Neil's Notebook: Talented Gopher Squad First B1G Challenge of 2022

By Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com staff writer

Also: MSU-Minnesota Preview

EAST LANSING – Michigan State has split its last three series. Minnesota has split its last five.

Consistency has been an issue for both teams and they'll be looking to change the win-lose and lose-win pattern this weekend as Big Ten play resumes for the first time since mid-December.

The second-place and No. 9 Gophers (10-8-0 overall, 6-4-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) and the fifth-place Spartans (11-8-1, 5-5-0-1-0-0) meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Munn Arena.

MSU is coming off a split in the Great Lakes Invitational showcase with a 3-1 loss to No. 3/3 Western Michigan and a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan Tech. Minnesota had been idle since Dec. 4 but it played two exhibition games last Sunday and Monday. The Gophers defeated St. Thomas, 5-2, and the U.S. Under-18 team, 5-3.

Minnesota, the defending Big Ten playoff champion and picked to finish first in the regular season this year in the preseason coaches' poll, is arguably one of the most skilled teams in the nation with 15 NHL draft picks on the roster.

"They're a deep team, they play fast and the strength of their team is defense,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "(Jack) LaFontaine was the best goalie in the Big Ten last year and their defense corps is really, really good.

"That keeps you in every game - when you have that type of a back end and that type of goaltending.''

But the Gophers haven't been overwhelming this season. They've been very good in some games and not-so-good in others. Ever since sweeping Notre Dame at home, Oct. 29-30, Minnesota has split at Wisconsin, home against Ohio State and Penn State and on the road at North Dakota and Michigan.

Michigan State had its share of series splits. Since back-to-back sweeps over Ferris State, Nov. 11, 13, and Wisconsin, Nov. 19-20, the Spartans have split series at Penn State, Notre Dame and last week in the GLI.

But there's a long way to go in the 2021-22 season with 14 Big Ten games remaining for Michigan State and 16 overall games left for Minnesota – 14 conference and two non-conference.

The Spartans came close to tying Western Michigan at 2-2 in the final minutes, but an empty-net goal sealed it for the Broncos. MSU never trailed in its 3-2 win in overtime against Michigan Tech.

"I liked the battle in our guys. We found ourselves in some weird situations and we had to defend,'' Cole said. "We kept up the intensity and didn't back down. I thought both third periods were probably our better periods all weekend.''

And, of course, there were some things that Cole didn't like about his team's last two games.

"I thought we got back on our heels and got separated. That's when you're not good,'' he said. "That's when turnovers happen. And you play a lot of transition defense instead of transition offense.

"We have to get better at that. I thought going into the break we were starting to get good at it and were understanding when to go for it and when not to go for it. We made the game a little bit too hard on ourselves.

"But we responded to it extremely well. Our legs were good and we had a good push at the end of both games. It got us one win and we had three really good chances to tie the first game.''

Michigan State's biggest challenges against the Minnesota are handling the Gophers' speed, their transition game and highly skilled forwards, and trying to score on a strong defense, led by four standout defensemen and fifth-year senior goalie Jack LaFontaine.

"Minnesota is fast and has a lot of skilled guys. They're a good team every year,'' Spartan senior defenseman Cole Krygier said. "When we bring more physicality to them, I think it helps us a little more. They're strong with LaFontaine, they have good forwards and their defense can skate.''

In comparing, the offense/defense and power play/penalty kill comparisons, each team holds an edge in two.

Not surprisingly, Minnesota has the better stats in goals scored, averaging 3.39 goals-per-game, while the Spartans are at 2.40. The Gophers rank 15^th in the nation and 4^th in the Big Ten. MSU is 43^rd overall and 6^th in the conference.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has a 26%-22.2% edge on the power play. The Gophers are 13-for-50, 5^th in the nation and 2^nd in the Big Ten. MSU is 14-for-63 for 22.2% - 17^th nationally and 3^rd in the Big Ten

Defensively, the Spartans hold an edge in goals against and penalty killing. MSU is allowing 2.50 goals-per-game, 18^th in the nation and No. 3 in the Big Ten. The Gophers have a 2.72 GAA, 23^rd, nationally and No. 5 in the conference.

