Photo by: Mike Miller/Fighting Irish Media
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Can’t Solve Irish in 1-0 Loss
3/9/2019 9:20:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Michigan State played a strong defensive game, and a was pretty solid offensively against Notre Dame on Friday night.
So, what did the Spartans have to show for it?
Not much, except for the fact that they did a lot of good things, and unfortunately, didn't get rewarded for their efforts.
In a game that came down to the third period, Michigan State gave up an early power-play goal and couldn't solve Irish goalie Cale Morris, and Notre Dame held on for a 1-0 victory in the first game of a Big Ten first-round best-of-three series in front of 4,177 fans at Lefty Smith Rink at Compton Family Arena.
"We had the chances, the guys worked hard and did a lot of good things and didn't cheat us,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was one of those games where we couldn't get one by (Morris). We had 27 shots. We were pretty good.''
Here are a few plays that made for a disappointing night for the Spartans:
One shot goes in off the body of O'Leary. Another shot by Rosburg is stopped by a goalie who never saw it.
That was the type of night it was for the Spartans, who outshot Notre Dame, 27-24, but came away with a tough defeat.
"They drift one in and it hits the guy in the thigh and goes in, and we drift one in and the goalie doesn't see it and it hits him square and goes right underneath him,'' Cole said.
"Both teams played hard and there wasn't a ton of mistakes. We hit the crossbar and that could have gotten us out to a lead. I liked how we applied the game. We kept pushing it. And other than just before the five-minute power play when I thought we had a bit of a lull, we carried the play and had a territorial advantage.''
MSU had just one power play while Notre Dame had four, including three in a row in the third period – at 1:31, 6:14 and 13:59.
"With their four power plays (and eight shots on goal), that's a third of their shots,'' Cole said. "They ended up with three power plays in the third period and we didn't get anything. It wasn't a four power plays to one power play game.
"We had the territorial advantage and there were plenty of calls they could make. But they don't, so we have to deal with it. We did a pretty good job of killing penalties, and other than one weird bounce, it was pretty clean.''
For the Spartans (12-18-5 overall), it's win on Saturday or the season is over. MSU and No. 15/16 Notre Dame (19-13-2) meet in Game 2 at 7 p.m. at Compton Family Arena. If MSU wins, the deciding Game 3 will be at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
"We played well tonight. We have to keep our heads up high with that. We can't dwell on the past,'' MSU junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg said. "We have some areas we have to clean up, but I can guarantee that we'll come out hard tomorrow.
"It's almost like the second half of a basketball game – win the second half and get it to overtime on Sunday. That's the mentality we'll have.''
DEFENSE EXCELS: In four of the five games Michigan State and Notre Dame have played this season, goals have been at a premium.
The Irish won 3-1, with an empty-net goal, and 2-1 at Munn Arena in mid-November. In late January, Notre Dame blew open a close game with two goals in the last two minutes of the second period and two in the opening four minutes of the third, en route to a 6-3 victory. In the series final, the Spartans led 1-0 from the first minute of the second period until there were three minutes left in the third period, when the Irish tied it, and the game ended in a 1-1 deadlock.
On Friday, both teams were solid defensively and goalies John Lethemon (23 saves) and Cale Morris (27 saves) were very good.
"Overall, we played hard. John Lethemon and the defense were solid,'' said MSU right wing Mitchell Lewandowski, who had four shots on goal. "We put up some good shots and the goaltending was good for them, too.
"They always seem to have four guys back, or maybe even five guys. They backpressure hard and backcheck really well. We get a lot of goals off the rush and when we're not able to make those plays through the middle, it's tough.
"We generated some good shots but the puck just didn't go in. Cale Morris is a great goalie. Getting more bodies in front is something we have to do.''
MSU junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg had a strong game defensively and was a threat on offense. He broke up several Irish scoring chances and he helped his team sustain play in the offensive zone and created some scoring chances. He had a team-high six shots on goal, including three in the third period.
"It was a tight game on both sides and I think we did well in limiting the amount of rushes they had, and when they did get them, we did a good job of keeping them wide,'' Rosburg said. "John Lethemon played really well.
