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Spartan Recap: Michigan State Spartans Split Series With Penn State

Spartan Recap: Michigan State Spartans Split Series With Penn State
SEF College Hockey

To kick off the second half of the Big Ten men’s hockey season, the Michigan State Spartans and Penn State Nittany Lions faced off in a two-game set at Munn Ice Arena, the home of Spartan hockey. The first game ended with a 1-0 Penn State shutout, while the Spartans took the second game by a score of 5-1.

Game 1:

There were several line changes heading into the first game of the second half of the season for the Spartans. Forwards AJ Hodges or Adam Goodsir were both not in the lineup, which led to Mitchell Lewandowski moving up to the first line to play with Charlie Combs and Joshua Nodler. Nico Muller played with Jagger Joshua and Austin Kamer, while Tommy Apap played with Kristof Papp and Brody Stevens. Replacing Goodsir on the dominant fourth line with Mitchell Mattson and Kyle Haskins, which, heading into the game, combined for ten points in eight games, was Gianluca Esteves. Powell Connor, who impressed Head Coach Danton Cole in the series against Notre Dame, was dressed as the extra skater for the third straight game. The matchup in goal was Drew DeRidder, who has started every game this season, and Oskar Autio, who is part of a tandem for the Nittany Lions with Liam Souliere.

The story of the first period was the play of Autio. The Spartans were all over Penn State; however, they were unable to beat the Finnish netminder. The fourth line put in pressure at points during the period, while Haskins had two strong chances that didn’t get past Autio. Cole Krygier, Stevens, and Muller also had strong opportunities in the first 20, but Autio was in front of all of them. The first period was not scoreless, however, as Connor made a poor pass attempt towards Christian Krygier right in front of DeRidder that Penn State’s Sam Sternschein picked up and put in the back of the net. MSU had one final attempt in the period, a two-on-one that led to a Combs shot being stopped. After one, the Nittany Lions lead the game, 1-0, but the shots on goal were in the Spartans’ favor, 13-10.

The second period was somewhat uneventful for the first half of the period aside from Stevens getting taken down near the Spartans’ bench, but he got up and went back on the bench. The play started to slowly pick up when Michigan State headed to a power-play with 7:49 remaining in the period due to a Mason Snell cross-check. The Spartans’ power-play, which was 3-for-25 headed into the game, was ineffective once again, failing to register a shot on goal. Just one minute after the power-play expired, Combs had three unlucky chances with the first two going wide, and the third hitting the right post. After two, Penn State continued to hold their 1-0 lead, while the Spartans had a 20-19 shot on goal lead.

The third period produced the same hockey that has been played all game, which focused on the two players manning the pipes. DeRidder and Autio continued to show off during the third period, with the first few big stops coming off of a Combs shot and a Nodler rebound that never got through, and a Kevin Wall breakaway. The Spartans had a tough time getting to the net and, when getting there, putting pucks on the net. They had numerous shots that went wide and to the boards, or high and on the glass. DeRidder left the net with about a minute left, and the Nittany Lions failed to score on the empty net prior to Jagger Joshua and Mason Snell taking coincidental roughing minors with 36.1 left. Oskar Autio finished the game with a 23-save shutout, while Sternschein’s goal ended up being the game-winner.

Coach Cole spoke after the game “(It was a) good battle, obviously could’ve been better. Guys did a lot of things right, not a lot of puck luck. I thought we had a lot of chances, guys in alone… missed the net on a lot of them… I think our defense could’ve done a better job. Overall, a decent amount of chances and you’ve got to capitalize… it (the goal) wasn’t the wrong play… we did a lot of good things and we will build on that tomorrow.”

Cole was happy with the defensive game, especially in the face-off dot. The Spartans won about 64% of the draws. The goal was an unfortunate play, but overall the defensive play was good and Drew DeRidder had another solid night in goal.

Combs also spoke following the game. With regards to the feel in the locker room after a game like that, he said that “it’s frustrating, not scoring. The game just turned out to end off of one mistake. Obviously, we’ve got enough time in between games to reset and get ready to give it our all.”

Game 2:

Ahead of the second game of the series, there was one line change for the Michigan State Spartans as Jake Smith entered the lineup, while captain Tommy Apap was a late scratch after going through warmups. Drew DeRidder started in goal for the Spartans, while Liam Souliere started for the Nittany Lions.

The second game started out a little different than the previous night, as just 2:26 into the game, Jagger Joshua beat Souliere with a backhand shot that went blocker side. The Spartans took an early 1-0 lead on Joshua’s first goal of the season. Not long after that, Michigan State came right back into the offensive zone, and Gianluca Esteves wound up a slap shot from the left circle to make it 2-0 with his first goal of the season, 5:03 into the first period. About five minutes in and the Spartans had five shots, and they are on target, unlike a lot of the chances from the previous game.

