Michigan State University Athletics
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Fall Short to Minnesota; Tied for Second in the B1G at the Midway Point
1/12/2020 10:23:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Both Michigan State and Ohio State had an opportunity to climb into first place in the Big Ten on Saturday night.
The Spartans needed to complete a sweep of Minnesota and the Buckeyes' chance hinged on beating Wisconsin for the second straight night.
But sweeps are difficult to achieve in the Big Ten, and in the end, MSU and OSU fell short in their bids to reach the halfway point in conference play on top of the standings.
Michigan State didn't play as well on Saturday as it did on Friday in a 4-1 victory and Minnesota played a lot better. A goal 100 seconds into the game turned out to be the winner as the Spartans suffered a 2-0 loss in front of an announced crowd of 5,923 at Munn Arena.
Meanwhile, Ohio State missed its opportunity, losing at Wisconsin, 5-2.
So, Penn State, with 24 points remains in first place, two points in front of the Spartans and Buckeyes, each with 22 points.
All in all, Spartans' coach Danton Cole was disappointed with the outcome Saturday but was not unhappy with his team's compete level and attitude.
"It was a good hard-fought game and there were no real surprises. I don't think our guys took Minnesota lightly,'' Cole said. "Minnesota played really hard. You'd probably give them the edge tonight on being the more desperate team.''
The Spartans (11-10-1 overall, 7-4-1-0 Big Ten) had a few quality chances but couldn't solve the Gophers' defense and freshman goalie Jared Moe, who made 28 saves while earning his first career shutout.
Junior forward Scott Reedy beat MSU goalie John Lethemon on a 2-on-1 break from the right circle at 1:40 of the first period. And the red light didn't flash again until Minnesota freshman Ben Meyers scored into an empty net to seal the victory at 18:32 of the third period.
"There was a little more of a wall at their blue line tonight than there was last night. They did a good job with that,'' Cole said. "We kept trying to stickhandle through that, probably a little too much. There was a little frustration with some of the guys.''
Michigan State missed a great opportunity to tie the game and set up an exciting finish when senior left wing Logan Lambdin raced in on a breakaway nine minutes into the third period. Lambdin blocked a shot from the point in the MSU zone and the puck bounced into the neutral zone with Lambdin in pursuit.
Lambdin, who scored on a breakaway against Michigan Tech in the GLI two weeks ago, sped away from a Gopher defenseman chasing him and skated in close, faked to his backhand, went left but the puck slid off his stick and ended up behind the net.
"I saw the move he does a lot and he just missed the puck on the back side. He jams that in quite a bit,'' Cole said. "I felt good with the puck on his stick. He just didn't finish it. It would have been great for the team and made for a great (rest of the) third period.
"You get your chances and sometimes you bang them in and sometimes you don't.''
Minnesota freshman goalie Moe didn't make a save on Lambdin but didn't give him much to shoot at and survived MSU's best scoring chance of the night.
"It was one of those situations that can change a game, that moment right there,'' said Moe, 20, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound, right-hand catching goaltender from New Prague, Minn. "I needed to come up with a big save and luckily he lost it to the corner. That's a big momentum swing for us.''
The Spartans outshot the Gophers, 28-22 and had 11 shots on goal in each of the first two periods. Lethemon made 20 saves.
"If the effort is there and the attitude is there, then we push forward,'' Cole said. "If it wasn't and we took them lightly and laid an egg emotionally and physically, then I'd probably be more upset.
"They don't need me ranting and raving with how hard they played. That's a good group in there. Those guys care about each other. They'll get back at it on Monday and work.''
Once the oh-what-could-have-been game has been digested, the Spartans will look ahead to their next challenge – a two-game series at Wisconsin next Friday and Saturday.
"I don't think our guys cheated us. We're in a position where a lot of these guys haven't been in college hockey,'' Cole said. "There's a way to go through the process in figuring out how to win and stay on top and have the right edge. I think we got a little too emotional in some areas and that doesn't help.
"Our guys played really hard; Minnesota played very hard. We've done this over the last few years. We've gone into Penn State, Ohio State or Notre Dame and we'd play a hard game the first night and come up short and then win the second night.
"Sweeps are tough to get. It's tough when you have a chance and don't seal the deal. It was a one-shot game – a minute-and-a-half into the game.''
After Minnesota had three 5-on-3 power plays on Friday night, the Spartans got one two-man advantage on Saturday. It lasted 1 minute and 1 second late in the second period but, like the Gophers, MSU couldn't convert.
