Michigan State 2, Colgate 1
10/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 20, 2007
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
On his team's composure...
There were a lot of sloppy penalties. It's not because it was a rough game, but that disrupted everything. I thought it was a tough game mentally for the guys to get into, and we know they're going to have some of those games, but you've got to win tight hockey games.
I think the encouraging thing for me is that we played very solid in the third period, we created several good scoring chances, and didn't give up a lot of great chances. You have to win pretty, and you have to win ugly. It's more fun to win pretty, but you have to win those tight games, and tonight was one of those games.
On whether Colgate played differently tonight than on Friday...
Their goaltender played much better. I thought they were about the same as they were last night, but I think that's their team - they're a good, solid team. When they get good goaltending, then they're right in it. We don't give up a lot of odd-man rushes fortunately, so he made a lot of big saves.
On winning the weekend series...
Give them credit - they fought and scrapped, Jeff (Lerg) did what he had to for us, and we need him as we grow and emerge as a team. Again, I think it's a really good win. It's hard to sleep on anyone, I don't care if you're at home or on the road. If they would have gotten one, it would have been a good weekend for them, and as a result, we get something positive to build on come Monday.
Colgate Head Coach Don Vaughan
On how his team rebounded after a Friday loss...
I thought that last night they really took it to us, especially early in the game. We played a better game tonight, with some better opportunities to score. That was just a result of getting it deep and trying to keep it in their zone a little longer.
On the large number of special teams situations...
It's tough, but that's the game now and you sort of get used to it. You have to do a lot of mixing and matching, and there's a tendency to wear guys out a bit. You saw that tonight because I thought both teams got tired as the game went on.
On the play of goaltender Mark Dekanich...
He was on his game tonight and he made a couple of huge stops. Obviously he was our best penalty killer tonight; making some key stops on the power play. That's just what he can do; he's a great goaltender.
Michigan State Junior Goalie Jeff Lerg
On facing a penalty shot...
I think he was trying to go low, blocker-side, but he didn't get it where he wanted, which made it easier on me. I thought he'd put a deke on me. You could tell he's got good hands. Once he shot it, I stood my ground, and it hit me.
On his confidence when facing breakaways...
I would consider it a strength of my game. When guys come in, they usually want to deke, and with me quicker on my feet, I can catch up with them.
On the team's play in front of him...
They did a really good job; they did well blocking shots on the power play. Five shots against in a period is the best you can ask for as a goaltender. We're getting better. We still didn't play the best we can yet, but we got the win. It's good for us to be in close games.
Michigan State Junior center Justin Abdelkader
On the comparison of last nights game and the play of tonight's game...
Well, last night I think we definitely came out really well; we got a lot of goals quick. And I think we really stressed turnovers; we had quite a bit of turnovers last night, and we wanted to reduce that. Tonight we did that a little bit, but we still had a lot of turnovers; that's why we gave them a lot of opportunities, too. I think that was important for us, and important for us moving on, to reduce those turnovers. Coach always talks about the hit-to-turnover ratio, and that is important if you want to win games, especially close ones like tonight.
On whether he was surprised about the final score...
I kind of was, yeah. I thought we would score a little more, but that is just how the game was. You just have to grind it out. There were some weird bounces and a lot of penalties, so we were killing a lot of penalties, too. I think that took some of the flow out of the game. We have to be a little bit more disciplined. But that is a key to win, and I am sure we will see a lot of the 2-1, 3-2 games in the future. You have to grind it out, and battle.
Being more physical this weekend...
Against a team like this, they are really tough - they are a tough team to play against. It's teams like this that you need to take the body on them. They were giving it to us all weekend, so we wanted to give it back and return hits. With hits come turnovers, so we wanted to try and create hits on the rush and create hits in the neutral zone, since they create turnovers so we can go the other way. So I think it was kind of stressed for myself, and a lot of the guys too, to create turnovers. I think it is a really important part of my game, and I think it is an important part of the teams game too, to take the body and be physical.
