Neil’s Notebook: DeRidder, Penalty Kill Shine in 1-1 Tie With Notre Dame
12/20/2020 8:47:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
Michigan State got standout goaltending from Drew DeRidder on Saturday night at Notre Dame. And outstanding penalty killing, especially in the third period and overtime.
But DeRidder's 47 saves and the penalty killers skating off 8 minutes and 46 seconds of penalties weren't enough to give the Spartans a victory over the Irish at Compton Family Arena.
But the combination also prevented MSU from skating off with a frustrating loss.
Michigan State and No. 16 Notre Dame played to a 1-1 overtime tie in the first game of a Big Ten series.
In the three-round shootout, to decide the extra point in the conference standings, the Irish won 2-0 to earn two points, while the Spartans had to settle for one.
Michigan State (2-3-2 overall, 1-3-1-1-0-0 Big Ten) held a 1-0 lead – on Tommy Papp's first goal of the season early in the first period – until the last six minutes of the second period when Notre Dame tie it.
Coach Danton Cole liked his team's play in the first 30 minutes, but things changed in the second half of the game as the Irish (4-4-1, 3-3-1-0-0-1) began controlling the play. They forced DeRidder to make 19 saves in the third period, including 13 while on their five power plays.
"I thought we were good early and I didn't think the second period was bad, and in the third period, we were in the (penalty) box the whole time,'' Cole said. "
"There are things we can do better. We got a little sloppy in the neutral zone in the second half and that led to a lot of their transition. We had to play too much in our defensive zone.
"There were some good things, too. We'll tighten up a few things and make the game easier on ourselves.''
Michigan State and Notre Dame wrap the series and the first part of their schedules when they meet at 5 p.m. Sunday at Compton Family Arena.
DeRidder had one of his best games as a Spartan. He made several game-saving stops in the third period, in which he faced 19 shots, and made seven saves in the 5-minute, 3-on-3 overtime.
"He was outstanding. He made a lot of good saves and took care of rebounds,'' Cole said of the junior goaltender who has started all seven of MSU's games this season.
"He was square to the shooters, quick to the post and did an outstanding job positionally and athletically.''
Apap gave MSU a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period. He took a pass from defenseman Dennis Cesana down low at the right side of the net. Apap jammed the puck into Irish goalie Ryan Bischel, and after a few seconds, it slid under Bischel and into the net.
Notre Dame tied it with 5:42 left in the second period when MSU's defense got out of position, leaving Alex Steeves wide open on the right side of the net. Graham Slaggert, from the left wing, made a perfect cross-ice pass to Steeves, who easily fired it past DeRidder.
In the third period, it was all Notre Dame, ignited by three penalties on the Spartans. At 5:52, MSU defenseman Christian Krygier was called for checking from behind and assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head.
MSU held off the Irish for 2 minutes and 50 seconds before Notre Dame took a minor penalty at 8:42, wiping out its power play.
The Spartans also took penalties at 13:29 (Charlie Combs, hooking) and 16:14 (Nico Müller, tripping), but the penalty killing units were up for the challenge. But they had more work to do.
With 1:46 left in the 3-on-3 overtime, the Spartans' Tommy Miller was called for hooking. But MSU defended well, kept the puck on the perimeter and DeRidder was sharp, making five saves to keep his team from an overtime loss.
In the shootout, Notre Dame's Max Ellis started it by scoring on DeRidder. MSU's Mitchell Lewandowski's bid to tie it was stopped by Bischel, who made 19 saves in the first 65 minutes, but none in overtime.
Notre Dame defenseman Nick Leivermann started the second round with a wrist shot to the top right corner of the net for a 2-0 edge. The Irish won it when Bischel made a save on MSU freshman Kyle Haskins' shootout attempt.
"Those shootouts, they kind of stink,'' Cole said. "It is what it is. They get the first one and that puts a little pressure on you.''
Notre Dame has defeated MSU in four straight shootouts, including two last year. Since the 2009-10 season, the Spartans are 1-5 in shootouts against the Irish.
But the Spartans coach wasn't dwelling on the shootouts after Saturday's game. He was focused on getting his team ready for Sunday's rematch, and, hopefully, head into the holiday break with a victory.
