (Lethemon) had the big save that was important early on.''
IN THE BIG TEN: In the only other conference series, No. 19 Wisconsin rallied from a 2-0 deficit and edged Michigan, 3-2, on Saturday in Madison. Badger defenseman K'Andre Miller's centering pass in front deflected off a Wolverine player's skate and into the net with 6:41 left to break a 2-2 tie.
Wisconsin (7-7-1, 2-4-1-1) and U-M (4-9-2, 0-6-1) close out their series at 5 p.m. Sunday (BTN).
In non-conference play, No. 5/4 Notre Dame (8-4-2, 4-2-2-1) got swept by No. 16/15 Bowling Green, losing 5-2 Saturday at BGSU, after losing 5-2 on Friday at Notre Dame. The Falcons (10-5-0, 5-3-0) scored midway and late in the second period to take a 4-2 lead and added a goal in the third period.
No. 7/7 Penn State blanked Merrimack 7-0 on Friday in North Andover, Mass., but lost 3-2 in overtime at No. 15 Mass-Lowell on Saturday. The Nittany Lions (11-4-0, 6-2-0) tied the game on Nate Sucese's goal with 23 seconds left, but the River Hawks (9-3-4, 4-1-3 NCHC) won it 2:43 into OT.
Minnesota had a tough home series against longtime rival North Dakota. The No. 3/3 Fighting Hawks (12-1-2, 5-0-1 NCHC) routed the Gophers, 9-3, on Thanksgiving night. The Gophers (5-8-3, 2-3-3) rebounded with a better performance on Friday but still lost 3-1.
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