Neil’s Notebook: Late Goal Spoils Spartans’ Third-Period Rally
12/15/2019 8:56:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – A week ago, Michigan State found itself trailing Wisconsin by two goals entering the third period.
On Saturday night, the Spartans faced the same challenge, again down 3-1 entering the final 20 minutes.
And once again, MSU battled back to tie the game and get the Munn Arena crowd excited and anticipating a positive finish.
But unlike last week's 5-4 overtime win over the Badgers, this one, against Arizona State, did not have a happy ending.
In a game of bad-luck bounces and fluky goals for each team, the Spartans' strong third period was spoiled by a late Sun Devils goal which led to a 4-3 ASU victory in the non-conference series opener in front of a disappointed crowd of 5,306, other than a few ASU supporters.
For the No. 18 Spartans (8-8-1, 6-3-1 Big Ten), the positive takeaway was their third-period rally, tying the game 3-3 on goals by Patrick Khodorenko and Nico Muller 4 minutes and 17 seconds apart - at 4:59 and 9:16. MSU outshot the visitors in the period, 16-8.
The negative was a poor first period in which No. 16/15 ASU (9-4-2) took advantage of turnovers and emerged with a 2-0 lead and left the Spartans chasing the game.
"We scouted them; we know they're a quick transition team. We played them last year. I just think we didn't follow the game plan,'' Khodorenko said.
"We tried to go cross-ice a lot and that fed their transition a lot. They got three goals off transition. We can't do that and expect to win.''
Michigan State will try to rebound and earn a series split when it faces the Sun Devils in the series finale at 5 p.m. Sunday at Munn Arena.
Asked to sum up his team's start, Khodorenko's response was short, to the point and without excuses.
"Just not good. That's about it. Just not ready,'' he said.
Michigan State was much better in the second period, cutting its deficit to 2-1 on Tommy Apap's rebound goal at 11:19. But the Sun Devils regained their two-goal lead 1 minutes and 23 seconds later with a goal off a faceoff by defenseman Jacob Wilson.
When the Spartans evened the game at 3-3, momentum and puck luck were definitely going their way. MSU got a huge break on the tying goal when defenseman Christian Krygier fired the puck into the ASU zone along the right boards. The puck caromed off the boards or glass behind the net and ended up a few feet in front of stunned ASU goalie Evan Debrouwer.
Müller beat the Sun Devils defense, swooped in and fired the puck past Debrouwer to make it 3-3.
Suddenly, the Spartans had visions of another dramatic come-from-behind victory. Those visions were clouded about five minutes later.
Arizona State got some puck luck of its own with the game-winning goal with 5:40 left in the period. Defenseman Jarrod Gourley's shot from the left point was going wide to the left of the goal, but right wing Johnny Walker, standing in front, reached out and tipped the puck out of mid-air and it bounced down and slid between the legs of MSU goalie John Lethemon and into the net.
It was Walker's team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Michigan State tried to bounce back once more, but ASU played strong defense and survived late pressure and a Spartan power play for the final 38.2 seconds to claim victory.
"It was a good battle. They had the jump on us early and we got it going a little bit and realized how hard we were going to have to work,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Unfortunately, it was 2-0 at that time.
"I liked the way the guys battled and regrouped and kept coming in the third period. Their guy made a real nice play on the winning goal. He tips it out of the air back across the crease. And we just couldn't get the next one.''
MSU goalie John Lethemon made 22 saves and once again kept his team in contention with some clutch saves. Debrouwer, who faced only five shots in the first period, made 32 saves, including 13 in the second period and 14 in the third.
"There's lots of good things (about the game) but there's a lot of things we can do better,'' Cole said. "They beat us tonight and it's up to us to be better tomorrow.''
Neither team scored a power-play goal. ASU was 0-for-3 while Michigan State was 0-for-2 with only one full power play.
"Give them credit. They had the jump on us,'' Cole said. "We had some reads where the strong play was to get (the puck) out and the strong play was to get it in and we didn't. We fed their transition game a little bit, and that's what happens. They're a good transition team and it's going to end up in the back of your net.''
