Friday, October 20
7 PM
Michigan State University
5-1-0
4
vs
3
Canisius
0-4-0
1
2
3
F
Canisius
0
1
2
3
Michigan St.
1
1
2
4
Spartans Close Out Sweep of Canisius, 4-3
10/20/2023 10:24:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
East Lansing, Mich. – Nash Nienhuis and Artyom Levshunov – Michigan State's top defensive pair – each had a goal and an assist while senior alternate captain Nicolas Müller had a three-point effort as No. 8/9 MSU recorded its fourth straight home win, a 4-3 decision over visiting Canisius on Friday at Munn Ice Arena.
The teams combined for 58 penalty minutes, and the Spartans got shorthanded markers from Nienhuis and graduate student Reed Lebster to improve to 5-1 on the season. Daniel Russell had a goal (his fourth of the weekend).
Freshman netminder Luca Di Pasquo made his first collegiate start, recording 30 saves in picking up his first victory. He played 40 minutes in relief last weekend at Air Force. Canisius' Ethan Robertson – who came off the bench last night – made 43 saves in the complete game on Friday. Canisius falls to 0-4 with the loss.
MSU never trailed, getting on the scoreboard in the first period on Levshunov's third goal of the season, and then the teams traded goals a minute apart in the second period to keep it a one-goal game. The Spartans tacked on two in the third – Russell's fifth of the year at the five-minute mark and the shorthanded breakaway by Nienhuis and Levshunov with five to play – to go up 4-1. Canisius tacked on a pair of extra attacker goals in the final 3:15 to pull within a goal.
Michigan State heads east for a two-game set with No. 3/3 Boston College next weekend. Games on Thursday and Friday are at 7 pm.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
First Period: Freshman netminder Luca Di Pasquo made his first collegiate start, and gave the fans an eye-popping highlight just minutes into the opening frame. Di Pasquo was on the left side of his crease and on Griffin Loughran's backhander attempt, Di Pasquo moved quickly across the goalmouth and snagged the puck out of midair to save the best early chance of the game. Just after the midpoint of the period, MSU was spending extended time in the zone, and Nash Nienhuis launched one from the top of the left circle that was saved by Robertson. Nicolas Müller
swiped at the loose puck below the hash to get it back to Levshunov. Levshunov, showing poise, waited a beat and sent a low wrister through traffic and past Robertson for his third goal and second of the weekend at 13:41. Shots were 12-12, with the Griffins blocking an additional eight shots.
Second Period: There was a flurry of penalty activity at the end of the opening frame, resulting in the visitors opening the period with 1:44 of five-on three, and then additional three minutes of five-on-four. MSU killed off the initial penalty and had two good looks on the shorthanded in the first three minutes, and then Canisius picked up a high sticking penalty to negate the remainder of the major. MSU picked up a 5x3 chance before the period reached the halfway point, and the visitors were able to extinguish that to keep it a one-goal game. Di Pasquo also came up with a big save as the Griffins sprung on an odd-man rush. At 10:15, freshman Owen Baker was assessed a major for kneeing, putting the Spartan PK back to work. Ninety seconds into the penalty, Griffin Loughran redirected a Matteo Giampa shot at the left post to tie up the game, but Reed Lebster took an outlet pass out of the right corner from Maxim Štrbák, skated up the left side, and got the goalie to commit before he popped home the shorthanded tally to put MSU back ahead, 2-1 at 12:52.
Third Period: MSU gave itself a little breathing room with a goal by Russell at 5:14. Dorwart sent Russell into the offensive zone, and the sophomore unleashed from above the hash marks for his fifth goal of the season (and fourth of the weekend). MSU padded its lead at 15:11 with another shorthanded marker, as Nienhuis and Levshunov streaked into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush. Levshunov's shot was saved, but Nienhuis was right there to redirect the rebound for his second goal of the year and a 4-1 Spartan lead. Matteo Giampa scored a pair of extra-attacker goals in the final 3:15 to pull the visitors within a goal, with his second scored with less than six seconds remaining. MSU put 17 shots on net in the period compared to 13 for Canisius.
The teams combined for 58 penalty minutes, and the Spartans got shorthanded markers from Nienhuis and graduate student Reed Lebster to improve to 5-1 on the season. Daniel Russell had a goal (his fourth of the weekend).
Freshman netminder Luca Di Pasquo made his first collegiate start, recording 30 saves in picking up his first victory. He played 40 minutes in relief last weekend at Air Force. Canisius' Ethan Robertson – who came off the bench last night – made 43 saves in the complete game on Friday. Canisius falls to 0-4 with the loss.