"I thought I played well but at the end of the day, we didn't win and that's the most important thing. I just try to do as much as I can for the boys, and some games, it's more defensively and some it's more offensively.''
In the last minute, with MSU holding a 6-on-5 edge in skaters with Lethemon off for an extra attacker, Rosburg fired a shot from the left point that Morris never saw. But it still hit the junior goalie on his right pad and dropped in front of him.
"That was one of those tough ones,'' Rosburg said. "The puck kind of got by the (defenseman in front) and I know the goalie didn't see my release. I had another shot (earlier) in the third period and I don't think he saw it. He just put up his arm and it hit him.
"That's hockey. That's the way it goes. Sometimes you get the bounce and sometimes you don't. You see it every level – triple A, college and the NHL. Not much you can do but keep on shooting and try to create more chances.''
THE IRISH VIEW: Coach Jeff Jackson said surviving MSU's five-minute power play midway through the second period helped put his team in position to come away with the 1-0 victory.
"It was typical playoff game. They were good defensively and so were we,'' he said. "It was intense defensive hockey, and that's what you get in the playoffs.
"Fortunately, we did a great job in the second period killing that penalty, which probably saved us. Then, to score that power play goal. There wasn't a lot of ice out there to make plays. It's not like there were a lot of great scoring chances.''
Notre Dame played without standing senior defenseman Bobby Nardella, who suffered an unidentified injury in practice this week. Nardella skated in warm-ups but was a late scratch.
Nardella is Irish's leading scorer with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 34 games.
"He's going to be fine. It's just a matter of how soon,'' Jackson said. "We can't say at this point.''
Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris played another strong game against the Spartans, especially in the second period when he made 11 saves and in the final few minutes when MSU buzzed around the Irish zone for almost the last 90 seconds and had some quality shots.
"Many times in the past, I've said you win in the playoffs with goaltending and special teams,'' Jackson said. "That's usually what happens at every level in the playoffs.
"The games are so tight 5-on-5 that there's not a lot of space.''
IN THE BIG TEN PLAYOFFS: No. 3 seed Minnesota overcame a 2-0 deficit against No. 6 seed Michigan early in the second period, cutting its deficit to 2-1 at 4:42 and tying the game midway through the third period. The Gophers won the first-round playoff game, 3-2, on Brannon McManus' power-play goal at 10:10 of overtime.
Rem Pitlick came down the left wing and started to circle the net and quickly slid the puck out front, and McManus hardly had the puck on his stick before he directed it over the shoulder of U-M goaltender Strauss Mann and into the top right corner.
Michigan is winless in its last four games at 0-3-1 and has lost three in row in overtime, including two last weekend at Wisconsin. Wolverine standout defenseman Quinn Hughes was injured late in the game and was on crutches afterward. His status for Saturday is uncertain.
In the other Big Ten series, Wisconsin knocked off Penn State, 4-3, in University Park, Pa. The Badgers' Sean Dhooghe, who's 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds, broke a 3-3 tie with his third goal of the game with 1:50 left in the third period.
Wisconsin led 2-0 and was up 3-1 entering the third period. But Penn State scored two goals in 4 minutes and 5 seconds to tie the game at 7:48. But the Badgers regrouped and Dhooghe delivered the winner with his 15th goal of the season.
Minnesota and Wisconsin will try to advance to the Big Ten semifinals with victories on Saturday in Game 2 of their series. If the Wolverines and/or Nittany Lions win, a Game 3 will be played on Sunday.
The lowest-surviving seed from the first round will play at Ohio State in a semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on March 17. The other teams will meet in a semifinal probably next Saturday. The Big Ten championship game will be played on March 23 or 24 at the highest remaining seed.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Michigan State played a strong defensive game, and a was pretty solid offensively against Notre Dame on Friday night.
So, what did the Spartans have to show for it?
Not much, except for the fact that they did a lot of good things, and unfortunately, didn't get rewarded for their efforts.
In a game that came down to the third period, Michigan State gave up an early power-play goal and couldn't solve Irish goalie Cale Morris, and Notre Dame held on for a 1-0 victory in the first game of a Big Ten first-round best-of-three series in front of 4,177 fans at Lefty Smith Rink at Compton Family Arena.