MSU's top line of Khodorenko, Lewandowski and Sam Saliba had 11 shots on goal and scored one goal. Khodorenko had six shots, Saliba four and Lewandowski one.
The Spartans looked more like the team that swept Wisconsin and were 5-2-1 in their last seven games in the second and third periods.
"We started to win faceoffs and get shots on net,'' Khodorenko said.
"Overall, I thought we played more downhill and it showed. In the third period, we were dominating that game.
"They played great and got a nice tip at the end to take the lead. But I thought we were right there with them in the second and third periods.''
The Spartans are back to .500 overall at 8-8-1 with one more game before the holiday break and then the Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 30-31 to end the 2019 portion of the schedule.
"The only way you lose a game if you lose a lesson. Hopefully, we won't,'' Cole said. "We're still a team that likes winning like everybody else but we're still figuring out the ways and consistency that you have to have. We're not sneaking up on anybody.
"One common thing we hear from other people is that MSU plays real hard and they're going to make you earn everything. That's a good thing but you also have to be ready for a team being ready for us.''
BALANCE ON OFFENSE: The Spartans got goals from three different forward lines on Saturday and had 35 shots on goal, third-highest of the season. In fact, MSU's highest shots-on-goal games have come in the last three contests – 36 and 44 against Wisconsin last weekend and 35 on Saturday.
Tommy Apap's line, with Brody Stevens and Jagger Joshua on the wings, contributed the first goal at 11:19 of the second period. Dennis Cesana's shot from the top of the right circle was stopped by ASU goalie Evan Debrouwer, but the rebound dribbled into the crease to his right. Apap was right there to tap it in for his fourth goal of the season. Stevens picked up the second assist.
The Apap line combined for nine shots on goal – three each for Apap, Stevens and Joshua.
In the third period, the Patrick Khodorenko-Mitchell Lewandowski-Sam Saliba line got the Spartans back into the game, cutting ASU's lead to 3-2, at 4:59.
"Lewie made a nice play coming into the zone and dropped it to me and I was able to get a hard shot off,'' Khodorenko said. "I think maybe it hit the goalie in the head or shoulder and he didn't really track it. I was right in the slot and was able to push it to the side and shove it into the net.''
Khodorenko had six shots on goal, Saliba chipped in with four and Lewandowski had one.
And then there was the most bizarre play and goal of the night which tied the game 3-3 with the line of Josh Nodler, Nico Müller and Logan Lambdin on the ice with defensemen Christian Krygier and Cole Krieger.
Christian Krygier fired the puck into the ASU zone from the neutral zone and it deflected off the boards or glass behind the net on the right and took a crazy bounce into the top of the crease and then into the slot.
Müller squeezed between two Sun Devil defensemen, got to the loose puck between the circles and shot it past Debrouwer at 9:16. Cole Christian, who passed the puck to brother, Christian, had the second assist.
Müller had three shots on Debrouwer while Lambdin had two.
Michigan State defensemen had eight shots on goal – Jerad Rosburg had six and Cole Krygier and Dennis Cesana each had one.
Overall, the Spartans had 69 shot attempts while the Sun Devils had 56. Both teams blocked 17 shots with defensemen Tommy Miller and Rosburg leading MSU with three apiece.
IN THE BIG TEN: Notre Dame ended a six-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Penn State on Saturday to earn a split in their Big Ten series. The Irish (9-7-2, 5-3-2-1 Big Ten), who were 0-6-1 in their last seven games, took a 1-0 lead in the first period and added two more goals in the second period.
Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris made 37 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Peyton Jones made 20 saves, including only one in the third period, for the Nittany Lions (13-6-0, 8-4-0-0), who won the series opener on Friday, 3-2.
Since starting the season 9-2, Penn State is 4-4 in its last eight games and 3-3 in its last six conference games. Notre Dame's last victory was on Nov. 16 – a 5-4 overtime win at Wisconsin.
Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were idle this weekend and won't play again until after Christmas.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – A week ago, Michigan State found itself trailing Wisconsin by two goals entering the third period.
On Saturday night, the Spartans faced the same challenge, again down 3-1 entering the final 20 minutes.
And once again, MSU battled back to tie the game and get the Munn Arena crowd excited and anticipating a positive finish.
But unlike last week's 5-4 overtime win over the Badgers, this one, against Arizona State, did not have a happy ending.
In a game of bad-luck bounces and fluky goals for each team, the Spartans' strong third period was spoiled by a late Sun Devils goal which led to a 4-3 ASU victory in the non-conference series opener in front of a disappointed crowd of 5,306, other than a few ASU supporters.
For the No. 18 Spartans (8-8-1, 6-3-1 Big Ten), the positive takeaway was their third-period rally, tying the game 3-3 on goals by Patrick Khodorenko and Nico Muller 4 minutes and 17 seconds apart - at 4:59 and 9:16. MSU outshot the visitors in the period, 16-8.
The negative was a poor first period in which No. 16/15 ASU (9-4-2) took advantage of turnovers and emerged with a 2-0 lead and left the Spartans chasing the game.
"We scouted them; we know they're a quick transition team. We played them last year. I just think we didn't follow the game plan,'' Khodorenko said.
"We tried to go cross-ice a lot and that fed their transition a lot. They got three goals off transition. We can't do that and expect to win.''
Michigan State will try to rebound and earn a series split when it faces the Sun Devils in the series finale at 5 p.m. Sunday at Munn Arena.
Asked to sum up his team's start, Khodorenko's response was short, to the point and without excuses.
"Just not good. That's about it. Just not ready,'' he said.
Michigan State was much better in the second period, cutting its deficit to 2-1 on Tommy Apap's rebound goal at 11:19. But the Sun Devils regained their two-goal lead 1 minutes and 23 seconds later with a goal off a faceoff by defenseman Jacob Wilson.
When the Spartans evened the game at 3-3, momentum and puck luck were definitely going their way. MSU got a huge break on the tying goal when defenseman Christian Krygier fired the puck into the ASU zone along the right boards. The puck caromed off the boards or glass behind the net and ended up a few feet in front of stunned ASU goalie Evan Debrouwer.
Müller beat the Sun Devils defense, swooped in and fired the puck past Debrouwer to make it 3-3.
Suddenly, the Spartans had visions of another dramatic come-from-behind victory. Those visions were clouded about five minutes later.
Arizona State got some puck luck of its own with the game-winning goal with 5:40 left in the period. Defenseman Jarrod Gourley's shot from the left point was going wide to the left of the goal, but right wing Johnny Walker, standing in front, reached out and tipped the puck out of mid-air and it bounced down and slid between the legs of MSU goalie John Lethemon and into the net.
It was Walker's team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Michigan State tried to bounce back once more, but ASU played strong defense and survived late pressure and a Spartan power play for the final 38.2 seconds to claim victory.
"It was a good battle. They had the jump on us early and we got it going a little bit and realized how hard we were going to have to work,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Unfortunately, it was 2-0 at that time.
"I liked the way the guys battled and regrouped and kept coming in the third period. Their guy made a real nice play on the winning goal. He tips it out of the air back across the crease. And we just couldn't get the next one.''
MSU goalie John Lethemon made 22 saves and once again kept his team in contention with some clutch saves. Debrouwer, who faced only five shots in the first period, made 32 saves, including 13 in the second period and 14 in the third.
"There's lots of good things (about the game) but there's a lot of things we can do better,'' Cole said. "They beat us tonight and it's up to us to be better tomorrow.''
Neither team scored a power-play goal. ASU was 0-for-3 while Michigan State was 0-for-2 with only one full power play.
"Give them credit. They had the jump on us,'' Cole said. "We had some reads where the strong play was to get (the puck) out and the strong play was to get it in and we didn't. We fed their transition game a little bit, and that's what happens. They're a good transition team and it's going to end up in the back of your net.''