"All in all, the effort and attitude tonight was outstanding. We'll execute a few things better on Sunday,'' he said. "We'll be a lot cleaner. We haven't played for a while and sometimes it takes a game to find the feeling for the game.
"We moved the puck well, we got stretched out, our defensemen were good on retrievals and were smart coming through the neutral zone, but a lot of that got away from us later in the game,'' Cole said. "We got back on our heels when we didn't get pucks behind them.
"They were more willing to get pucks behind us than we were behind them, especially in the last 30 minutes of the game.''
SOLID IN GOAL: Drew DeRidder continues to be a bright spot for the Spartans with solid, consistent and sometimes spectacular goaltending.
After playing in only four games last season as then-senior John Lethemon won the job early and never lost it, DeRidder has played in all seven of MSU's games this season.
He made 47 saves on Saturday and was a huge reason Michigan State came away with a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame. He's never allowed more than three goals in any game this year.
DeRidder's given up three goals three times, two goals once, one goal twice and has one shutout.
The junior from Fenton, Michigan, has allowed 13 goals but the Spartans have scored only 12 goals in seven games.
DeRidder heads into Sunday's series finale at Notre Dame with a 1.82 goals-against average and a .941 saves percentage. He ranks No. 13 nationally in GAA and No. 9 in saves percentage.
His 47 saves Saturday is the second highest of his MSU career.
DeRidder's career-high is 52 against Wisconsin in a 2-2 tie in 2018-19 when he was a freshman.
N THE BIG TEN: In the only other games involving Big Ten teams this weekend, Ohio State played a non-conference series against scheduling-partner Arizona State in Columbus.
The teams played to a 4-4 tie on Thursday and Arizona State (4-6-2) edged the Buckeyes, 3-2, on Friday. OSU wraps up the first part of the schedule with records of 3-6-1 overall and 3-5-0-0-1-0 in the Big Ten.
After Sunday's MSU at Notre Dame series finale, three Big Ten teams resume play on Jan. 3-4 with the Spartans hosting Penn State and Arizona State playing at Minnesota in a non-conference series.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
Michigan State got standout goaltending from Drew DeRidder on Saturday night at Notre Dame. And outstanding penalty killing, especially in the third period and overtime.
But DeRidder's 47 saves and the penalty killers skating off 8 minutes and 46 seconds of penalties weren't enough to give the Spartans a victory over the Irish at Compton Family Arena.
But the combination also prevented MSU from skating off with a frustrating loss.
Michigan State and No. 16 Notre Dame played to a 1-1 overtime tie in the first game of a Big Ten series.
In the three-round shootout, to decide the extra point in the conference standings, the Irish won 2-0 to earn two points, while the Spartans had to settle for one.
Michigan State (2-3-2 overall, 1-3-1-1-0-0 Big Ten) held a 1-0 lead – on Tommy Papp's first goal of the season early in the first period – until the last six minutes of the second period when Notre Dame tie it.
Coach Danton Cole liked his team's play in the first 30 minutes, but things changed in the second half of the game as the Irish (4-4-1, 3-3-1-0-0-1) began controlling the play. They forced DeRidder to make 19 saves in the third period, including 13 while on their five power plays.
"I thought we were good early and I didn't think the second period was bad, and in the third period, we were in the (penalty) box the whole time,'' Cole said. "
"There are things we can do better. We got a little sloppy in the neutral zone in the second half and that led to a lot of their transition. We had to play too much in our defensive zone.
"There were some good things, too. We'll tighten up a few things and make the game easier on ourselves.''
Michigan State and Notre Dame wrap the series and the first part of their schedules when they meet at 5 p.m. Sunday at Compton Family Arena.
DeRidder had one of his best games as a Spartan. He made several game-saving stops in the third period, in which he faced 19 shots, and made seven saves in the 5-minute, 3-on-3 overtime.
"He was outstanding. He made a lot of good saves and took care of rebounds,'' Cole said of the junior goaltender who has started all seven of MSU's games this season.
"He was square to the shooters, quick to the post and did an outstanding job positionally and athletically.''
Apap gave MSU a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period. He took a pass from defenseman Dennis Cesana down low at the right side of the net. Apap jammed the puck into Irish goalie Ryan Bischel, and after a few seconds, it slid under Bischel and into the net.
