Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Run Out of Time in Regular Season Home Finale

By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer

EAST LANSING – When Cody Milan scored a power-play goal five minutes into the second period to tie the game 2-2, it looked like Michigan State would gain momentum and be in position to defeat Penn State for the second-straight night.

At the time, the Spartans were being outshot by wide margin and outplayed by the offensive-minded Nittany Lions. But the goal and deadlock 25 minutes into the game gave the players, coaches and fans hope.

But MSU's confidence boost by Milan's seventh goal of the season didn't last long, thanks to an energetic Penn State team that kept the pressure on the Spartans.

Three minutes after the game was tied, the Nittany Lions regained the lead for good on defenseman Paul DeNaples' first career goal. Five minutes later, they scored again to make it 4-2.

No. 17 Penn State held off Michigan State in the third period and went on to a 5-3 victory on Saturday on Senior Night in front of 5,941 fans at Munn Arena.

The loss spoiled the Spartans' bid for a Big Ten series sweep, after winning on Friday night, 5-3, and it put a dent in MSU's quest for a top-four finish in the conference and a home playoff series.

"I felt like we ran out of time. The guys played hard right to the end, and even pulled our goalie shorthanded to give ourselves a chance,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "We even had a couple rips at it, and just couldn't get it.''

Michigan State cut Penn State's lead to 4-3 on defenseman Jerad Rosburg's power-play goal with 5:55 left in the third period and pressed hard for the tie in the final minutes, despite killing off a late penalty. But the Nittany Lions held on to enhance their own chances of earning home ice for the playoffs.

With the victory, Penn State switched places with Michigan State, moving up to fifth place in the Big Ten with 29 points and dropping the Spartans to sixth place with 27 points. The Nittany Lions have four games remaining but MSU has only two.

Saturday's game was the final regular season home game for MSU's three seniors – defenseman Zach Osburn and forwards Brennan Sanford Milan. The trio was honored before the game with the traditional senior skate around Munn Arena.

The Spartans (11-16-5 overall, 7-11-4-2) have next weekend off before closing out the regular season at first-place Ohio State, March 1-2.

"It was unfortunate in the second period that we lost a couple one-on-one battles and (the puck) ended up in the back of the net. Sometimes that's the difference in a game and it was (tonight),'' Cole said.

"They made two nice plays and got away from one of our guys in a closing situation and they made a play to the backside, and the other one, (goalie John Lethemon) was out of the net and they were able to zip it in.

"You have to contain them, and last night we did a better job of not having those moments.''

The Nittany Lions outshot the Spartans, 47-30. Lethemon made 18 saves in the first period, 13 in the second and 11 in the third. PSU goalie Peyton Jones had a solid game with 30 saves.

"Jones was outstanding. He earned his win,'' Cole said. "It wasn't an easy one. He was very good.''

Despite falling short, MSU players liked the way their team competed and battled to the end, pressing for the tying goal with some good looks before Penn State's Nate Sucese scored into an empty net with 23 seconds left to seal the win and series split.

"We battled hard for 60 minutes, for the most part,'' said Sanford, who assisted on Adam Goodsir's goal in the first period that tied the game 1-1. "Penn State did play a lot better than on Friday. They were a lot harder on us. But we didn't play any worse.

"We were on for most of the game, expect for five-minute (stretches) here and there. We were a little sluggish and didn't stick to our game plan at times. But no matter what the score, whether we're up by two or down by two, we're pretty relentless. Our battle doesn't waver.

"We had our fair shares of chances. The shots were there, and if we got one of those, things could have been different.''

Taro Hirose, MSU's top scorer and the leading scorer in the nation, said he wasn't surprised by Penn State raising its level of play on Saturday.

"They're a good team and you have to expect them to come back (stronger) after Friday's game, and it was a little tighter tonight,'' said Hirose, who had two assists on Saturday. "The bounces didn't go our way. We started off a little slow and let them do what they do – get a lot of shots in the first period.

"We weathered their storm and kept pushing and we just ran out of time.''

Senior defenseman Zach Osburn agreed with Hirose, and like his teammates, was frustrated by Saturday's regular-season loss, instead of rising up and getting a much-needed sweep to be in position for the coveted high finish in the Big Ten.

"We're mad. We had more in the tank to give. We're a blue-collar team, an in-your-face type of team,'' he said. "But give Penn State credit for bouncing back. They played a lot harder than on Friday.

"It was one of those things that come down to bounces. We got some good bounces on Friday, and they played pretty well tonight and got a few bounces to go their way tonight. That's hockey.

"When Jerad scored there in the third period, it gave the bench some life and momentum. We had some chances but their goalie played unbelievable.''

Brandon Biro and Ludvig Larsson (power play) scored for Penn State in the first period, DeNaples and defenseman Kris Mylari connected in the second period and Sucese found the empty net in the last minute.

Hirose and Khodorenko each collected two assists – on power-play goals by Milan and Rosburg. MSU went 2-for-3 on the power play, while PSU was 1-for-3.

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SENIORS SALUTE: Unless Michigan State sweeps Ohio State in Columbus in two weeks and teams like Minnesota, Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State suffer a lot of losses, Spartan seniors Zach Osburn, Cody Milan and Brennan Sanford have played their last game at Munn Arena.