MSU's top line of Khodorenko, Lewandowski and Sam Saliba had 11 shots on goal and scored one goal. Khodorenko had six shots, Saliba four and Lewandowski one.
The Spartans looked more like the team that swept Wisconsin and were 5-2-1 in their last seven games in the second and third periods.
"We started to win faceoffs and get shots on net,'' Khodorenko said.
"Overall, I thought we played more downhill and it showed. In the third period, we were dominating that game.
"They played great and got a nice tip at the end to take the lead. But I thought we were right there with them in the second and third periods.''
The Spartans are back to .500 overall at 8-8-1 with one more game before the holiday break and then the Great Lakes Invitational Dec. 30-31 to end the 2019 portion of the schedule.
"The only way you lose a game if you lose a lesson. Hopefully, we won't,'' Cole said. "We're still a team that likes winning like everybody else but we're still figuring out the ways and consistency that you have to have. We're not sneaking up on anybody.
"One common thing we hear from other people is that MSU plays real hard and they're going to make you earn everything. That's a good thing but you also have to be ready for a team being ready for us.''
BALANCE ON OFFENSE: The Spartans got goals from three different forward lines on Saturday and had 35 shots on goal, third-highest of the season. In fact, MSU's highest shots-on-goal games have come in the last three contests – 36 and 44 against Wisconsin last weekend and 35 on Saturday.
Tommy Apap's line, with Brody Stevens and Jagger Joshua on the wings, contributed the first goal at 11:19 of the second period. Dennis Cesana's shot from the top of the right circle was stopped by ASU goalie Evan Debrouwer, but the rebound dribbled into the crease to his right. Apap was right there to tap it in for his fourth goal of the season. Stevens picked up the second assist.
The Apap line combined for nine shots on goal – three each for Apap, Stevens and Joshua.
In the third period, the Patrick Khodorenko-Mitchell Lewandowski-Sam Saliba line got the Spartans back into the game, cutting ASU's lead to 3-2, at 4:59.
"Lewie made a nice play coming into the zone and dropped it to me and I was able to get a hard shot off,'' Khodorenko said. "I think maybe it hit the goalie in the head or shoulder and he didn't really track it. I was right in the slot and was able to push it to the side and shove it into the net.''
Khodorenko had six shots on goal, Saliba chipped in with four and Lewandowski had one.
And then there was the most bizarre play and goal of the night which tied the game 3-3 with the line of Josh Nodler, Nico Müller and Logan Lambdin on the ice with defensemen Christian Krygier and Cole Krieger.
Christian Krygier fired the puck into the ASU zone from the neutral zone and it deflected off the boards or glass behind the net on the right and took a crazy bounce into the top of the crease and then into the slot.
Müller squeezed between two Sun Devil defensemen, got to the loose puck between the circles and shot it past Debrouwer at 9:16. Cole Christian, who passed the puck to brother, Christian, had the second assist.
Müller had three shots on Debrouwer while Lambdin had two.
Michigan State defensemen had eight shots on goal – Jerad Rosburg had six and Cole Krygier and Dennis Cesana each had one.
Overall, the Spartans had 69 shot attempts while the Sun Devils had 56. Both teams blocked 17 shots with defensemen Tommy Miller and Rosburg leading MSU with three apiece.
IN THE BIG TEN: Notre Dame ended a six-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Penn State on Saturday to earn a split in their Big Ten series. The Irish (9-7-2, 5-3-2-1 Big Ten), who were 0-6-1 in their last seven games, took a 1-0 lead in the first period and added two more goals in the second period.
Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris made 37 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Peyton Jones made 20 saves, including only one in the third period, for the Nittany Lions (13-6-0, 8-4-0-0), who won the series opener on Friday, 3-2.
Since starting the season 9-2, Penn State is 4-4 in its last eight games and 3-3 in its last six conference games. Notre Dame's last victory was on Nov. 16 – a 5-4 overtime win at Wisconsin.
Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were idle this weekend and won't play again until after Christmas.
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