Neil's Notebook: Spartans Looking For Strong February Start

By Neil Koepke, MSUSpartans.com staff writer

ALSO: MSU-Minnesota Preview

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – A lot has changed for the Minnesota Golden Gophers since the last time they played Michigan State.

Four weeks ago, forwards Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies, defenseman Brock Faber and goaltender Jack LaFontaine all played key roles for the Gophers in sweeping the Spartans 4-1, 6-3, at Munn Arena.

But when Minnesota plays host to MSU this weekend, the Gophers will have a new look.

Meyers and Knies, the team's top two scorers, Faber and standout goalie LaFontaine will be missing from the lineup.

Meyers, Knies and Faber are in Beijing, China, playing for the United States team in the Winter Olympics.

On Jan. 9, the day after the first Minnesota-MSU series, LaFontaine signed a two-way contract with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, who needed goaltending help in their organization because of injuries and Covid-19 issues.

The Gophers have played six games without LaFontaine, and this will be the first two of six contests the other three players will miss before returning from China for the final weekend of the regular season, Feb. 25-26, at home against Wisconsin.

Michigan State (11-14-1 overall, 5-11-0-1-0-0 Big Ten) and Minnesota (15-11-0, 10-6-0-1-1-0) meet at 8 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday and 3M Arena at in Minneapolis. Friday's game will be televised by Bally Sports Detroit+ and Saturday's game is on Bally Sports Detroit.

Even without four key players, the Gophers have good depth and remain a formidable opponent for the Spartans.

"They're obviously all good players, but the thing about Minnesota is they have guys they can pop in,'' MSU coach Danton Cole said. "Defensively, they have numbers back there. Brock Faber is a heck of a player but I'm sure they'll be fine.

"They'll have to move guys around but they'll present a good challenge for us. Minnesota is a tough team and as good as anybody in the country.''

The Gophers are in third place in the Big Ten with 31 points, eight in back of league-leading Michigan and six behind second-place Ohio State, with two games in hand on both the Wolverines and Buckeyes. Minnesota is No. 8 and No. 10 in the two major polls and 11^th in the PairWise Rankings (PWR).

Meyers is the Gophers' top scorer with 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points, and he's been a big thorn to the Spartans. He has nine goals and has 12 points in 11 games against MSU over the last three seasons. In the January series at MSU, he scored two goals in each game.

Knies is second in team scoring with nine goals and 16 assists for 25 points, one behind Meyers, his linemate.

But the Gophers do have good balance up front as the next four scorers have combined for 38 goals and 76 points – senior Blake McLaughlin (9-15-24), junior Bryce Brodzinski (11-7-18), senior Sammy Walker (9-9-18) and freshman Chaz Lucius (8-8-16).

Walker also has had success against the Spartans. In 14 games, he has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.

"They'll going to fill in with some pretty good players,'' Cole said. "Defensively, they run pretty deep and it's the same thing up front.

"We're without a couple of guys as well. That's this time of the year. The Olympics isn't a normal thing, but injuries and sickness are and everybody has to deal with it.''

A year ago, LaFontaine won the Mike Richter Award as the best goalie in college hockey, and was a NCAA West First-Team All-American. Now, after two games in the NHL, LaFontaine is with the Chicago Wolves, the Carolina Hurricanes' American Hockey League farm team.

Justen Close, a junior, has taken over the goaltending duties for the Gophers. He had never started a game until three weeks ago. He's 3-3 overall with a 2.16 goals-against average and .906 saves percentage.

"With their goaltending, the young man has jumped in and has done a nice job,'' Cole said.

While the Gophers are eager for sweep in order to move closer to Michigan, which is idle this weekend, and stay in contention for the Big Ten regular-season title, the Spartans are focused on ending a six-game losing streak.

With eight games remaining, Michigan State is in seventh place with 14 points, two points behind sixth-place Wisconsin and three in back of fifth-place Penn State. The Spartans have two games in hand on both the Badgers and Nittany Lions.

After the Minnesota series, MSU plays Michigan twice – in Ann Arbor and in Detroit – and then closes the season with four home games – two against Notre Dame and two with Penn State.

The Spartans would love to finish higher than Wisconsin and Penn State, finish in fifth and head into the playoffs with some swager and confidence.

"I don't see a team we can't compete with in a (best-of-three) series,'' MSU senior defenseman and captain Dennis Cesana said. "If we show up, play hard and a complete 60 (minutes), we can do well.