"We had the chances, the guys worked hard and did a lot of good things and didn't cheat us,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "It was one of those games where we couldn't get one by (Morris). We had 27 shots. We were pretty good.''
Here are a few plays that made for a disappointing night for the Spartans:
- Six minutes into the second period, MSU freshman center Adam Goodsir followed up a rush and fired the puck from the slot and it looked like the puck went high into the middle of the net. But video review by the officials showed that the puck hit the crossbar and bounced down into the crease, where it was cleared.
- Four minutes later, the Spartans found themselves on a five-minute power play when Notre Dame center Cam Burke was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding. MSU had six shots on goal but failed to score. Taro Hirose had a good chance and Morris made a great pad save on a Logan Lambdin wrap-around attempt.
- Seconds after the faceoff to start the third period, Taro Hirose raced in on a partial breakaway and failed to convert.
- At 1:31 of the third period, MSU defenseman Zach Osburn was penalized for holding. Just 57 seconds later, Irish defenseman Spencer Stastney's shot from the left point hit the thigh of center Mike O'Leary, stationed in front of the net, and caromed past Spartans goalie John Lethemon for a 1-0 Irish lead.
- In the final minute, with Lethemon pulled for a sixth attacker, MSU had a few quality chances to tie it. Defenseman Jerad Rosburg let go with a shot from the left point that went through the legs of an Irish defenseman and hit the right pad of Morris, who never saw the shot.
One shot goes in off the body of O'Leary. Another shot by Rosburg is stopped by a goalie who never saw it.
That was the type of night it was for the Spartans, who outshot Notre Dame, 27-24, but came away with a tough defeat.
"They drift one in and it hits the guy in the thigh and goes in, and we drift one in and the goalie doesn't see it and it hits him square and goes right underneath him,'' Cole said.
"Both teams played hard and there wasn't a ton of mistakes. We hit the crossbar and that could have gotten us out to a lead. I liked how we applied the game. We kept pushing it. And other than just before the five-minute power play when I thought we had a bit of a lull, we carried the play and had a territorial advantage.''
MSU had just one power play while Notre Dame had four, including three in a row in the third period – at 1:31, 6:14 and 13:59.
"With their four power plays (and eight shots on goal), that's a third of their shots,'' Cole said. "They ended up with three power plays in the third period and we didn't get anything. It wasn't a four power plays to one power play game.
"We had the territorial advantage and there were plenty of calls they could make. But they don't, so we have to deal with it. We did a pretty good job of killing penalties, and other than one weird bounce, it was pretty clean.''
For the Spartans (12-18-5 overall), it's win on Saturday or the season is over. MSU and No. 15/16 Notre Dame (19-13-2) meet in Game 2 at 7 p.m. at Compton Family Arena. If MSU wins, the deciding Game 3 will be at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
"We played well tonight. We have to keep our heads up high with that. We can't dwell on the past,'' MSU junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg said. "We have some areas we have to clean up, but I can guarantee that we'll come out hard tomorrow.
"It's almost like the second half of a basketball game – win the second half and get it to overtime on Sunday. That's the mentality we'll have.''
DEFENSE EXCELS: In four of the five games Michigan State and Notre Dame have played this season, goals have been at a premium.
The Irish won 3-1, with an empty-net goal, and 2-1 at Munn Arena in mid-November. In late January, Notre Dame blew open a close game with two goals in the last two minutes of the second period and two in the opening four minutes of the third, en route to a 6-3 victory. In the series final, the Spartans led 1-0 from the first minute of the second period until there were three minutes left in the third period, when the Irish tied it, and the game ended in a 1-1 deadlock.
On Friday, both teams were solid defensively and goalies John Lethemon (23 saves) and Cale Morris (27 saves) were very good.
"Overall, we played hard. John Lethemon and the defense were solid,'' said MSU right wing Mitchell Lewandowski, who had four shots on goal. "We put up some good shots and the goaltending was good for them, too.
"They always seem to have four guys back, or maybe even five guys. They backpressure hard and backcheck really well. We get a lot of goals off the rush and when we're not able to make those plays through the middle, it's tough.
"We generated some good shots but the puck just didn't go in. Cale Morris is a great goalie. Getting more bodies in front is something we have to do.''