MSU has skated off 83.6% of opponents' power plays, which is 22^nd nationally and second in the Big Ten. Minnesota is at 82.4%, 31^st in the nation and fourth in the conference.

"After the two years I've been playing them, I feel there's a little bit of a rivalry between Michigan State and Minnesota. There's definitely a bit of fire going into the games,'' junior center Josh Nodler said. "I know they're really a skilled team and they move the puck well. We'll have to make sure we play physical and stick to our game plan.

"They have pretty good defensemen who have good sticks and can create turnovers, so we have to make sure we manage the puck well, move it quick, protect it and get pucks to the net.''

Krygier said a big emphasis is playing with focus and energy for a full 60 minutes and avoiding stretches where the Spartans get back on their heels, allowing their opponent to control the puck and apply pressure in MSU's defensive zone.

"It's staying focused and in the game,'' he said. "We come out and have really good starts and then in the second period, we've had mental lapses. Guys start to get comfortable and out of rhythm. Playing a consistent 60 minutes is going to be huge for us in the second half. If we want to beat good teams, we have to be solid in the second periods.''

THE RIVALRY: Minnesota holds a 125-50-16 edge in a rivalry that started with a 2-0 Gophers victory on Feb. 19, 1926, in Lansing. The schools started playing regularly in January, 1950, with Minnesota winning the next 22 games through 1956. Last season, the Gophers, who finished second in the Big Ten and won the playoff title, went 5-0 against the Spartans. Over the last 12 meetings, the Spartans are 5-7 against the Gophers.

MSU play Minnesota again in four weeks in Minneapolis, Feb. 4-5.

SCOUTING THE GOPHERS: Minnesota's roster includes six seniors, 10 juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen. Among the top 10 scorers are two seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.

Junior forward Ben Meyers and senior Blake McLaughlin are the top Gophers' top two scorers. Meyers has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points while McLaughlin is a point back at four goals and 13 assists for 17 points.

Freshman Matthew Knies is third with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points while junior Bryce Brodzinski (9-4) and Sammy Walker (7-6) are tied with 13 points.

Three defensemen are sixth and tied for seventh. Ryan Johnson has two goals and nine assists for 11 points while Brock Faber (2-7-9) and Jackson LaCombe (0-9-9) are tied with nine points.

LaFontaine isn't putting up the stellar numbers he had last season but he's played in all 18 Gophers games and has a 10-8 record, a 2.76 goals-against-average and a .898 saves percentage. Last season, LaFontaine won the Mike Richter Award as the best goaltender in college hockey and was selected as Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. He posted a 22-7 record, a 1.79 GAA and a .924 saves percentage in 2020-21.

Bob Motzko is in his fourth season as Gophers coach and has a 68-45-11 record at Minnesota and a career record of 344-237-60 over 17 years. He coached at St. Cloud State, his alma mater, for 13 seasons before taking the Gophers' job in 2018. Motzko was a Minnesota assistant coach when the Gophers won the NCAA championship in 2002 and 2003.

GUCCIARDI IS NO. 1 STAR: MSU freshman defenseman David Gucciardi was selected as the Big Ten's No. 1 star of last week's games. Gucciardi scored three goals in two games in the Great Lakes Invitational, including a highlight-reel game-winner last Thursday against Michigan Tech.

Gucciardi, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder from Toronto, scored the Spartans' only goal in last Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Western Michigan. The next night, Gucciardi scored MSU's first goal and third goal in a 3-2 victory in overtime. Gucciardi took a pass from freshman Jesse Tucker in front of the net and shot the puck between his legs and into the left corner at 1:17 of OT.

Gucciardi is MSU's second-highest scoring defenseman with four goals and four assists for eight points in 20 games. Senior Dennis Cesana leads all D-men with five goals and five assists for 10 points in 20 contests.

