Michigan State 3, Michigan 5
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 6, 2008
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
On the game...
The first one the defenseman misplayed the rush, and in the second one they had the chance to clear it, but they didn't.
On the team's play...
I thought we played well, we worked hard and we gave ourselves a chance to battle back. It's just a shame it slipped away like that.
On the momentum change...
They got two quick ones and we battled back, but we fought and scrapped. We have problems with strength, and obviously decision making, and that obviously cost us.
On the first half play of season...
It's hard, we have one game left (before the Great Lakes Invitational) and we are going to try and turn it around in the second half.
On the Michigan series...
I thought we played better longer tonight. I thought we played better last night for the first and I thought they really turned it up. Tonight, we played a pretty good hockey game, but we just let it get away.
Michigan State Senior Goaltender Jeff Lerg
On the disappointment of tonight's loss...
I think after every loss you say it's the most disappointing loss, but they just keep on tallying up. We've gotten beat 7-1, 5-1, 6-1 I thought those ones were bad, but this one probably hurts the most because we played a pretty solid game for fifty-seven minutes. We kind of threw two points down the tubes and threw all the confidence away that we had. We played well and got a lot better from last night. Like I said last night, we're an immature team. We've found out how to lose, just not how to win yet. It's one of those things - you have to make plays down the stretch, and we just didn't do it again tonight.
On the last three goals...
On their third goal, I'm not sure how it entered the zone, but it became a two-on-one and he attempted to pass it across and it got me moving. The puck hit off our defenseman's skate and it went right back to him so the I had to reset position. Once he got it back on his stick he threw it across. I got my pad there but he got it up over the pad. The fourth goal we were trying to get it out and we just got out-muscled, turned it over and kind of a three-on-two came. I challenged the shooter, and the guy in the backdoor was just too far away from the defenseman and he got it on his stick and put it in the open net.
On the second goal of the game...
I talked to the referee after. It was a scrum and I had it under my glove and I didn't have immediate control, and he kind of whacked it away and then whacked it back in. It was a tough break but we had a couple of breaks ourselves. That wasn't the difference in the game. The difference was that they made plays down the stretch and we didn't.
On the positives he sees from the first half of the season...
One thing I see is that we play a lot better on Saturday nights, the only thing is that we come out really bad on Friday nights, so that's a bad sign there. But we come in and we readjust and we get better on Saturday nights. We play a lot more competitively and we give ourselves a chance to win. That's one thing we have to correct; we have to come into the weekend knowing that there's two games on the line. We shouldn't have to get blown out Friday night to get a lot stronger on Saturday. I think one good thing tonight is that we got some guys get goals that were having trouble finding the back of the net. That was a big part and hopefully we can continue to get some goals and get back to being the defensive minded team that we're supposed to be.
On what a loss like tonight teaches a young team...
Just keep on battling and fighting. We thought we were going to get rewarded tonight, but it's just one of those things where you try to stay positive. The guys on our team have to realize that it's a privilege to play here. It's not their right to let us play, it's a privilege for us to go out on the ice every night, the least we should do is go out and play hard for sixty minutes. Like I said, I think it's a sign of an immature team coming in and expecting the world to be given to them when you really have to earn it. It's something we've got to harp on over break. It's going to be good to get away, get away from the rink eventually, and get some time to ourselves and come back from break rejuvenated. It's like the first month of the year; we were rejuvenated, fresh, ready to go and we played pretty solid hockey the first month. Hopefully we can carry that mentality over.
On feeling responsibility for the team's performance...
I think everyone is responsible. As senior leadership we've tried to harp on playing sixty minutes, respecting the game and taking advantage of the privilege of playing here. It's just one of those things that we do a few spurts at a time but not consistently, and good players play well consistently. That's something we're going to have to find a way to do. Personally I feel comfortable in there.
Michigan State Sophomore Forward Dustin Gazley
On the emotional mix of scoring two goals, but losing late in the game... It was good to get the lead, and get those two goals finally, but we just have to play a whole sixty-minute game. We can't play only fifty two minutes or fifty four minutes. We play the whole sixty minutes and we win the hockey game.
On Coach reuniting the line with him, Leveille, and Rowe...
I think we did pretty well tonight. We struggled for a bit during that long stretch, but tonight I thought we finally got together and figured out stuff.
On the momentum of the two goals scored in short stretches...
I think in the zone, once you get that momentum going, it carries over to the next shift. It was actually the same shift where I got those two goals. The momentum and energy were up, then we got another good break, a 2 on 1 with Andre Rowe and I. I just finished hard on that one.
On the positives to take into break...
I think we played hard the first couple of periods. It was just the last three minutes. We are working hard. We just need to go practice, keep battling, and doing the little things that count. Mostly, taking the body was big today. We were more physical than we were last night, and I think that played a big part in the game. The crowd got into it, which helped us out a bit too.
Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson
Opening statement...
Well, it was amazing how goals came in spurts. There were two goals, two goals and two goals. It was just that kind of a game. I'm not sure whether it was the bounces or the breaks. We had the lead and then all of a sudden, they scored twice and they had the lead. Then, near the end, bang-bang, we get two goals. I think it was a game of bounces and breaks. They got a little bit of a break on their goal when we mishandled it and then the next shift they went down 3-on-1 and scored. We took advantage of a couple of our opportunities to make plays and finish our chances. We had a little bit of luck, but we'll take it. It has been a long time since we had our way with this team in two games, whether it was here or at our place. It was a good weekend for us.
On rallying late in the third period...
We've got confidence. Our guys know they can play well, they are believing in each other and you can see it. You could see the momentum starting to go our way in the last seven or eight minutes. I don't know what it was, but we were mounting and attacking those last few minutes.
On Travis Turnbull's goals...
He was on the power play and they worked hard on the power play. I can't tell you they were anything but broken plays and he got credit for them. He worked hard all night and when you do that you end up getting rewarded.
Michigan Sophomore Center Louie Caporusso
On how Michigan reacted in the third period...
We just had to stick to our gameplan, not lose our focus, and believe we could get it done.
On Michigan finding consistency...
I think we're still playing consistently even when things aren't going well for us. I think we're sticking to the gameplan and all of the guys are going hard.
On his goal...
I saw the puck around the blue line and I kind of cheated a bit staying in the zone. I saw Aaron (Palushaj) with the puck and he made a great pass to (David) Wohlberg. I just tried to stay open and put in the open cage.
Michigan Senior Center Travis Turnbull
On his hat trick...
I was just working hard out there. I've had a lot of chances this year and the puck hasn't really been going in for me. I guess some nights you get the bounces and tonight was that night.
On Michigan's power play...
When you have chances on the power play you have to capitalize. I might have been the one that put it in the net but everyone was working hard and everyone contributed.
