Friday, February 7
Minneapolis, Minn.
8 P.M. ET
Michigan State University
13-13-1, 9-7-1-0
1
at
4
Minnesota
13-10-4, 8-5-4-3
1
2
3
F
Michigan State
1
0
0
1
Minnesota
1
2
1
4
No. 19 Spartans Fall Short in Opener at Minnesota
2/7/2020 11:07:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS – The 19th-ranked Michigan State hockey team dropped the opening game of its series with Minnesota, 4-1, on Friday night in Minneapolis. With the game 1-1 after two periods, Minnesota scored twice in the second, the latter of which came with 1.9 seconds to go.
Minnesota (13-10-5, 8-5-4-3) got on the board just 1:11 into the game as Blake McLaughlin worked his way into the MSU end and put a low shot past goaltender John Lethemon from between the circles.
The Spartans (13-13-1, 9-7-1-0) got their first power play of the night just over five minutes later and took advantage as Mitchell Lewandowski tied the game. The Spartans snapped the puck around and eventually it was Patrick Khodorenko and Sam Saliba that got it to Lewandowski in the low slot. Lewandowski caught the puck on his forehand and immediately snapped it over the glove of goaltender Jared Moe with 11:42 to go in the period.
The Golden Gophers reclaimed the lead 4:45 into the second when Brannon McManus drove toward the crease from the right side where Lethemon made the initial stop, but Sampo Ranta drove to the net and pushed the loose puck over the goal line.
The Spartans outshot Minnesota, 10-8, in the second period and pressured the Gophers late in the stanza. But instead of MSU getting the tying goal, Minnesota made it 3-1 with 1.9 seconds to go. After pressure and a near miss by the Spartans off a faceoff in the Minnesota end, the Gophers countered at the other and Scott Reedy was able to jam a rebound into the net.
"I thought in the second period we were a little better, and unfortunately they get that late one," said MSU head coach Danton Cole. "It's a funny game because that could have gone the other way – if we get one in there it's tied, we had a 2-on-1 at the net. But instead it goes the other way."
MSU outshot the Gophers 8-6 in the third period and kept the play in the offensive end for much of the frame but couldn't get pull any closer.
Reedy scored an empty-net goal with 19 seconds to play to make it 4-1.
"We started doing some of the things in the third period we talked about that we have to do to have some success against them," said Cole. "I thought we got a little better over the period and we'll need to start tomorrow where we left off tonight."
Michigan State killed a pair Gopher power plays, which both came in the first period, while going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Minnesota finished with a 26-23 edge in shots on goal.
The Spartans and Golden Gophers will complete the season series on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The game will air on Fox Sports Detroit Plus.
Minnesota (13-10-5, 8-5-4-3) got on the board just 1:11 into the game as Blake McLaughlin worked his way into the MSU end and put a low shot past goaltender John Lethemon from between the circles.
The Spartans (13-13-1, 9-7-1-0) got their first power play of the night just over five minutes later and took advantage as Mitchell Lewandowski tied the game. The Spartans snapped the puck around and eventually it was Patrick Khodorenko and Sam Saliba that got it to Lewandowski in the low slot. Lewandowski caught the puck on his forehand and immediately snapped it over the glove of goaltender Jared Moe with 11:42 to go in the period.
The Golden Gophers reclaimed the lead 4:45 into the second when Brannon McManus drove toward the crease from the right side where Lethemon made the initial stop, but Sampo Ranta drove to the net and pushed the loose puck over the goal line.
The Spartans outshot Minnesota, 10-8, in the second period and pressured the Gophers late in the stanza. But instead of MSU getting the tying goal, Minnesota made it 3-1 with 1.9 seconds to go. After pressure and a near miss by the Spartans off a faceoff in the Minnesota end, the Gophers countered at the other and Scott Reedy was able to jam a rebound into the net.
"I thought in the second period we were a little better, and unfortunately they get that late one," said MSU head coach Danton Cole. "It's a funny game because that could have gone the other way – if we get one in there it's tied, we had a 2-on-1 at the net. But instead it goes the other way."
MSU outshot the Gophers 8-6 in the third period and kept the play in the offensive end for much of the frame but couldn't get pull any closer.
Reedy scored an empty-net goal with 19 seconds to play to make it 4-1.
"We started doing some of the things in the third period we talked about that we have to do to have some success against them," said Cole. "I thought we got a little better over the period and we'll need to start tomorrow where we left off tonight."
Michigan State killed a pair Gopher power plays, which both came in the first period, while going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Minnesota finished with a 26-23 edge in shots on goal.
The Spartans and Golden Gophers will complete the season series on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The game will air on Fox Sports Detroit Plus.
Team Stats
MSU
MINN
Shots
23
26
PPG
1
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
3
Penalty Mins
6
6
Faceoffs Won
22
22
Game Leaders
+/-
-2
Goals
1
Sh
4
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
+/-
-2
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Ice Hockey
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/ Men's Ice HockeyF
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
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