"We've hit a rough spot here but we have eight games left and anything can happen. If we can string together a few wins and set ourselves up, we'll see what happens in the playoffs.

"(Minnesota has) lost some good guys so we're looking to jump on that and capitalize on the circumstances that present themselves. But they're still a good team and have really good depth. They're still a dangerous team.

"They have a good forward corps and defense as well. We have to limit our turnovers because they have great offensive firepower. We have to limit turnovers, use our speed and the big ice to our advantage, and play good defense.''

MSU didn't play last weekend but did practice five times during the week, and Cole was happy with the way his players worked and their attitude.

"I thought our guys had a great week of practice. They were grouchy and ticked off about losing our last game on that Saturday (against Ohio State),'' the Spartans' coach said. "That's a good demeanor to have.''

The Spartans thought they played well enough to win the series finale with Ohio State and just ran out of time in a 3-2 loss. MSU had 42 shots on goal and came close to tying the game late in the third period.

"On Friday night (in a 4-1 loss), we had 29 shots over the last two periods and I'm not thinking Friday's game was a throw-away,'' Cole said. "Being outshot in the first period, I thought we managed it fairly well.

"On Saturday, we did an awful lot of things right. We broke out better, our secondary plays and breakouts were better and our neutral zone offense was better and we managed the game well. Which means our forecheck was better and we spent more time in the offensive zone.''

Last week, the Spartans practiced Monday and Tuesday, took Wednesday off, and came back to practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"We got a few days in the weight room, had a good time on the ice and worked on lot of stuff,'' Cole said. "The guys were done (on Saturday) before the basketball game (against Michigan) so they could get over there and check that out.

"We have a good room with guys that work extremely hard, and they're a prideful bunch. If how they worked is any indication of how they're feeling, then I like how they're feeling and thinking.''

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.

This season, Minnesota swept MSU in early January, 4-1 and 6-3. In the second game, MSU held leads of 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 in the second. But the Gophers scored two late goals in the second period and broke the 3-3 deadlock with three goals in the third period.

Over the last 14 meetings, the Spartans are 5-9 against the Gophers. The last MSU victory over Minnesota came on Feb. 8, 2020, when the Spartans prevailed, 4-2, in Minneapolis.

SCOUTING THE GOPHERS: Since sweeping the Spartans on Jan. 7-8, Minnesota has split its last three series against Alaska, Michigan and Notre Dame. Since sweeping Notre Dame, Oct. 29-30, the Gophers have split eight of their last nine series.

Last week, Minnesota dominated Notre Dame in the first game, 5-1, and then lost 3-2 in overtime in the series finale.

The Gophers own sweeps over Mercyhurst, Notre Dame and Michigan State and they've been swept once – by Minnesota Duluth, 5-3, 2-1, on Oct. 22-23.

Add it all up and that's why the Gophers are only four games over .500 in the Big Ten and overall, while Michigan is six games over .500 in the league and 14 over overall. Ohio State is six over in the Big Ten and 12 over .500 overall.

With Ben Meyers and Matthew Knies away in China for the Winter Olympics, the Gophers will rely a group of forwards which include Blake McLaughlin, Bryce Brodzinski, Sammy Walker, Chaz Lucius, Jack Perbix, Grant Cruikshank and Mason Nevers.

"We really haven't said anything. We wished them well and we said we're going to man the fort while (the Olympians) are gone,'' Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said at his media availability on Tuesday. "There was a little excitement today in practice. There are a lot of minutes now that are going to be divvied up and those guys are excited about taking those minutes.

"We've had a few things happen to us with injury, departure and now the Olympics. It's opportunities for other guys and we have other guys that can handle minutes. Now we just need to get into it. It's a dynamic change

"A freshman, sophomore and junior (are gone) and all three are just grizzled, tough and they're kind of the big bull in each class. So, we need some other bulls to step up right now.''

For sure, Minnesota will miss sophomore defenseman Brock Faber but they still have two of the best D-men in the Big Ten in juniors Jackson LaCombe, an NCAA West Second Team All-American last season, and Ryan Johnson, both NHL draft picks.

The two blueliners haven't scored a lot of goals this season but they've been busy setting up a talented group of forwards. Lacombe has one goal and 14 assists for 15 points while Johnson has two goals and 12 assists for 14 points.

