Michigan State University
Alaska
Spartans Rebound With 6-2 Win Over Alaska
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 20, 2011
Fairbanks, Alaska - Derek Grant had a career-best four point night (2goals, 2 assists) and led six MSU players with multiple-point efforts as the Spartans rebounded for a 6-2 victory over Alaska. MSU had three third-period goals to put a tight game out of reach, and Drew Palmisano made 22 saves for the win. Andy Taranto had both Alaska tallies.
"It is so important for us to get the first goal," said head coach Rick Comley. "It's been frustrating, but we're young, and generating offense early makes us a better team, because it gives us that confidence. We had some guys leave the game with injuries, and our remaining guys really battled. It was a good road win."
The teams traded scores in the opening five minutes of the contest - MSU jumped on the board first, as Forfar carried it up the right side and set up Derek Grant in front. Andy Taranto tied the score for Alaska at 4:16, with a shot from the top of the left circle. The advantage at the first intermission went to MSU, who got a power-play goal for the first time on the weekend; blueliner Torey Krug got the score off a feed from Gazley for his 11th marker of the year.
Grant got his second of the night at 13:26 of the second period to push MSU's lead to 3-1. Grant took a pass from Forfar and streaked into the offensive zone on a two-on-one break with Krug. Grant saw the opening and shot, and the result was his seventh goal of the season.
The teams traded goals in a 30-second span in the latter part of the third period. Mike Merrifield forced a turnover and brought it the length of the ice for his first goal since November at 12:35 of the period. On the next shift, Taranto got his second marker of the night as he was able to utilize the traffic in front to put back a rebound.
The Spartans connected on the power play for the second time of the evening at 15:24, pushing their lead back to three goals. A Greg Wolfe pass ricocheted off a defenseman in front, giving the freshman his first goal since the Miami series; Krug and Grant had the helpers. Lee Reimer tacked on a sixth goal for MSU with 2:04 remaining in the game, with Wolfe and Merrifield garnering the helpers.
The Spartans were bolstered by the play of their special teams. MSU was 2-for-4 on the power play, and killed off all four chances against. Palmisano picked up the victory with 22 saves.
Michigan State will close out the regular season with a two-game set against Bowling Green next weekend. The Spartan seniors - Gazley and Joey Shean - will be honored in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday evening.
NOTES: MSU snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with the win. ... The Spartans take the season series from Alaska (2-1-1) ... Torey Krug's 11th goal of the season puts him ninth in a single season for a defenseman in the MSU annals, tied with AJ Thelen (2003-04) and Brad Fast (2002-03). Both Thelen and Fast earned All-America honors in those seasons ... Derek Grant had his first career multiple-goal game ... Dustin Gazley had a career-best three assists, his second three-point game of the season. He had 1-2-3 in the season opener against Maine ... Mike Merrifield and Greg Wolfe each finished with a goal and an assist, with all their points coming in the third period ... Palmisano made 22 saves in the victory. It was his first victory since a 7-4 win over Miami on Jan. 21 ... Mike Merrifield's third-period goal was his first since Nov. 12 against Ohio State. Merrifield had the assist on Wolfe's goal later in the period for his first multiple-point game of the season ... Wolfe had his second multiple-point game in a month with a goal an assist, which he also had on Jan. 21 vs. Miami ... Chris Forfar had his first multiple-point effort of the season with two helpers ... Dean Chelios had his four-game point-scoring streak snapped ... Lee Reimer had his second career goal and first since Dec. 29 vs. Colorado College ...