"All credit to Minnesota. They did things right. They played a good game, got pucks in and played hard and physical,'' MSU junior right wing Brody Stevens said. "They did a good job at getting in shooting lanes. It was hard for our (defensemen) to get to the net and Minnesota did a good job at keeping our forwards out of their goalie's eyes.
"Moe played a pretty good game. He made saves when they needed them and they did a good job of clearing pucks out from in front of the net. They did a good job of playing defense in their zone.''
MSU senior right wing and co-captain Sam Saliba said "Minnesota played completely different than last night.''
"They kept it simple and didn't give us much off the transition,'' he said. "They defended pretty well. I thought we maybe lacked in some areas – like danger-zone areas. It was a pretty good Big Ten game against a good team. We generated some chances but not enough. They did a good job of clearing things out in front of their net.
"We won't feel sorry for ourselves. Well just get ready for next weekend.''
THE GOPHERS' VIEW: Minnesota coach Bob Motzko was impressed with the way his team bounced back from Fridays 4-1 loss and battled and played physical on Saturday. He also seems to be a big fan of the Spartans.
"That's a good hockey team. I really like that team,'' he said of Michigan State. "But we stuck our nose into battles and we won a lot of them and didn't lose many. We did in the first period but I liked that we continued it in the next two (periods).
"It was as physical as (Friday) night, except we joined the party. We weren't in the party last night. We have to feel good coming back and just gutting this game out, on the road against what I think is one of the better teams in the country. We'll take that thing and build on it.''
Goalie Jared Moe, who earned his first collegiate shutout with a 28-save performance, said his team did a better job of shutting down MSU's most dangerous forwards – Patrick Khodorenko, Mitchell Lewandowski and Sam Saliba.
"They're definitely a scary team with a really good first line and a couple of 100-point guys, but I think we did a pretty good job of managing them tonight,'' said Moe, who played the second and third periods of Friday's game and allowed only one goal – to Saliba in the second period.
"We talked about it all day about how we wanted to come out a lot better, and we did that by scoring (on an early shift).''
12 DOWN, 12 TO GO: Michigan State and the other six Big Ten teams have reached the halfway point in the 24-game Big Ten schedule with 12 games in the books and another 12 to be played over the next seven weekends. (Each team has one weekend off from conference play).
Despite losing the series finale to Minnesota, 2-0, on Saturday, the Spartans are encouraged by their conference record – 7-4-1-0 – and place in the standings – tied for second, two points in back of first-place Penn State.
"When you're only two points out of first place, you have to be happy with that. I always thought we could be the type of team like this,'' MSU senior right wing and co-captain Sam Saliba said. "We're getting a lot of good hockey out of a lot of guys. Up and down the lineup, everyone has been contributing.
"The back-end, great goaltending. We always knew we had the personnel and this year we've been putting it together, but with that said, we have to continue to move forward. And collect those points.''
Michigan State has one series left against each of the other six teams in the Big Ten. It starts at Wisconsin next weekend, followed by a home series against Penn State, Jan. 24-25. After a bye week, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, the Spartans play at Minnesota, Feb. 7-8, home against Michigan, Feb. 14, vs. Michigan in Detroit, Feb. 17, home against Ohio State, Feb. 21-22 and at Notre Dame, Feb. 28-29 to close out the regular season.
"We're at the halfway point and we're two points out of first place. I'd make that deal,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "That's what we have to focus on. We have six Big Ten weekends.''
SPARTAN POTPOURRI: Michigan State didn't put any pucks in the net on Saturday but the top forward line of Patrick Khodorenko, Mitchell Lewandowski and Sam Saliba has a busy night of putting pucks on goal. The unit combined for 15 shots on goalie Jared Moe – more than half of MSU's 28 shots on goal.
