Friday, February 19
Minneapolis, MN
8 P.M. ET
Michigan State University
7-12-2, 5-11-1-2-1-0
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4
Minnesota
18-5, 14-5-0-0-0-0
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Michigan State
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Minnesota
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Photo by: Brad Rempel
Spartans Fall at No. 4 Minnesota, 4-2
2/19/2021 11:23:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS – The Michigan State hockey team dropped the opening game of a weekend series at No. 4 Minnesota, 4-2, on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci. Minnesota took a 3-0 lead past the midway point of the second period, but the Spartans pushed back and twice got it to a two-goal game. Tommy Apap (shorthanded) and Josh Nodler scored for MSU.
"It was a good battle. I thought our guys did an awful lot of things right both offensively and defensively," MSU head coach Danton Cole said. "We played really hard and stuck with it. We found ourselves down but kept battling and we did things in the second and third period really well and we'll need that same kind of effort tomorrow night."
Minnesota (18-5, 14-5-0-0-0-0) scored twice in span of 2:31 at the end of the first period to grab a 2-0 lead.
The first Golden Gopher goal came following a string of quality scoring chances by the Spartans. Ben Meyers eventually got the puck from Cullen Munson in the left circle, made a move and then slipped a low shot past DeRidder with 3:20 to go.
A one-timer from the right circle off the stick of Jackson LaCombe made it 2-0 with 48.4 to go in the period.
Minnesota's Brannon McManus upped the Minnesota lead to 3-1 with 7:15 to go in the middle period.
The Spartans (7-12-2, 5-11-1-2-1-0) were able to get the goal back less than two minutes later when Apap scored the second shorthanded goal of his career. Apap picked up the puck at the left point in the MSU end and raced up ice and beat goaltender Jack LaFontaine with a shot on the blocker side to make it a 3-1 game with 5:18 to go in the period.
Michigan State controlled the play in early part of the third period but couldn't pull within one before Minnesota scored to make it 4-1 as Sampo Ranto finished a 2-on-0 at the 6:32 mark.
The Spartans didn't go away though as Nodler struck with 9:07 to go to again make it a two-goal game. Adam Goodsir picked off a long pass from LaFontaine and carried the puck into the Minnesota zone down the left side. He skated the puck into the left circle where he got it to Nodler, who snapped it past the glove of LaFontaine, making it 4-2.
A penalty to Minnesota with 2:44 gave MSU another chance to cut into the deficit. But LaFontaine came up with several big stops from in close to not let the Spartans get any closer.
DeRidder made 34 saves for the Spartans, while LaFontaine turned away 19 shots.
Neither team converted on the power play as MSU was 0-for-4 and Minnesota 0-for-2.
The Spartans and Golden Gophers will meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on FOX Sports Detroit Plus and available to stream on BTN+.
"It was a good battle. I thought our guys did an awful lot of things right both offensively and defensively," MSU head coach Danton Cole said. "We played really hard and stuck with it. We found ourselves down but kept battling and we did things in the second and third period really well and we'll need that same kind of effort tomorrow night."
Minnesota (18-5, 14-5-0-0-0-0) scored twice in span of 2:31 at the end of the first period to grab a 2-0 lead.
The first Golden Gopher goal came following a string of quality scoring chances by the Spartans. Ben Meyers eventually got the puck from Cullen Munson in the left circle, made a move and then slipped a low shot past DeRidder with 3:20 to go.
A one-timer from the right circle off the stick of Jackson LaCombe made it 2-0 with 48.4 to go in the period.
Minnesota's Brannon McManus upped the Minnesota lead to 3-1 with 7:15 to go in the middle period.
The Spartans (7-12-2, 5-11-1-2-1-0) were able to get the goal back less than two minutes later when Apap scored the second shorthanded goal of his career. Apap picked up the puck at the left point in the MSU end and raced up ice and beat goaltender Jack LaFontaine with a shot on the blocker side to make it a 3-1 game with 5:18 to go in the period.
Michigan State controlled the play in early part of the third period but couldn't pull within one before Minnesota scored to make it 4-1 as Sampo Ranto finished a 2-on-0 at the 6:32 mark.
The Spartans didn't go away though as Nodler struck with 9:07 to go to again make it a two-goal game. Adam Goodsir picked off a long pass from LaFontaine and carried the puck into the Minnesota zone down the left side. He skated the puck into the left circle where he got it to Nodler, who snapped it past the glove of LaFontaine, making it 4-2.
A penalty to Minnesota with 2:44 gave MSU another chance to cut into the deficit. But LaFontaine came up with several big stops from in close to not let the Spartans get any closer.
DeRidder made 34 saves for the Spartans, while LaFontaine turned away 19 shots.
Neither team converted on the power play as MSU was 0-for-4 and Minnesota 0-for-2.
The Spartans and Golden Gophers will meet again on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on FOX Sports Detroit Plus and available to stream on BTN+.
Team Stats
MSU
MINN
Shots
21
38
PPG
0
0
SHG
1
0
Penalties
2
4
Penalty Mins
4
8
Faceoffs Won
25
24
Game Leaders
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
+1
Goals
0
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Ice HockeyF
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