Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Alaska-Fairbanks
Spartans Shutout Nanooks, 3-0
12/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 11, 2005
The Spartans took an early 1-0 lead, for the second night in a row, when freshman forward Justin Abdelkader (Muskegon, Mich.) flipped home a rebound on Michigan State's second power play opportunity of the game. Drew Miller (East Lansing, Mich.) and Chris Mueller (West Seneca, N.Y.) were credited with assists on the play, after the two combined to cycle the puck out of the corner to the front of the net.
Michigan State's power play struck again early in the second period, when senior forward David Booth (Washington, Mich.) found sophomore Bryan Lerg (Livonia, Mich.) alone at the side of the net. Lerg fired a quick low shot past UAF goaltender Chad Johnson to give the Spartans a two-goal lead.
MSU was whistled for four consecutive penalties midway through the second period, including a double minor to senior defenseman Corey Potter, but the Spartan penalty killers were equal to the task, keeping the Nanook power play off the board on each occasion.
Zak McClellan (Frankenmuth, Mich.) gave the Green and White a 3-0 advantage at the 16:30 mark of the second period when the sophomore forward beat Johnson for his second goal of the season when he batted a Tim Crowder (Victoria, B.C.) pass out of midair. Freshman forward Nick Sucharski (Toronto, Ont.) picked up his second assist of the series on the play.
Alaska-Fairbanks was given a golden opportunity to get back in the game when freshman defenseman Brandon Gentile was whistled for a penalty with 4:52 left on the clock in the final stanza. Nanook head coach Tavis MacMillan pulled Johnson for the extra skater, to give UAF the two-skater advantage. The Spartan special teams capped a strong effort on the night by killing off Gentile's penalty, then shut down the Nanooks' last-minute offensive flurry to pull out a hard-earned victory.
Michigan State returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 29, when they make their 31st appearance in the Great Lakes Invitational following a 19-day holiday layoff. MSU will lace up the skates with host Michigan Tech in the tournament opener at 4:35 p.m to open the tourney.
Spartan Notebook - - Freshman forward Justin Abdelkader's first period power-play goal was his fourth of the season. It also marked the first time in his career that the Muskegon, Mich., native has scored in back-to-back games.
- Abdelkader's goal stood up as the game-winning tally for Michigan State, giving the Spartan's seven different game-winning goal scorers in their seven victories this season.
- Livonia's Bryan Lerg struck for his sixth goal in his last four games. The sophomore forward has been red-hot of late and now leads the team in goals (8), assists (15) and points (23).
- Junior Chris Snavely, normally a defenseman, skated as a forward on Michigan State's fourth line tonight and fit right in; the Lancaster, Pa., native netted an assist, his second of the season, on Bryan Lerg's power-play tally.
- The Spartans were 2-6 on the power play and have now posted two or more goals with the man-advantage in three consecutive games.
- Zak McClellan scored his second goal of the season at 16:30 of the second period. McClellan last lit the lamp in Michigan State's win 5-0 over Northern Michigan on Nov. 5.
- Freshmen forwards Tim Crowder and Nick Sucharski both collected the second assists of their Spartan careers on McClellan's goal. For Sucharski, it was also his second point on the weekend.
- With a 2-1-1 record in the month of December, Michigan State has already matched its win total from November.
- The 3-0 win over UAF was the Spartan's first CCHA road victory of the 2005-06 season.
- Junior goaltender Dominic Vicari posted his fourth shutout of the season and his second in three starts on Saturday night. The Clinton Twp., native currently leads the nation in clean sheets and boasts 16 for his Michigan State career, second all-time to Ryan Miller's 26.