Khodorenko led the way with seven, with Lewandowski having six and Saliba two. Senior defenseman Butrus Ghafari was next with five…
In a span of about 10 seconds in the second period on Saturday, MSU's Brody Stevens and Minnesota's Brannon McManus had rocket-like shots from the right circle clank off the left post at opposite ends of the rink. Stevens started it on a rush down the right wing. The puck hit the post, the Gophers retrieved it and started their own rush down the right wing. McManus let go with a shot that went off the post to the right of MSU goalie John Lethemon. Close, but no goals…
The Spartans have played seven games which have ended in shutouts. They been on the good end four times – vs. Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona State. They've been blanked three times – vs. Northern Michigan, Ohio State and now Minnesota. In games against NMU and Minnesota, the Spartans have been shut out by freshmen goaltenders earning their first career shutouts – John Hawthorne of Northern Michigan and Jerad Moe of Minnesota…
Since sweeping Wisconsin, Dec. 6-7, Michigan State is 3-3 with three series or tournament splits – Arizona State, in the Great Lakes Invitational, losing to Michigan Tech and defeating Ferris State, and vs. Minnesota.
IN THE BIG TEN: Michigan had the best weekend of all the conference teams in action. The Wolverines completed a sweep of struggling Notre Dame with a 3-1 victory on Saturday in Notre Dame, Ind. Michigan (9-11-2, 4-7-1-1) won the series opener on Friday, 3-0.
The sweep was the Wolverines' first in Big Ten play this season. In both games, U-M sealed the win with an empty-net goal. Since getting swept by Michigan State, Michigan is 6-4, with three series splits and a win and loss in the GLI and one sweep.
Starting with its 3-2 loss at Michigan State on Nov. 23, Notre Dame is 2-8-1 in its last 11 games. Before this weekend, the Irish were unbeaten in three games – a win over Penn State and a tie and win vs. Western Michigan.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin halted a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over No. 8/7 Ohio State on Saturday in Madison and give the Badgers a split with the Buckeyes, who won the series opener on Friday, 4-2.
In a non-conference game on Saturday, Penn State rolled past Robert Morris, 6-2, in Pittsburgh.
In addition to Michigan State's visit to Wisconsin next weekend, Michigan is at Penn State and Ohio State plays host to Notre Dame. Minnesota plays an exhibition game at home against the U.S. Under-18 Team on Friday.
Here's how the Big Ten standings look at the midway point of conference play:
1. Penn State (8-4-0-0, 24 points); 2. (tie) Michigan State (7-4-1-0, 22 points, and Ohio State (7-4-1-0, 22 points; 4. Notre Dame (5-5-2-1, 18 points); 5. Minnesota (3-5-4-3, 16 points); 6. Michigan (4-7-1-0, 13 points); 7. Wisconsin (3-8-1-1, 11 points).
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
EAST LANSING – Both Michigan State and Ohio State had an opportunity to climb into first place in the Big Ten on Saturday night.
The Spartans needed to complete a sweep of Minnesota and the Buckeyes' chance hinged on beating Wisconsin for the second straight night.
But sweeps are difficult to achieve in the Big Ten, and in the end, MSU and OSU fell short in their bids to reach the halfway point in conference play on top of the standings.
Michigan State didn't play as well on Saturday as it did on Friday in a 4-1 victory and Minnesota played a lot better. A goal 100 seconds into the game turned out to be the winner as the Spartans suffered a 2-0 loss in front of an announced crowd of 5,923 at Munn Arena.
Meanwhile, Ohio State missed its opportunity, losing at Wisconsin, 5-2.
So, Penn State, with 24 points remains in first place, two points in front of the Spartans and Buckeyes, each with 22 points.
All in all, Spartans' coach Danton Cole was disappointed with the outcome Saturday but was not unhappy with his team's compete level and attitude.
"It was a good hard-fought game and there were no real surprises. I don't think our guys took Minnesota lightly,'' Cole said. "Minnesota played really hard. You'd probably give them the edge tonight on being the more desperate team.''
The Spartans (11-10-1 overall, 7-4-1-0 Big Ten) had a few quality chances but couldn't solve the Gophers' defense and freshman goalie Jared Moe, who made 28 saves while earning his first career shutout.
Junior forward Scott Reedy beat MSU goalie John Lethemon on a 2-on-1 break from the right circle at 1:40 of the first period. And the red light didn't flash again until Minnesota freshman Ben Meyers scored into an empty net to seal the victory at 18:32 of the third period.
"There was a little more of a wall at their blue line tonight than there was last night. They did a good job with that,'' Cole said. "We kept trying to stickhandle through that, probably a little too much. There was a little frustration with some of the guys.''
Michigan State missed a great opportunity to tie the game and set up an exciting finish when senior left wing Logan Lambdin raced in on a breakaway nine minutes into the third period. Lambdin blocked a shot from the point in the MSU zone and the puck bounced into the neutral zone with Lambdin in pursuit.