Despite the emotion of Senior Night on Saturday and the ceremonies before the game, Coach Danton Cole was impressed with how his seniors reacted to the special night and played against the Nittany Lions.

"Senior Night is a hard game to play because it's emotional and you don't have the energy, but I thought our guys worked their tails off,'' the second-year Spartans coach said. "I don't know if this is the last game here for them – we still have a chance to get home ice with a couple games to go.

"But if was, I was glad that they played like that. They battled, and the rest of the team battled.''

Osburn was especially hit by the high emotion of the night.

"It was really emotional. It always gets like this. My parents were very emotional,'' he said. "It's not the outcome we wanted but we're still fighting for a spot to play back here again. If the dominoes fall in the right spot, we might get a chance to play here again.

"But the idea in the back of your mind is that this might be the last time you'll step off that ice and that's pretty hard to take.''

Michigan State has at least four games left in the season – two at Ohio State to finish the regular season, March 1-2, and at least two and maybe three in the first round of the Big Ten playoffs in a best-of-three series.

"These guys have been here for two years (with the present coaching staff) and they've been great,'' Cole said of his seniors. "What the seniors end up doing off the ice is more important than on the ice. They've worked hard, they're good citizens, they're upbeat and great models for the younger guys.

"Sometimes, when you're in your fourth year, you can get distracted and start thinking about what's next. But our guys have stayed in the moment really, really well.

"I've been impressed as they've continued to get better. They haven't plateaued.''

50 POINTS FOR HIROSE: With two assists Saturday, junior left wing Taro Hirose boosted his nation-leading points total to 50, with 15 goals and 35 assists, also No. 1 in the nation.

The 5-10, 165-pounder from Calgary is the first MSU player to reach 50 points in a season since defenseman John-Michael Liles led the Spartans in scoring with 16 goals and 34 assists for 50 points in 2002-03.

Hirose increased his points lead to nine over Mercyhurst defenseman Joseph Duszak, who has 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points. Blake Christensen, a forward from American International College (AIC) is third nationally with 40 points (13-27-40).

In Big Ten games, Hirose is No. 1 with 10 goals and 24 assists for 34 points. He has a three-point lead over Minnesota's Tyler Sheehy, who has 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points.

Hirose's linemates, Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski, are No. 3 and 6, respectively, in Big Ten scoring. Khodorenko has 28 points (11-17) and Lewandowski has 24 (12-12).

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UP NEXT: The Spartans have next weekend off before ending the regular season at Ohio State, March 1-2. Then, it's the start of the Big Ten playoffs, and the most likely first-round opponents appear to be Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame.

This week, Michigan State will take a few days off and have some practices and be ready physically and mentally for the final series at Ohio State and the Big Ten playoffs.

"We've been going hard since the GLI. It started out with four games (the last week of December and the first week of January) in seven days and three were overtime games,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "It was pretty exhausting and we've been going at it with a lot of travel.

"It's nice when you take back-to-back days off. We'll take Sunday and Monday off, then go two days, take Thursday off, go Friday and Saturday, and have a normal week heading into Ohio State. This week, we won't do a lot of banging, but we're going to try to play fast and we'll take care of that.

"We'll get in the weight room a couple times and we'll take a little bit of heaviness off the guys. We can get better during the week and rest up.''

IN THE BIG TEN: Minnesota completed a stunning sweep of Ohio State on Saturday with a 4-3 victory in Columbus. The Gophers, who led 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-2 before holding on for the close win on Saturday. Minnesota also topped the Buckeyes 4-3 in Friday's series opener.

In the other weekend series, Notre Dame bounced back from its 2-1 loss to Wisconsin on Friday and rolled past the Badgers, 5-2, on Saturday in Notre Dame, Ind.

Michigan had the weekend off.

While Michigan State is on a bye next weekend, the other Big Ten series have Ohio State playing at Michigan, Penn State home against Wisconsin and Notre Dame visiting Minnesota.

On the final weekend of the season, March 1-2, MSU is at Ohio State, Michigan visits Wisconsin and Notre Dame plays host to Penn State. Minnesota, which completes its conference schedule next weekend, plays a non-conference game against Arizona State on March 1-2.

THE BIG TEN RACE: The Spartans ended the weekend the way they started it – in sixth place with 27 points. MSU, with two games left, is two points behind fifth-place Penn State (29 points), which has four games remaining.

The Spartans are three points in back of fourth-place Michigan (30), which has four games left, four points behind third-place Notre dame (31), which has four games left, and six points behind second-place Minnesota (33), which plays its final two Big Ten games next weekend at home against Notre Dame.

Despite suffering two home losses against Minnesota this weekend, Ohio State remains in first place with 41 points, eight more than Minnesota, which has 33. But the Gophers can't overtake the Buckeyes and finish first because they only have two games remaining.

But Notre Dame, Michigan (30) and Penn State - each with four games and 12 points available – are the only teams that could overtake Ohio State and still finish in first place.

The Big Ten playoffs start March 8-10 with three, best of three series. With the first-place team – most likely Ohio State – getting a first-round bye, the second-place team is home against No. 7; the No. 3 team plays host to No. 6, and the last matchup is No. 4 hosting No. 5.

The two conference semifinals are set for March 16, and the Big Ten championship game is March 23, with the highest surviving seed getting home ice.