Michigan State University
Ohio State
Yanakeff Blanks Buckeyes, 2-0
2/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Feb. 4, 2011
Columbus, Ohio - Tim Buttery got the eventual game-winner, his first goal of the season, midway through the second period and freshman netminder Will Yanakeff's hot hand continued in the Spartan crease as Michigan State knocked off Ohio State, 2-0, on Friday night in Columbus. The Spartans win back-to-back conference games for the first time this season, and improve to 12-13-4 (8-11-2-0 CCHA). Ohio State is 13-13-2, 8-11-2-2 in conference play.
Just 10 points separates fourth from 10th place in the CCHA standings after tonight's games. The Spartans are two points back of eighth place, which is currently shared by the Buckeyes and Lake Superior, which was a 4-1 winner over Northern Michigan on Friday.
Michigan State got on the board at 6:04 of the second period. The Spartans were buzzing in the offensive zone, and had a couple of good chances - one by Greg Wolfe in front, and another that Torey Krug leapt to keep in the zone, and then fired a slapshot from the half-boards. On the ensuing faceoff, Daultan Leveille won the draw back to Buttery at the top of the left circle, and Buttery's shot beat Cal Heeter five-hole.
That would be all the offense the Spartans would need, though the home team pressed late in the third for an equalizer. MSU took penalties at 13:58 (Grant, tripping) and 17:21 (Perlini, holding) to give the Buckeyes life as time wore down in regulation. With under two minutes remaining, Ohio State had what appeared to be an equalizer from the left side, but it was waved off when video review showed that it had been kicked into the net.
Derek Grant had an empty-net shorthanded tally with 1:02 on the clock, giving the Spartans some insurance. The assist went to Dustin Gazley, his 10th of the season.
Yanakeff made 32 saves in his second shutout of the season. In his last four starts, he has allowed just three goals, and has a pair of shutouts.
These two teams will wrap up their weekend series tomorrow evening in a game which starts at 7 p.m.
NOTES: MSU wins back-to-back conference games for the first time since late February 2010. MSU last won back-to-back games against Ferris State on Feb. 20, 2010 (3-2) and Bowling Green on Feb. 26, 2010 (5-2) ... MSU leads the season series, 2-1, with the Buckeyes ... MSU has a shutout streak of 120 minutes against the Buckeyes. The Spartans shut out OSU 4-0 on Nov. 13, and OSU had won the previous night's game in overtime ... Overall, eight of MSU's 29 games this season have been shutouts - three for, and five against. MSU owns two shutouts against Ohio State, and has been shut out twice by both Ferris State and Michigan. MSU also shut out Alaska, and was shut out by Miami ... The Spartans are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, dating back to the GLI Consolation game ... Tim Buttery's second-period goal was his first since Oct. 16, 2009 at Maine ... Daultan Leveille continued his streak of having at least a point in every conference series this season. Junior Matt Crandell played in his 99th career game tonight. Tomorrow, he will become the second member of the class to hit the 100-career game mark. Classmate Daultan Leveille did it at Lake Superior State on Jan. 15 ... Yanakeff earned first-star honors for the second straight week ... Yanakeff lost his first start at MSU (Nov. 20 vs. Notre Dame, 4-2), but has gone 5-0-1 since. He boasts a 1.68 GAA and .945 save percentage in nine games overall ... MSU's last three game-winning goals have been the player's first tally of the season: Chris Forfar against Miami (1/21), Joey Shean (Michigan, 1/29), and Buttery against OSU (2/4) ...
