Michigan State 2, Alaska 1
1/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Jan. 2, 2009
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
On the third period...
I thought it was our best period. I'm not sure if they laid back a little more, or if it was something else. I thought we had better energy in the third. We had 15 shots in the third and we didn't have many before that. The whole third period was good. Their so fragile it's hard to instill confidence. They picked it up and battled. You need a couple good things to go for you and maybe you can use that as a catalyst.
On his impression of Alaska...
Their a good team. Their strong and they put the pucks on the net well. They are what their built up to be. They don't have speed at the blue line, and we struggle in some areas. I thought we were better at our goal line tonight. We just couldn't get much going offensively. I tried to juggle several things and kind of went back to what I started with. It's so hard, guys like [Corey] Tropp are snake bit to bad. The confidence level is very, very low. It was the first game probably that we've had things bounce for us, so maybe that will be a good sign.
On the crowd helping to get things going...
I thought the crowd was great. There was one stretch where they got on their feet and started cheering. The video board helps, but they reacted to it and that was positive. The crowd was really good. I thought they were really good from the standpoint that they didn't get overly restless in a negative way because there wasn't a lot happening and it was a pretty good crowd.
On his impressions of the team...
I thought our best player overall was [Andrew] Rowe. Even though he didn't figure into the scoring, he was our most consistent. I thought [Brandon] Gentile played very well again and Jeff [Lerg] played very well in goal. It was a good matchup with two really good goalies.
On what he viewed as the best part of the game...
The win and the fact that we persevered, worked hard and never quit. We're offensively challenged, so scoring is not going to be easy. I thought we competed pretty well and got better as the game went on. They practice well, but they practice against each other.
Alaska Head Coach Dallas Ferguson
On Michigan State's goals... I think in both cases it was just us relaxing. We had basically killed off a penalty and then we had four guys standing in front of our net. There should be no sticks available to touch that puck. Then off of the defensive zone faceoff it was the same kind of thing where a puck just flicks our stick and it goes in. That can't happen at this level. On looking to Saturday night's game... Obviously it's a 60-minute game so we've got to come to the rink with a bit more intensity. I'll give Michigan State credit, they played hard when they were down a goal, and both of their goals were basically second effort goals. They deserved the win. We'll rebound though. There's a lot of down heads in that locker room because we know that we let two valuable points go.
On Alaska goaltender Chad Johnson... I thought Chad was real solid when he had to be. I'd like to look at the goals again, but he's been solid all year for us. He's a top-notch goaltender.
Michigan State Sophomore Forward Dustin Gazley
On getting the win...
It feels good, that's for sure. We finally played a full 60 minutes of hockey like we should. It took 58 minutes to finally get those two goals, but we did it. I think this is really going to spark something for the new year.
On Michigan State's play in the third period...
The third period was definitely our best period. I think we struggled a bit in the second period, but in the third we were just desperate to get pucks to the net. Our goals weren't really hard shots, but they went in.
On his goal...
We had lost the draw and their defensemen went back get it. I got there just as he was about to shoot it and I lifted his stick. The puck was just sitting there and I shot it from the side of the net and it went in.
Michigan State Freshman Forward Daultan Leveille
On getting the win...
It's a great feeling. We had chances all game, we just couldn't get it in the net. We got a few bounces there that really have motivated the team and hopefully it'll start a good streak.
On dealing with adversity during the game...
We've been working hard in practice on not getting too down when the other team gets a goal. In other games if the other team had gotten the first goal we might've gone, `here we go again.' Tonight though, we just kept working and got chances. We're really motivated right now.
On his goal...
(Dustin Gazley) got a good shot off and the goalie didn't really know where it was when it bounced behind the net. Gazley then centered it back out front into some skates and the goalie didn't really know where it was. I was fortunate to get it through to the back of the net.
