Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Brad Rempel
Neil’s Notebook: Spartans Battle, But Fall Short in Opener at No. 4 Minnesota
2/20/2021 9:02:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
By Neil Koepke
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
Michigan State competed hard and battled right to the very end on Friday night, but it wasn't enough to upset No. 4-ranked Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers, who are in first place in the Big Ten, scored two goals 2 minutes and 32 seconds apart late in the second period to build a 2-0 lead, and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Spartans in the series opener at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
"We battled hard against a very good skating team. When we got off of it, they took advantage,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "We played pretty well from the beginning but found ourselves down 2-0 after the first period, and that made it harder against a team like that.''
The Gophers' Ben Meyers scored from the left circle at 16:45 and defenseman Jackson LaCombe connected from the right circle at 19:12 of the opening period.
After Minnesota went up 3-0 on Brannon McManus' goal early in the second period, MSU cut the deficit to 3-1 on Tommy Apap's shorthanded goal at 14:12 of the period.
But the Gophers took advantage of a Spartan turnover at the Minnesota blue line early in the third period. McManus and Sampo broke away on a 2-on-0 rush and McManus fed Ranta for a goal that made it 4-1 at 6:32.
MSU's Josh Nodler's goal at 10:53 of the final period trimmed the Gophers' lead to 4-2. The Spartans had a late power play and had two quality chances, but Minnesota goalie Jack LaFontaine made clutch saves on Charlie Combs and Mitchell Lewandowski with about two minutes left.
"The guys battled. No complaints tonight,'' Cole said. "You don't feel sorry for yourself after a game like this. You're ticked off because you didn't win. We did a lot of good things and we have to carry that anger over to tomorrow.''
The Spartans (7-12-2 overall, 5-11-1-2-1-0 Big Ten) will try to salvage a series split when they face the Gophers (18-5-0, 14-5-0) at 6 p.m., also in Minneapolis. The game will be televised by Fox Detroit Plus.
Michigan State didn't get its first shot on goal of the second period until the last seven minutes, but once the Spartans did, they showed signs of threatening and it carried over into the final 20 minutes.
With MSU shorthanded, Apap got possession at his own blue line along the left boards, beat a Gopher defenseman and broke into the clear. Apap went in close, fighting off good stick checks by defenseman Robbie Stucker, and beat LaFontaine to the left corner at 14:42.
"That was beautiful. I thought he was going to get caught and that he might have to drop the puck back to Brody Stevens but he turned on the jets,'' Cole said of Apap's fifth goal of the season. "I didn't know he had that (speed).''
Down 3-1, MSU created more chances in the third period.
"In the first eight minutes of the second period, we turned pucks over and got a little slow in some areas,'' Cole said. "But late in the period, I liked our puck pursuit and it carried over into the third period.
"We made good decisions on our entries and were able to maintain the puck in the offensive zone.''
A defensive miscue led to Minnesota's fourth goal by Ranta and a 4-1 lead, but the Spartans took advantage of a Gophers' mistake to pull within 4-2.
LaFontaine attempted to clear the puck up ice but it was intercepted by Adam Goodsir outside the Gopher blue line. He carried it back into the offensive zone and fed Nodler in the slot. Nodler hit the top right corner at 10:53 for his third goal of the season.
But LaFontaine made up for it with two big saves in the final minutes to keep MSU from making it a one-goal game.
"Charlie (Combs) wasted no time and he went upstairs and LaFontaine got across and made a great save, and then he had another on Lewie (Mitchell Lewandowski),'' Cole said. "I liked the way we moved the puck around and had good chances.
"Let's come back tomorrow and make things happen.''
MSU goalie Drew DeRidder had another solid outing with several standout saves. He stopped 34 shots, including 14 in the third period.
LaFontaine made 19 saves.
MSU was 0-for-4 on the power play with five shots on goal. Minnesota failed to convert on two opportunities with eight shots on net.
The Gophers, who average 3.83 goals per game, are highly skilled up front and deep on defense. They're the third-highest scoring team in the nation and Ranta's 15 goals rank second among all NCAA scorers.
"The challenge is you can't give them an inch,'' Cole said. "If you're not vigilant every shift, they'll burn you because they have talent up and down the lineup and their defense can jump in.
"You want to be on them all the time and be a hard team to play against. I wasn't disappointed with our effort and execution. We'll need that again tomorrow.
"We've battled this team pretty hard for three games now. We've got to get something out of it.''
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 5/5 Wisconsin stayed within two points of first-place Minnesota with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over third-place Notre Dame on Friday in Madison.
The Irish (10-12-1 overall, 8-10-1-1-2-1 Big Ten) led 2-0 after the first period, but the Badgers (15-8-0, 13-6-1-0-1-0) tied it up in the second period on goals by Owen Lindmark and Cole Caufield.
Linus Weissbach of Wisconsin broke the 2-2 tie with a goal at 8:18 of the third period and then added an empty-netter to seal the win with 25 seconds left. The Badgers held a 34-31 edge in shots on goal.
In the upset of the night, sixth-place Ohio State edged No. 7/6 Michigan, 3-2, on Friday in Columbus. The Buckeyes, who never trailed, broke a 1-1 tie on Jaedon Leslie's goal at 12:05 of the first period and extended their lead to 3-1 on Patrick Guzzo's goal early in the middle period.
The fourth-place Wolverines crept within 3-2 when Matty Beniers scored early in the final period, but OSU held on for the victory and end its five-game losing streak.
Ohio State goalie Tommy Nappier had a solid game with 32 saves. Michigan's Erik Portillo stopped 16 shots.