Notre Dame tied it with 5:42 left in the second period when MSU's defense got out of position, leaving Alex Steeves wide open on the right side of the net. Graham Slaggert, from the left wing, made a perfect cross-ice pass to Steeves, who easily fired it past DeRidder.
In the third period, it was all Notre Dame, ignited by three penalties on the Spartans. At 5:52, MSU defenseman Christian Krygier was called for checking from behind and assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head.
MSU held off the Irish for 2 minutes and 50 seconds before Notre Dame took a minor penalty at 8:42, wiping out its power play.
The Spartans also took penalties at 13:29 (Charlie Combs, hooking) and 16:14 (Nico Müller, tripping), but the penalty killing units were up for the challenge. But they had more work to do.
With 1:46 left in the 3-on-3 overtime, the Spartans' Tommy Miller was called for hooking. But MSU defended well, kept the puck on the perimeter and DeRidder was sharp, making five saves to keep his team from an overtime loss.
In the shootout, Notre Dame's Max Ellis started it by scoring on DeRidder. MSU's Mitchell Lewandowski's bid to tie it was stopped by Bischel, who made 19 saves in the first 65 minutes, but none in overtime.
Notre Dame defenseman Nick Leivermann started the second round with a wrist shot to the top right corner of the net for a 2-0 edge. The Irish won it when Bischel made a save on MSU freshman Kyle Haskins' shootout attempt.
"Those shootouts, they kind of stink,'' Cole said. "It is what it is. They get the first one and that puts a little pressure on you.''
Notre Dame has defeated MSU in four straight shootouts, including two last year. Since the 2009-10 season, the Spartans are 1-5 in shootouts against the Irish.
But the Spartans coach wasn't dwelling on the shootouts after Saturday's game. He was focused on getting his team ready for Sunday's rematch, and, hopefully, head into the holiday break with a victory.
"All in all, the effort and attitude tonight was outstanding. We'll execute a few things better on Sunday,'' he said. "We'll be a lot cleaner. We haven't played for a while and sometimes it takes a game to find the feeling for the game.
"We moved the puck well, we got stretched out, our defensemen were good on retrievals and were smart coming through the neutral zone, but a lot of that got away from us later in the game,'' Cole said. "We got back on our heels when we didn't get pucks behind them.
"They were more willing to get pucks behind us than we were behind them, especially in the last 30 minutes of the game.''
SOLID IN GOAL: Drew DeRidder continues to be a bright spot for the Spartans with solid, consistent and sometimes spectacular goaltending.
After playing in only four games last season as then-senior John Lethemon won the job early and never lost it, DeRidder has played in all seven of MSU's games this season.
He made 47 saves on Saturday and was a huge reason Michigan State came away with a 1-1 tie at Notre Dame. He's never allowed more than three goals in any game this year.
DeRidder's given up three goals three times, two goals once, one goal twice and has one shutout.
The junior from Fenton, Michigan, has allowed 13 goals but the Spartans have scored only 12 goals in seven games.
DeRidder heads into Sunday's series finale at Notre Dame with a 1.82 goals-against average and a .941 saves percentage. He ranks No. 13 nationally in GAA and No. 9 in saves percentage.
His 47 saves Saturday is the second highest of his MSU career.
DeRidder's career-high is 52 against Wisconsin in a 2-2 tie in 2018-19 when he was a freshman.
N THE BIG TEN: In the only other games involving Big Ten teams this weekend, Ohio State played a non-conference series against scheduling-partner Arizona State in Columbus.
The teams played to a 4-4 tie on Thursday and Arizona State (4-6-2) edged the Buckeyes, 3-2, on Friday. OSU wraps up the first part of the schedule with records of 3-6-1 overall and 3-5-0-0-1-0 in the Big Ten.
After Sunday's MSU at Notre Dame series finale, three Big Ten teams resume play on Jan. 3-4 with the Spartans hosting Penn State and Arizona State playing at Minnesota in a non-conference series.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
G
/ Men's Ice Hockey
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
D
/ Men's Ice HockeyAdam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Michigan | December 6, 2025
Saturday, December 06
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Michigan | December 5, 2025
Friday, December 05
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Colgate | November 26, 2025
Wednesday, November 26
Adam Nightingale Postgame Comments | Wisconsin | November 22, 2025
Saturday, November 22