Neil's Notebook: Late Goal Halts Spartans’ Bid for Regular Season Sweep of Badgers

By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer

MADISON, Wis. – Tied 1-1 late in the third period, it came down to two great scoring opportunities – one for Michigan State and one for Wisconsin – to decide the hockey game.

With 2 minutes and 20 seconds left, the Spartans' Patrick Khodorenko got the puck in front of the net and couldn't get a shot off after it appeared that he was tripped by Badger goalie Daniel Lebedeff.

The puck slid toward Mitchell Lewandowski on the right, with Lebedeff moving the other way, but with the net open, the puck slid off Lewandowski's stick and to the right of the net.

Badgers forward Ty Pelton-Byce retrieved the puck and started a rush down the left size into the MSU. His cross-ice pass found sophomore forward Roman Ahcan at the top of the right circle. Ahcan maneuvered his way into the high slot and rifled a shot that found its way into the net, giving Wisconsin a 2-1 lead with 2:08 to play.

So, it was no-goal at one end and huge goal at the other. One team celebrated, the other was down.

Michigan State pulled goalie John Lethemon, got one shot on goal but didn't really threaten before Wisconsin added an empty-net goal by Pelton-Bryce with 1:22 left and went on to a 3-1 victory and a split of the Big Ten series on Saturday at the Kohl Center.

"We got it into a tight game at the end of the third period. We had the puck right in front with an open net and on our leading scorer's stick and we couldn't get it to go," MSU coach Danton Cole said. "And they came back down and scored.''

It was a tough way to lose a close, competitive game in which the Spartans had several chances to score from plays around the net, especially in the back-and-forth second and third periods.

With the loss, Michigan State (12-11-1, 8-5-1-0) falls out of first place and into a tie for second place with Penn State (16-7-1-0, 8-5-1-0) with 25 points. The Nittany Lions tied Michigan 4-4 Saturday and lost the extra point when the Wolverines scored in the 3-on-3 overtime.

Ohio State is one point ahead of MSU and PSU after defeating Notre Dame, 2-1, on Saturday.

In the Michigan State-Wisconsin series finale, both teams scored in the first period. The Badgers went up 1-0 during the first shift of the game when Owen Lindmark scored from the slot just 26 seconds after the opening faceoff.

The Spartans tied it 1-1 on Sam Saliba's goal from the left circle through a Badger defenseman at 7:52.

"Sammy's goal was a nice one to get it to 1-1. It was pretty good,'' Cole said. "But we freelanced too much and that's not when we're good. Then it led into a river-boat gambler type of situation.

"It's a tough one but that's the way games are (in the Big Ten), and that's the way the playoffs are,'' Cole said. "If this was a playoff game, we'd be coming back the next day (trying) to bounce back. That's what our guys have to do on Monday – start getting ready for Penn State.''

Lethemon had another strong game. He made 35 saves and kept his team tied while Wisconsin had many more quality scoring chances on Saturday than it did in MSU's 4-0 victory in the series opener on Friday.

Lebedeff stopped 25 shots, including 11 in the second period.

"Both goalies were great. Lethemon was outstanding again and their guy was good, especially in the second period,'' Cole said. "We were around the net quite a bit and had lots of chances just couldn't get it by (Lebedeff).''

The Spartans were 0-for-3 on the power play, with one shot on goal. Wisconsin was 0-for-4 and had five shots on net.

One area MSU dominated was on faceoffs. The Spartans held a 41-26 edge, with Tommy Apap leading the way, winning 16 and losing only 6.

"I thought our compete was fine and our urgency was fine, and tactically, we did somethings better than last night,'' Cole said. "I don't think we were as a smart as we wanted. It was an opportunity to make some things happen. It's hard on the road but it was right there.''

The line of center Tommy Apap, right wing Brody Stevens and left wing Gino Esteves led the Spartans with eight shots on goal. Stevens had four, Esteves three and Apap one. Defenseman Cole Krygier had three shots.

MSU's line of Khodorenko, Lewandowski and Saliba was held in check most of the night. The unit was held to four shots on goal – two for Saliba and one each for Lewandowski and Khodorenko.