All three of the Big Ten's three stars are freshman defensemen. Wisconsin's Corson Ceulemans was the No. 2 star and Mason Lohrei of Ohio State was No. 3 star.

BEST START SINCE 2012: Michigan State's record of 11-8-1 in its first 20 games is the Spartans' best start since the 2011-12 season when that team went 11-7-2 and went on to make the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 19-16-4 record.

In the previous nine years, only one MSU team had a winning record through its first 20 games. In 2019-20, the Spartans started 10-9-1 but finished 15-19-2.

At the 20-game mark last season, MSU was 7-10-2.

The Spartans' last winning season was in 2014-15 when they compiled a 17-16-2 record and finished second in the Big Ten.

GOOD CROWDS: With MSU students away for Christmas break and so many others out of town for the holidays, both Great Lakes Invitational games at Munn Arena drew impressive crowds.

The Spartans GLI opener against Western Michigan attracted a crowd of 5,538 and the second game, vs. Michigan Tech, drew a gathering of 5,564. Fans from Western Michigan and Michigan Tech helped fill Munn Arena.

"The fans were great. We were fighting a little bit with football and basketball and the students not being here,'' Coach Danton Cole said. "These were two good crowds and they saw some good hockey. It was a fun atmosphere.

"It wasn't Little Caesars Arena but with Tech and Western fans coming in, in an odd year with us having two home games, it was a good week for college hockey and for the teams.''

Michigan State finished 1-1, Michigan Tech went 0-1-1, Western Michigan came away with a 1-0 record while Michigan, which canceled its game against the Broncos, was 0-0-1.

SPARTANS POTPOURRI: The line of Josh Nodler at center and Griffin Loughran on right wing and Eric Middendorf on left wing combined for four points in the two GLI games last week. Loughran had three assists – one against Western Michigan and two vs. Michigan Tech. Nodler scored the Spartans' second goal in the 3-2 overtime win over the Huskies…

Mitchell Lewandowski continues to lead MSU in scoring with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points. Lewandowski was injured in the second period against Michigan Tech and played only one shift the rest of the game.

Senior goaltender Drew DeRidder has played in 14 games and has a 1.99 goals-against-average. That ranks third in the Big Ten and 11^th nationally. His .946 saves percentage is first in the Big Ten and third among Division I goalies.

Michigan State is 7-0-0 when scoring three or more goals and 4-7-1 when held to two or fewer goals. But when the Spartans allow two goals or fewer, they're 7-0-1.

IN THE BIG TEN: The Ohio State at Wisconsin series scheduled for Friday and Saturday has been pushed back to a Saturday/Sunday series due to some Covid-19 issues with the Badger program. It's the first conference series affected by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame is at Penn State on Friday and Saturday.

No. 6/7 Michigan plays a non-conference against No. 10/9 Massachusetts on Saturday and Sunday in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines (14-6-1 overall, 7-5-0-0-2-0 Big Ten) start the second half of the Big Ten season in first place with 24 points, five in front of Minnesota (10-8-0, 6-4-0-0-1-0, 19 points), which has played two less games than Michigan.

Ohio State (14-6-0, 6-4-0-0-0-0, 18 points) is in third place, one point ahead of Notre Dame (13-6-0, 6-4-0-0-2-0-1, 17 points).

Michigan State (11-8-1, 5-5-0-0-1-0, 14 points) is in fifth place. Wisconsin (6-12-2, 3-7-0-1-1-1, 9 points), which is 3-0-1 in its last four games, is sixth, with Penn State (12-8-0, 3-7-0-1-0-0, 8 points) in seventh place.

Neil's Notebook: Talented Gopher Squad First B1G Challenge of 2022

Related News

Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Drew DeRidder

David Gucciardi

Cole Krygier

Mitchell Lewandowski

Griffin Loughran

Josh Nodler

Jesse Tucker

Related Videos