With about four minutes left, Joshua stole the puck in the offensive zone and hit the side of the net, looking for his second of the game. He was then denied the wraparound rebound attempt. Penn State’s first big shot attempt came on a Connor McMenamin breakaway, but it went off of DeRidder’s mask and out of play. With a little over two minutes left in the first period, Cole Krygier went to the box for a holding minor that was taken after he made a turnover in the defensive zone, but the Spartans killed it off after DeRidder made multiple stops including a sliding stop that made him leave his feet. The Spartans took their 2-0 lead to the intermission, but Penn State led in the shots on goal, 15-9.

The second period was quiet aside from some shot attempts until Jake Smith took a hooking penalty with 13:49 remaining in the second. Just nine seconds into the power-play, a pair of beautiful passes found the Penn State captain, Alex Limoges, who made it 2-1. Just seconds after that at 13:11, Clayton Phillips took a non-releasable five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit from behind on Mitchell Lewandowski. Fortunately, the Michigan State Spartans’ power-play, which has been underwhelming to start the year, lit the lamp with 1:28 left in the power play. Nash Nienhuis let the shot fly off of a pass from Papp, and Jagger Joshua tipped it in front for his second goal of the game, and to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead.

Penn State’s Tim Doherty went right to the bench after getting sandwiched on the boards with Charlie Combs, and after a Penn State review, Combs was charged with a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head, the third the Spartans have had to deal with in their last four games, and the Nittany Lions were given a non-releasable five-minute power-play. Doherty came back on the ice during the Penn State power-play. Alex Stevens rang one off the post, and the Spartans killed off the majority of the power-play that has 1:06 carry-over time into the third period. After two, the Spartans lead 3-1, but Penn State still leads in shots on goal, 24-18.

Photo was taken by Nick King, Lansing State Journal

To open the third period, the Spartans killed off the remaining 1:06 of the five-minute major. Michigan State’s penalty-kill has killed off all three of the five-minute-majors over the past four games. With the ejection of Combs, Jake Smith took his spot playing with Lewandowski and Josh Nodler on the first line. Esteves had an opportunity about five minutes into the third to get his second of the game but hit the post. With about eight minutes to go, Kevin Wall had a wide-open lane, and DeRidder made a tough glove save. With 5:45 left, the Spartans won the faceoff, and Nico Muller found Brody Stevens who had a wide-open net, scoring his first goal of the season, to make it 4-1, and with 5:15 to go, Penn State Head Coach Guy Gadowsky pulled Liam Souliere. At the 2:14 mark, Mitchell Lewandowski shot one into the empty net, making it 5-1 with his third goal of the season, and marking the first time the Spartans scored more than four goals this season. Following the empty-net goal, Will Holtforster, a graduate student on Penn State’s club hockey team, entered the Nittany Lions net, making his NCAA debut.

The Michigan State Spartans displayed a strong response to the shutout yesterday and defeated the Nittany Lions, 5-1, while Penn State did have the lead in shots on goal, 37-21.

Following the game, Coach Cole spoke to the media. “Great effort by our guys, a little short, obviously when a guy like Tommy Apap, the amount of ice time, the hard things he does for our hockey team, the leadership he brings, can’t go, that leaves a big hole in the lineup. I’m proud of the guys, battled hard, figured out a way, got out to a 2-0 lead. Dealt with a lot of pressure, handled it well… lots of adversity, these are the kind of games that coaches like, maybe not going through it, but you find about your guys… a lot of good things this weekend, guys earned a win tonight.”

Talking about Jagger Joshua, Cole said that forwards tend to think about themselves in points, so getting on the board was great for him. He also liked his play on the penalty kill with Mitchell Mattson. With regards to Drew DeRidder, liked that he was out on the top of his crease and protecting the second chances that Penn State brought on and how he managed the game. Part of that was credited to the defense as allowing two goals over the series against a tough Nittany Lions team is something to definitely be proud of.

Jagger Joshua was happy to light the lamp tonight and get on the scoresheet for the season. “Obviously, I haven’t scored all year, so it’s always good to score a goal, especially when you are going through a little drought. Then if you get another one to help out the team a little bit, it gets even better.” He said the team had a little more desperation to score in the second game after the shutout in yesterday’s game.

Like Cole said about Joshua’s play on the penalty kill, he said the same. “Obviously, everyone wants to be on the power play, but I kind of like doing the job that nobody else likes to do. I just try to have an active stick is my main goal. (The coaching staff) trusts me out there.”

Dennis Cesana liked the way the defensive group played this weekend. “I think we had a good weekend overall, gave up a couple breakaways there… just play hard down low… overall as a d-core, we did a good job controlling the neutral zone, and when they did get behind us, we did a good job playing harder.”

The Michigan State Spartans continue their second-half schedule with a home-and-home on January 8th and 9th against the ninth-ranked University of Michigan Wolverines.

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