Lambdin, who scored on a breakaway against Michigan Tech in the GLI two weeks ago, sped away from a Gopher defenseman chasing him and skated in close, faked to his backhand, went left but the puck slid off his stick and ended up behind the net.
"I saw the move he does a lot and he just missed the puck on the back side. He jams that in quite a bit,'' Cole said. "I felt good with the puck on his stick. He just didn't finish it. It would have been great for the team and made for a great (rest of the) third period.
"You get your chances and sometimes you bang them in and sometimes you don't.''
Minnesota freshman goalie Moe didn't make a save on Lambdin but didn't give him much to shoot at and survived MSU's best scoring chance of the night.
"It was one of those situations that can change a game, that moment right there,'' said Moe, 20, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound, right-hand catching goaltender from New Prague, Minn. "I needed to come up with a big save and luckily he lost it to the corner. That's a big momentum swing for us.''
The Spartans outshot the Gophers, 28-22 and had 11 shots on goal in each of the first two periods. Lethemon made 20 saves.
"If the effort is there and the attitude is there, then we push forward,'' Cole said. "If it wasn't and we took them lightly and laid an egg emotionally and physically, then I'd probably be more upset.
"They don't need me ranting and raving with how hard they played. That's a good group in there. Those guys care about each other. They'll get back at it on Monday and work.''
Once the oh-what-could-have-been game has been digested, the Spartans will look ahead to their next challenge – a two-game series at Wisconsin next Friday and Saturday.
"I don't think our guys cheated us. We're in a position where a lot of these guys haven't been in college hockey,'' Cole said. "There's a way to go through the process in figuring out how to win and stay on top and have the right edge. I think we got a little too emotional in some areas and that doesn't help.
"Our guys played really hard; Minnesota played very hard. We've done this over the last few years. We've gone into Penn State, Ohio State or Notre Dame and we'd play a hard game the first night and come up short and then win the second night.
"Sweeps are tough to get. It's tough when you have a chance and don't seal the deal. It was a one-shot game – a minute-and-a-half into the game.''
After Minnesota had three 5-on-3 power plays on Friday night, the Spartans got one two-man advantage on Saturday. It lasted 1 minute and 1 second late in the second period but, like the Gophers, MSU couldn't convert.
"All credit to Minnesota. They did things right. They played a good game, got pucks in and played hard and physical,'' MSU junior right wing Brody Stevens said. "They did a good job at getting in shooting lanes. It was hard for our (defensemen) to get to the net and Minnesota did a good job at keeping our forwards out of their goalie's eyes.
"Moe played a pretty good game. He made saves when they needed them and they did a good job of clearing pucks out from in front of the net. They did a good job of playing defense in their zone.''
MSU senior right wing and co-captain Sam Saliba said "Minnesota played completely different than last night.''
"They kept it simple and didn't give us much off the transition,'' he said. "They defended pretty well. I thought we maybe lacked in some areas – like danger-zone areas. It was a pretty good Big Ten game against a good team. We generated some chances but not enough. They did a good job of clearing things out in front of their net.
"We won't feel sorry for ourselves. Well just get ready for next weekend.''
THE GOPHERS' VIEW: Minnesota coach Bob Motzko was impressed with the way his team bounced back from Fridays 4-1 loss and battled and played physical on Saturday. He also seems to be a big fan of the Spartans.
"That's a good hockey team. I really like that team,'' he said of Michigan State. "But we stuck our nose into battles and we won a lot of them and didn't lose many. We did in the first period but I liked that we continued it in the next two (periods).
"It was as physical as (Friday) night, except we joined the party. We weren't in the party last night. We have to feel good coming back and just gutting this game out, on the road against what I think is one of the better teams in the country. We'll take that thing and build on it.''
Goalie Jared Moe, who earned his first collegiate shutout with a 28-save performance, said his team did a better job of shutting down MSU's most dangerous forwards – Patrick Khodorenko, Mitchell Lewandowski and Sam Saliba.
"They're definitely a scary team with a really good first line and a couple of 100-point guys, but I think we did a pretty good job of managing them tonight,'' said Moe, who played the second and third periods of Friday's game and allowed only one goal – to Saliba in the second period.
"We talked about it all day about how we wanted to come out a lot better, and we did that by scoring (on an early shift).''
12 DOWN, 12 TO GO: Michigan State and the other six Big Ten teams have reached the halfway point in the 24-game Big Ten schedule with 12 games in the books and another 12 to be played over the next seven weekends. (Each team has one weekend off from conference play).