"With two minutes left and they score, it's always tough. That's a shot in the gut when the game is over,'' Lewandowski said. "I think in the third period, we could have been better. We showed a lot more yesterday. We needed to be matching them better all over the ice tonight.''

The Spartans came into the weekend tied for second place with Ohio State. They won on Friday to climb over Penn State and into first place, but fell back to a second-place tie with the Nittany Lions with the narrow loss on Saturday.

"We had an opportunity tonight to put a stamp on it, and last weekend we did, too,'' Lewandowski said. "It's going to take a lot more for us to come in first, second or third. We have more to give.''

SERIES WIN: The Spartans were eager to make it four victories in four games against Wisconsin. They fell short of a season-series sweep of the Badgers but still captured the series, 3-1, thanks to a pair of victories in East Lansing in early December – 3-0 and 5-4 in overtime - and a 4-0 win on Friday in Madison.

The last time MSU won the series from Wisconsin was in 2015-16. The Spartans won 4-3 and lost 3-0 at Munn Arena in December, 2015, but swept the series in Madison, 4-3, 5-1, in February, 2016.

UP NEXT: A huge series awaits the Spartans next week when they face the team they're tied with for second place – Penn State. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.

In their series at Penn State in early November, the Spartans won the first game 2-0, with goalie John Lethemon making 48 saves. The Nittany Lions earned the split with a 6-4 win in the series finale. PSU built a 5-1 lead but MSU battled back to cut the deficit to 5-4 before a last-minute empty-net goal ended the Spartans' hopes to tie it.

IN THE SCORING ZONE: So, who's the current hottest goal-scorer for the Spartans?

Patrick Khodorenko? Nope.

Mitchell Lewandowski? Wrong

Well, how about their linemate, co-captain Sam Saliba? Ding, ding, ding. Correct.

Saliba, who scored MSU's only goal in Saturday's 3-1 loss to Wisconsin, has scored five goals in his last six games. He also scored MSU's second goal in Friday's 4-0 victory over the Badgers.

Saliba, a 5-foot-11, 183-pound senior right wing/center from Lincolnshire, Ill., started his goal surge with single goals in three straight games – against Michigan Tech and Ferris State in the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit and the first game of the Minnesota series on Jan. 3.

He didn't score in the second game against the Gophers, but then scored in each game of the Wisconsin series.

Saliba is MSU's fourth-leading scorer with nine goals and five assists for 14 points in 24 games. Last season, Saliba had four goals and six assists for 10 points in 36 games. His best season scoring-wise was as a freshman when he scored 10 goals and had eight assists for 18 points in 35 games.

IN THE BIG TEN: Michigan and Penn State had a bit of a wild game in their series finale on Saturday in University Park, Pa. The Wolverines, looking for a sweep after a stunning 6-0 victory over Friday, fell behind 2-0 early in the second period but scored two-straight goals to tie it.

The Nittany Lions went up 3-2 late in the second period only to see the Wolverines take a 4-3 lead with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the third period. Penn State tied it, 4-4, with an extra-attacker goal with 1:22 left.

Overtime was scoreless so the game was officially a 4-4 tie. In the battle for the extra point in the Big Ten standings, Michigan scored in the 3-on-3 overtime to earn two points, while the Nittany Lions came away with one.

Ohio State edged Notre Dame, 2-1, on Saturday, after the two teams played to a 4-4 tie on Friday in Columbus. The Irish earned the extra Big Ten point with a victory in the shootout. OSU came away with four points in the series to two for Notre Dame.

In addition to the MSU-Penn State series next week, seventh-place Wisconsin is at fourth-place Notre Dame and sixth-place Minnesota plays host to first-place Ohio State.

Michigan, now in fifth-place, is off from Big Ten play but the Wolverines will play an exhibition game against the U.S. Under-18 team on Saturday at Yost Arena.

Neil's Notebook: Late Goal Halts Spartans’ Bid for Regular Season Sweep of Badgers

Players Mentioned

Tommy Apap

Patrick Khodorenko

Cole Krygier

John Lethemon

Mitchell Lewandowski

Sam Saliba

Brody Stevens

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