The Notre Dame-Wisconsin and Michigan-Ohio State series wrap up on Saturday.
MSUSpartans.com staff writer
Michigan State competed hard and battled right to the very end on Friday night, but it wasn't enough to upset No. 4-ranked Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers, who are in first place in the Big Ten, scored two goals 2 minutes and 32 seconds apart late in the second period to build a 2-0 lead, and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Spartans in the series opener at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
"We battled hard against a very good skating team. When we got off of it, they took advantage,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "We played pretty well from the beginning but found ourselves down 2-0 after the first period, and that made it harder against a team like that.''
The Gophers' Ben Meyers scored from the left circle at 16:45 and defenseman Jackson LaCombe connected from the right circle at 19:12 of the opening period.
After Minnesota went up 3-0 on Brannon McManus' goal early in the second period, MSU cut the deficit to 3-1 on Tommy Apap's shorthanded goal at 14:12 of the period.
But the Gophers took advantage of a Spartan turnover at the Minnesota blue line early in the third period. McManus and Sampo broke away on a 2-on-0 rush and McManus fed Ranta for a goal that made it 4-1 at 6:32.
MSU's Josh Nodler's goal at 10:53 of the final period trimmed the Gophers' lead to 4-2. The Spartans had a late power play and had two quality chances, but Minnesota goalie Jack LaFontaine made clutch saves on Charlie Combs and Mitchell Lewandowski with about two minutes left.
"The guys battled. No complaints tonight,'' Cole said. "You don't feel sorry for yourself after a game like this. You're ticked off because you didn't win. We did a lot of good things and we have to carry that anger over to tomorrow.''
The Spartans (7-12-2 overall, 5-11-1-2-1-0 Big Ten) will try to salvage a series split when they face the Gophers (18-5-0, 14-5-0) at 6 p.m., also in Minneapolis. The game will be televised by Fox Detroit Plus.
Michigan State didn't get its first shot on goal of the second period until the last seven minutes, but once the Spartans did, they showed signs of threatening and it carried over into the final 20 minutes.
With MSU shorthanded, Apap got possession at his own blue line along the left boards, beat a Gopher defenseman and broke into the clear. Apap went in close, fighting off good stick checks by defenseman Robbie Stucker, and beat LaFontaine to the left corner at 14:42.
"That was beautiful. I thought he was going to get caught and that he might have to drop the puck back to Brody Stevens but he turned on the jets,'' Cole said of Apap's fifth goal of the season. "I didn't know he had that (speed).''
Down 3-1, MSU created more chances in the third period.
"In the first eight minutes of the second period, we turned pucks over and got a little slow in some areas,'' Cole said. "But late in the period, I liked our puck pursuit and it carried over into the third period.
"We made good decisions on our entries and were able to maintain the puck in the offensive zone.''
A defensive miscue led to Minnesota's fourth goal by Ranta and a 4-1 lead, but the Spartans took advantage of a Gophers' mistake to pull within 4-2.
LaFontaine attempted to clear the puck up ice but it was intercepted by Adam Goodsir outside the Gopher blue line. He carried it back into the offensive zone and fed Nodler in the slot. Nodler hit the top right corner at 10:53 for his third goal of the season.
But LaFontaine made up for it with two big saves in the final minutes to keep MSU from making it a one-goal game.
"Charlie (Combs) wasted no time and he went upstairs and LaFontaine got across and made a great save, and then he had another on Lewie (Mitchell Lewandowski),'' Cole said. "I liked the way we moved the puck around and had good chances.
"Let's come back tomorrow and make things happen.''
MSU goalie Drew DeRidder had another solid outing with several standout saves. He stopped 34 shots, including 14 in the third period.
LaFontaine made 19 saves.
MSU was 0-for-4 on the power play with five shots on goal. Minnesota failed to convert on two opportunities with eight shots on net.
The Gophers, who average 3.83 goals per game, are highly skilled up front and deep on defense. They're the third-highest scoring team in the nation and Ranta's 15 goals rank second among all NCAA scorers.
"The challenge is you can't give them an inch,'' Cole said. "If you're not vigilant every shift, they'll burn you because they have talent up and down the lineup and their defense can jump in.
"You want to be on them all the time and be a hard team to play against. I wasn't disappointed with our effort and execution. We'll need that again tomorrow.
"We've battled this team pretty hard for three games now. We've got to get something out of it.''
IN THE BIG TEN: No. 5/5 Wisconsin stayed within two points of first-place Minnesota with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over third-place Notre Dame on Friday in Madison.
The Irish (10-12-1 overall, 8-10-1-1-2-1 Big Ten) led 2-0 after the first period, but the Badgers (15-8-0, 13-6-1-0-1-0) tied it up in the second period on goals by Owen Lindmark and Cole Caufield.
Linus Weissbach of Wisconsin broke the 2-2 tie with a goal at 8:18 of the third period and then added an empty-netter to seal the win with 25 seconds left. The Badgers held a 34-31 edge in shots on goal.
In the upset of the night, sixth-place Ohio State edged No. 7/6 Michigan, 3-2, on Friday in Columbus. The Buckeyes, who never trailed, broke a 1-1 tie on Jaedon Leslie's goal at 12:05 of the first period and extended their lead to 3-1 on Patrick Guzzo's goal early in the middle period.
The fourth-place Wolverines crept within 3-2 when Matty Beniers scored early in the final period, but OSU held on for the victory and end its five-game losing streak.
Ohio State goalie Tommy Nappier had a solid game with 32 saves. Michigan's Erik Portillo stopped 16 shots.
The Notre Dame-Wisconsin and Michigan-Ohio State series wrap up on Saturday.
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