MSU never trailed, getting on the scoreboard in the first period on Levshunov's third goal of the season, and then the teams traded goals a minute apart in the second period to keep it a one-goal game. The Spartans tacked on two in the third – Russell's fifth of the year at the five-minute mark and the shorthanded breakaway by Nienhuis and Levshunov with five to play – to go up 4-1. Canisius tacked on a pair of extra attacker goals in the final 3:15 to pull within a goal.
Michigan State heads east for a two-game set with No. 3/3 Boston College next weekend. Games on Thursday and Friday are at 7 pm.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- Artyom Levshunov opened the scoring for MSU with his first period goal, his second goal in as many games and third of the season. He assisted on Nash Nienhuis's shorthanded goal in the third period.
- Reed Lebster scored shorthanded in the second period, the first shorthanded goal of his career and his third goal of the season.
- Daniel Russell scored his fourth goal of the weekend in the third period. He leads the team with five goals.
- Nicolas Müller had three assists on the night, including on both shorthanded markers. He is tied with Red Savage atop the MSU scoring sheet with nine points.
- Michigan State racked up a season-high 42 penalty minutes, whistled for two majors and two 10-minute misconducts in addition to six minor penalties. Canisius had eight minors for 16 minutes. The Spartans were held without a power play goal in five chances, but scored two shorthanded markers.
- MSU has won its first four home games for the first time since 2017-18. MSU won its home games in home-and-home series with Western Michigan and Bowling Green, and then swept Lake Superior State.
First Period: Freshman netminder Luca Di Pasquo made his first collegiate start, and gave the fans an eye-popping highlight just minutes into the opening frame. Di Pasquo was on the left side of his crease and on Griffin Loughran's backhander attempt, Di Pasquo moved quickly across the goalmouth and snagged the puck out of midair to save the best early chance of the game. Just after the midpoint of the period, MSU was spending extended time in the zone, and Nash Nienhuis launched one from the top of the left circle that was saved by Robertson. Nicolas Müller
swiped at the loose puck below the hash to get it back to Levshunov. Levshunov, showing poise, waited a beat and sent a low wrister through traffic and past Robertson for his third goal and second of the weekend at 13:41. Shots were 12-12, with the Griffins blocking an additional eight shots.
Luca Di Pasquo's filthy snag of this would-be goal is worthy of the replays. pic.twitter.com/xGeYf2iGt5
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 20, 2023
Second Period: There was a flurry of penalty activity at the end of the opening frame, resulting in the visitors opening the period with 1:44 of five-on three, and then additional three minutes of five-on-four. MSU killed off the initial penalty and had two good looks on the shorthanded in the first three minutes, and then Canisius picked up a high sticking penalty to negate the remainder of the major. MSU picked up a 5x3 chance before the period reached the halfway point, and the visitors were able to extinguish that to keep it a one-goal game. Di Pasquo also came up with a big save as the Griffins sprung on an odd-man rush. At 10:15, freshman Owen Baker was assessed a major for kneeing, putting the Spartan PK back to work. Ninety seconds into the penalty, Griffin Loughran redirected a Matteo Giampa shot at the left post to tie up the game, but Reed Lebster took an outlet pass out of the right corner from Maxim Štrbák, skated up the left side, and got the goalie to commit before he popped home the shorthanded tally to put MSU back ahead, 2-1 at 12:52.
Spartans go back on top with this end-to-end shorthanded effort by Reed Lebster. pic.twitter.com/KjWuXoYWjz
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 21, 2023
Third Period: MSU gave itself a little breathing room with a goal by Russell at 5:14. Dorwart sent Russell into the offensive zone, and the sophomore unleashed from above the hash marks for his fifth goal of the season (and fourth of the weekend). MSU padded its lead at 15:11 with another shorthanded marker, as Nienhuis and Levshunov streaked into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush. Levshunov's shot was saved, but Nienhuis was right there to redirect the rebound for his second goal of the year and a 4-1 Spartan lead. Matteo Giampa scored a pair of extra-attacker goals in the final 3:15 to pull the visitors within a goal, with his second scored with less than six seconds remaining. MSU put 17 shots on net in the period compared to 13 for Canisius.
Here's that Nienhuis shorty off the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/mvbCILT00D
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) October 21, 2023
Team Stats
CAN
MSU
Shots
33
47
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
2
Penalties
8
10
Penalty Mins
16
42
Faceoffs Won
36
29
Game Leaders
+/-
2
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
3
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
1
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
2
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
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