Despite losing the series finale to Minnesota, 2-0, on Saturday, the Spartans are encouraged by their conference record – 7-4-1-0 – and place in the standings – tied for second, two points in back of first-place Penn State.
"When you're only two points out of first place, you have to be happy with that. I always thought we could be the type of team like this,'' MSU senior right wing and co-captain Sam Saliba said. "We're getting a lot of good hockey out of a lot of guys. Up and down the lineup, everyone has been contributing.
"The back-end, great goaltending. We always knew we had the personnel and this year we've been putting it together, but with that said, we have to continue to move forward. And collect those points.''
Michigan State has one series left against each of the other six teams in the Big Ten. It starts at Wisconsin next weekend, followed by a home series against Penn State, Jan. 24-25. After a bye week, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, the Spartans play at Minnesota, Feb. 7-8, home against Michigan, Feb. 14, vs. Michigan in Detroit, Feb. 17, home against Ohio State, Feb. 21-22 and at Notre Dame, Feb. 28-29 to close out the regular season.
"We're at the halfway point and we're two points out of first place. I'd make that deal,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "That's what we have to focus on. We have six Big Ten weekends.''
SPARTAN POTPOURRI: Michigan State didn't put any pucks in the net on Saturday but the top forward line of Patrick Khodorenko, Mitchell Lewandowski and Sam Saliba has a busy night of putting pucks on goal. The unit combined for 15 shots on goalie Jared Moe – more than half of MSU's 28 shots on goal.
Khodorenko led the way with seven, with Lewandowski having six and Saliba two. Senior defenseman Butrus Ghafari was next with five…
In a span of about 10 seconds in the second period on Saturday, MSU's Brody Stevens and Minnesota's Brannon McManus had rocket-like shots from the right circle clank off the left post at opposite ends of the rink. Stevens started it on a rush down the right wing. The puck hit the post, the Gophers retrieved it and started their own rush down the right wing. McManus let go with a shot that went off the post to the right of MSU goalie John Lethemon. Close, but no goals…
The Spartans have played seven games which have ended in shutouts. They been on the good end four times – vs. Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona State. They've been blanked three times – vs. Northern Michigan, Ohio State and now Minnesota. In games against NMU and Minnesota, the Spartans have been shut out by freshmen goaltenders earning their first career shutouts – John Hawthorne of Northern Michigan and Jerad Moe of Minnesota…
Since sweeping Wisconsin, Dec. 6-7, Michigan State is 3-3 with three series or tournament splits – Arizona State, in the Great Lakes Invitational, losing to Michigan Tech and defeating Ferris State, and vs. Minnesota.
IN THE BIG TEN: Michigan had the best weekend of all the conference teams in action. The Wolverines completed a sweep of struggling Notre Dame with a 3-1 victory on Saturday in Notre Dame, Ind. Michigan (9-11-2, 4-7-1-1) won the series opener on Friday, 3-0.
The sweep was the Wolverines' first in Big Ten play this season. In both games, U-M sealed the win with an empty-net goal. Since getting swept by Michigan State, Michigan is 6-4, with three series splits and a win and loss in the GLI and one sweep.
Starting with its 3-2 loss at Michigan State on Nov. 23, Notre Dame is 2-8-1 in its last 11 games. Before this weekend, the Irish were unbeaten in three games – a win over Penn State and a tie and win vs. Western Michigan.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin halted a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over No. 8/7 Ohio State on Saturday in Madison and give the Badgers a split with the Buckeyes, who won the series opener on Friday, 4-2.
In a non-conference game on Saturday, Penn State rolled past Robert Morris, 6-2, in Pittsburgh.
In addition to Michigan State's visit to Wisconsin next weekend, Michigan is at Penn State and Ohio State plays host to Notre Dame. Minnesota plays an exhibition game at home against the U.S. Under-18 Team on Friday.
Here's how the Big Ten standings look at the midway point of conference play:
1. Penn State (8-4-0-0, 24 points); 2. (tie) Michigan State (7-4-1-0, 22 points, and Ohio State (7-4-1-0, 22 points; 4. Notre Dame (5-5-2-1, 18 points); 5. Minnesota (3-5-4-3, 16 points); 6. Michigan (4-7-1-0, 13 points); 7. Wisconsin (3-8-1-1, 11 points).
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