MSU junior defenseman Jerad Rosburg had a strong game defensively and was a threat on offense. He broke up several Irish scoring chances and he helped his team sustain play in the offensive zone and created some scoring chances. He had a team-high six shots on goal, including three in the third period.
"It was a tight game on both sides and I think we did well in limiting the amount of rushes they had, and when they did get them, we did a good job of keeping them wide,'' Rosburg said. "John Lethemon played really well.
"I thought I played well but at the end of the day, we didn't win and that's the most important thing. I just try to do as much as I can for the boys, and some games, it's more defensively and some it's more offensively.''
In the last minute, with MSU holding a 6-on-5 edge in skaters with Lethemon off for an extra attacker, Rosburg fired a shot from the left point that Morris never saw. But it still hit the junior goalie on his right pad and dropped in front of him.
"That was one of those tough ones,'' Rosburg said. "The puck kind of got by the (defenseman in front) and I know the goalie didn't see my release. I had another shot (earlier) in the third period and I don't think he saw it. He just put up his arm and it hit him.
"That's hockey. That's the way it goes. Sometimes you get the bounce and sometimes you don't. You see it every level – triple A, college and the NHL. Not much you can do but keep on shooting and try to create more chances.''
THE IRISH VIEW: Coach Jeff Jackson said surviving MSU's five-minute power play midway through the second period helped put his team in position to come away with the 1-0 victory.
"It was typical playoff game. They were good defensively and so were we,'' he said. "It was intense defensive hockey, and that's what you get in the playoffs.
"Fortunately, we did a great job in the second period killing that penalty, which probably saved us. Then, to score that power play goal. There wasn't a lot of ice out there to make plays. It's not like there were a lot of great scoring chances.''
Notre Dame played without standing senior defenseman Bobby Nardella, who suffered an unidentified injury in practice this week. Nardella skated in warm-ups but was a late scratch.
Nardella is Irish's leading scorer with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 34 games.
"He's going to be fine. It's just a matter of how soon,'' Jackson said. "We can't say at this point.''
Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris played another strong game against the Spartans, especially in the second period when he made 11 saves and in the final few minutes when MSU buzzed around the Irish zone for almost the last 90 seconds and had some quality shots.
"Many times in the past, I've said you win in the playoffs with goaltending and special teams,'' Jackson said. "That's usually what happens at every level in the playoffs.
"The games are so tight 5-on-5 that there's not a lot of space.''
IN THE BIG TEN PLAYOFFS: No. 3 seed Minnesota overcame a 2-0 deficit against No. 6 seed Michigan early in the second period, cutting its deficit to 2-1 at 4:42 and tying the game midway through the third period. The Gophers won the first-round playoff game, 3-2, on Brannon McManus' power-play goal at 10:10 of overtime.
Rem Pitlick came down the left wing and started to circle the net and quickly slid the puck out front, and McManus hardly had the puck on his stick before he directed it over the shoulder of U-M goaltender Strauss Mann and into the top right corner.
Michigan is winless in its last four games at 0-3-1 and has lost three in row in overtime, including two last weekend at Wisconsin. Wolverine standout defenseman Quinn Hughes was injured late in the game and was on crutches afterward. His status for Saturday is uncertain.
In the other Big Ten series, Wisconsin knocked off Penn State, 4-3, in University Park, Pa. The Badgers' Sean Dhooghe, who's 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds, broke a 3-3 tie with his third goal of the game with 1:50 left in the third period.
Wisconsin led 2-0 and was up 3-1 entering the third period. But Penn State scored two goals in 4 minutes and 5 seconds to tie the game at 7:48. But the Badgers regrouped and Dhooghe delivered the winner with his 15th goal of the season.
Minnesota and Wisconsin will try to advance to the Big Ten semifinals with victories on Saturday in Game 2 of their series. If the Wolverines and/or Nittany Lions win, a Game 3 will be played on Sunday.
The lowest-surviving seed from the first round will play at Ohio State in a semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on March 17. The other teams will meet in a semifinal probably next Saturday. The Big Ten championship game will be played on March 23 or 24 at the highest remaining seed.
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