The Gophers' D-corps also includes sophomore Mike Koster, senior Ben Brinkman and junior Matt Staudacher, who's from Fenton and the only Michigander on the team.

"They're a quick team, they're fast and they're deep,'' sophomore forward Jeremy Davidson said. "They have four solid lines and one of the best defensive corps probably in the country. If we can stay on their D, take care of their forwards and play our systems, I think we'll be all right.''

After fifth-year senior goalie Jack LaFontaine left school after the MSU series a month ago, junior Justen Close made his debut as a starter. He's 3-3 overall and owns victories over Michigan at home and Notre Dame on the road.

Close, 23, a 5-foot-10, 160-pounder from Kindersley, Saskatchewan, appeared in three games as a freshman, one as a sophomore and two as a junior before LaFontaine left.

Close, the only Canadian on the Gophers' roster, spent three seasons with the Kindersley Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 2016-2019. He was named SJHL Goaltender of the Year in 2017-18 and 2018-2019.

Meanwhile, Motzko has been impressed by Michigan State goaltenders Drew DeRidder and Pierce Charlson.

"I think their goalies have played well against everyone,'' he said. "(DeRidder's) an all-league goalie for a reason. He's played well against a lot of people. Our league's got good goaltending this year. We keep bonking into that and we have to find ways to get through it.''

STATS COMPARISON: Goals Per Game: Minnesota, 3.35, 13^th nationally, 5^th Big Ten; MSU, 2.27, 47^th in the nation, 6^th Big Ten. Power Play: Minnesota, 17.9%, 36^th, 5^th; MSU, 20.3%, 21^st, 2^nd;

Goals Against Per Game: Minnesota, 2.54, 20^th 4^th; MSU, 2.88, 31^st, 5^th; Penalty Killing: Minnesota, 84%, 20^th, 3^rd; MSU, 83.5%, 22st; 4^th.

LEWANDOWSKI UPDATE: MSU fifth-year senior forward Mitchell Lewandowski has missed the last six games with a lower-body injury, suffered in the Spartans' 3-2 overtime victory over Michigan Tech in the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 30.

MSU coach Danton Cole believes Lewandowski could be ready to play later this month and in the playoffs.

"He's more week-to-week but we're optimistic that we'll get him back for some of these series toward the end of the year and playoffs'' Cole said. "(Hockey trainer) Andy Hosler is a great medical guy and he's working Lewie through his paces.

"We're optimistic that we can get him back for a little bit at the end of the season.''

Lewandowski still leads the Spartans in scoring with seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 15 games. He had a point in his first 11 games this season and has failed to get a point in only three games.

Freshman center Jesse Tucker is second in team scoring with one goal and a team-leading 16 assists for 17 points, one behind Lewandowski, and one point ahead of sophomore Jeremy Davidson's nine goals and seven assists for 16 points.

Junior left wing Erik Middendorf is fourth with nine goals and five assists for 14 points. Middendorf and Davidson lead the Spartans in goals with nine apiece.

IN THE BIG TEN: Second-place Ohio State plays host to sixth-place Wisconsin and fifth-place Penn State is at fourth-place Notre Dame. Both series are on Friday and Saturday.

No. 9/8 Ohio State is coming off a 2-2 tie and shootout loss and 6-0 victory at Penn State. Wisconsin last weekend was swept by first-place Michigan, 5-1 and 6-2. No. 13/12 Notre Dame split a home series against Minnesota – losing the first game, 5-1, and winning the series finale, 3-2, in overtime.

No. 3/4 Michigan has the weekend off before playing MSU next weekend at home and in Detroit.

The Wolverines will play two series – vs. Michigan State and Ohio State at home – without four top players who are competing in the Winter Olympics in China. Forwards Matty Beniers and David Brisson are playing for the United States, while defenseman Owen Power and forward Kent Johnson are with Canada. Power is on the official roster while Johnson is an alternate and will only play if there is an injury and he's added to the roster.

Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State have six games remaining in the regular season, while MSU, Minnesota and Notre Dame have eight games left.

The Big Ten Tournament starts March 4-6 with three best-of-three first-round series on campus sites.

Neil's Notebook: Spartans Looking For Strong February Start

Players Mentioned

Dennis Cesana

Jeremy Davidson

Drew DeRidder

Mitchell Lewandowski

Erik Middendorf

Jesse Tucker

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