Michigan State University
Ohio State
Spartans Complete Sweep of Ohio State With 2-0 Shutout
1/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING - The Michigan State hockey team completed a weekend sweep of Ohio State with a 2-0 blanking of the Buckeyes on Saturday night at Munn Ice Arena. Jake Hildebrand's 22 saves and Ryan Keller's late second-period goal were the difference makers as the Spartans upped their record to 9-11-2 and 3-3-2-2 in the Big Ten.
"It never comes easy but it was nice to get a second straight win at home and complete the six periods this weekend," MSU head coach Tom Anastos said. "I thought we played three pretty solid periods tonight. Obviously goal-scoring chances weren't easy to come by tonight.
"Overall, I thought it was a pretty good effort and a good weekend four our team to build some confidence and keep moving forward."
Keller netted what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 17:12 mark of the second period. The goal was his second of the weekend and third in the last four games.
The play developed with a relentless Spartan forecheck in the OSU end and stayed alive when Travis Walsh made an aggressive play along the left boards to keep the puck in the zone. Villiam Haag then took control of the puck and threw a centering pass toward the front of the net. Keller and Walsh both took whacks at the puck and it was Keller's stick that wound up batting it into the net.
The score remained 1-0 with just over five minutes to play in the third period when the Buckeyes took two major penalties in a 3:26 span. Matthew Weis took the first major with 5:11 to play with a contact-to-the-head hit. Josh Healey followed when a check from behind ended his night with 1:37 to play in the game.
Playing with a 5-on-3 advantage, the Spartans put the game away when Brent Darnell's one-timer from the left circle sailed past goaltender Christian Frey with 1:11 left on the clock to make it 2-0.
Hildebrand had to make just five saves in both the first and third periods. His busiest stretch of the night came in the middle stanza when he made 12 stops, including maybe his best save of the game when he stoned Justin DaSilva from the slot just over five minutes into the period.
The shutout was the sixth of his career.
The Spartans killed both OSU (7-13-2, 2-6) power plays on Saturday and have now extinguished 21 consecutive opponent power plays.
MSU finished the night with a 34-22 edge in shots on goal in front of a crowd of 6,439 at Munn.
"I thought it was a great atmosphere around the rink. Last night and tonight the crowd was just awesome and our guys fed off of that," Anastos said.
The Spartans will next take on Michigan on Friday at Joe Louis Arena at 7:30 p.m.
