Gucciardi, DeRidder Spark OT Win Over Michigan Tech

GAME CAPSULE

Freshman blueliner David Gucciardi scored his second goal of the night and third of the weekend 1:17 into overtime to propel Michigan State to a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan Tech on Thursday night at Munn Ice Arena.

Gucciardi not only gave his team the OT victory, but scored one of the more skilled goals a fan will see. He got the pass from Jesse Tucker, got to the hash marks, and put the puck between his legs and beat Blake Pietela glove-side.

Drew DeRidder started his third straight game for the Spartans (11-8-1) and earned the win with 43 saves. He also had the secondary assist on Gucciardi's game-winning goal in overtime.

MSU twice took the lead in the game and twice saw their visitors earn an equalizer. Gucciardi scored from the slot at 16:15 of the first period to give MSU a first-intermission lead, and then got a late goal in the second period from Josh Nodler – also assisted by Loughran – to make it a 2-1 Spartan lead. Loughran had the puck below the blue line and found Nodler at the right hash marks for his fifth of the season.

Michigan Tech (10-8-1) got its first goal on an odd-man rush at 7:39 of the second period, and then a Nick Nardella tip of an Alec Broetzman shot at 2:49 of the third. The teams skated nearly 20 minutes of scoreless action after that, with Gucciardi earning the First Star honors after his OT winner.

Michigan State finishes up the GLI Showcase on Thursday when it hosts Michigan Tech at 5 pm. The Huskies skated to a scoreless tie at Michigan on Wednesday in their first Showcase game.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Drew DeRidder made 43 saves, his fourth game this season with 40+. His career best was 48 vs. Wisconsin on Nov. 20. He also started Wednesday's game and made 35 stops against No. 4 Western Michigan.
Gucciardi had three of MSU's four goals in the Great Lakes Invitational Showcase.
MSU had a power play goal and finished 1-for-4 on the man advantage. Michigan Tech's penalty kill entered the game with a penalty kill clicking at better than 90% which ranked first in the CCHA and fourth nationally.
MSU was a perfect 3-for-3 on the PK against Tech, and 7-for-7 on the weekend. MSU has not allowed a power play goal in its last 10 chances dating back to the first game against Notre Dame.
Cole Krygier assisted on Nodler's second-period goal, his career-best fourth of the season.

NOTABLES AND STORYLINES

The Spartans won their second game in overtime in the last three contests, both over ranked teams. Mitchell Lewandoswski had the OT game-winner at Notre Dame on Dec. 11.
The Spartans played their fifth straight game that was settled by a goal, or two goals and an empty netter– in losses to both Penn State (4-2) and Western Michigan (3-1), the opponents had an empty-net goal for the final margin.
MSU has split each of its last three series at Penn State, Notre Dame, and the GLI – winning on the second night on all three occasions.
Josh Nodler scored his fifth of the season, and his first since Nov. 13 at Ferris State.
Griffin Loughran had assists on each of the first two MSU goals, his first multi-point game since Oct. 9 vs. Air Force.
Gucciardi started the scoring for MSU late in the first period, where he was assisted by Griffin Loughran and Jesse Tucker on MSU's lone power-play goal of the game. The trio also teamed up for a PPG on Wednesday against Western.
DeRidder had the secondary assist on Gucciardi's OT winner. Its is the second consecutive OT win for MSU where DeRidder earned an assist on the play.

GAME SYNOPSIS

FIRST PERIOD: The Spartans jumped on the board in their first power play chance. David Gucciardi dished off to Jesse Tucker in the right circle, and his rebound was redirected by Loughran down low. The puck came back out to the slot – Gucciardi pounced on it, faked a shot, and then shot through traffic for the goal at 16:15 to give MSU the lead. The Huskies held the better of shots in the first portion of the frame, but the Spartans certainly had the better of chances overall and trailed in shots by a 11-14 margin at the final whistle.
SECOND PERIOD: The visitors forced an odd-man rush with 7:30 expired in the period, and it resulted in a tying goal by Brian Halonen, who scored his 12^th of the season. Michigan Tech broke across the blue line with a 4-on-2 advantage, as Halonen finished off a cross-slot pass from Trenton Bliss to knot the game at 1-1. Michigan Tech once again had the better of shots on goal in the period (20-6), but it was the Spartans who took the lead into the intermission when Josh Nodler sent a laser past Pietela to give his team a 2-1 lead. Loughran had the puck below the goal line and found Nodler in front for the junior's fifth of the season. DeRidder made 19 saves alone in the second period.

THIRD PERIOD: The visitors scored the only goal of the frame 2:49 into the third, tying the score at 2-2 Nick Nardella was in front and was able to tip a Alec Broetzman shot from the left circle – it was Nardella's first of the season, and also assisted by Brenden Datema. The two teams each had 11 shots in the frame.

OVERTIME: The Spartans had the two notable chances in overtime – the first was a shot by Eric Middendorf, who Pietela was able to stop less than 30 minutes into the extra frame. He couldn't stop Gucciardi's OT winner, however, as the freshman put up a highlight-reel goal to win its second OT win in its last three games.

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Team Stats

David Gucciardi

Jesse Tucker

Griffin Loughran

Josh Nodler

Players Mentioned

Drew DeRidder

David Gucciardi

Cole Krygier

Griffin Loughran

Josh Nodler

Jesse Tucker

Players Mentioned

Drew DeRidder

David Gucciardi

Cole Krygier

Griffin Loughran

Josh Nodler

Jesse Tucker