University of Minnesota Athletics
Shorthanded Gophers Rally to Tie Spartans
11/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Playing without three of its top scorers, Minnesota turned to some unusual offensive sources to salvage a 4-4 tie with Michigan State on Saturday at Mariucci Arena.
Minnesota entered the weekend as the nation’s top-ranked team and is now 7-2-5 overall. The Gophers were playing without third-leading scorer Jay Barriball and fifth-leading scorer Mike Carman due to injuries. Forward Taylor Matson, who had played in all of the previous 13 games, was also injured, while the Gophers’ leading scorer, Ryan Stoa, missed almost the entire game after being issued a game misconduct six minutes into the game. For the second straight year against Michigan State, two of Minnesota’s goals came from players who had never previously scored as Joe Miller and Nick Larson each recorded goals.
Michigan State had its highest-scoring game of the season and broke out of a seven-game losing streak that saw the Spartans score a total of six goals and no more than one in any game. The Spartans, who are now 4-9-3 and on a nine-game winless streak, were outshot 53-12 in a 3-1 loss at Wisconsin on Friday, but had 11 shots in the first period on Saturday and finished the game with a 30-26 advantage. It marked the fifth time in the last eight meetings and second straight year that Minnesota and Michigan State have tied.
Stoa was given his game misconduct at the six-minute mark of the opening period when he was called for a five-minute major for checking from behind. The Gophers, who rank second nationally on the penalty kill, nearly killed off the entire five minutes before the Spartans’ Daultan Leveille scored with 16 seconds left on the man-advantage. He finally converted his third shot attempt after Gophers’ goaltender Alex Kangas saved the initial two shots. Tim Crowder and Justin Johnson picked up assists on the goal at the 10:44 mark.
Michigan State went ahead 2-0 just over one minute later as Dan Sturges scored following a highlight-reel pass from Corey Tropp, who fell down just after crossing the blueline and fed Sturges with a cross-ice pass while laying on the ice at the 11:57 mark.
The Spartans had another power play a short time later, but this time Minnesota converted with a shorthanded goal from Justin Bostrom at 15:30 of the opening period. The play started with a solid defensive play by Tony Lucia, who tipped away a pass intended for a wide-open shooter on the far side of the net. Lucia retrieved the loose puck along the boards, carried the puck into the zone and passed across ice for Bostrom, who backhanded a shot through the legs of Spartans’ goaltender Drew Palmisano.
Miller tied the game with a goal in his second collegiate game. Mike Hoeffel stole the puck in the corner and passed to Miller at the faceoff dot where he wristed a quick shot past Palmisano at the 6:14 mark of the second period.
The tie didn’t last long as the Spartans regained the lead at the 7:55 mark when Leveille deflected a shot out of the air from Crowder at the point. It became a two-goal lead just 48 seconds later as Andrew Rowe blasted a quick shot from just above the crease for a 4-2 advantage. Tropp had the puck behind the net and found Rowe all alone in front of the net for the goal.
Another Gopher collected his first career goal at the 15:11 mark of the second period as Larson scored off a perfect pass from Jordan Schroeder at the point in just his fourth collegiate game. Kevin Wehrs also assisted the play for his first point of the season.
Patrick White picked up his first goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at 6:20 of the third period. White took a perfect feed from Aaron Ness on the far side of the net and buried the shot. Ryan Flynn also had an assist on the play. It was the Gophers’ only power play chance of the night as they have now scored a man-advantage goal in 12 of their 14 games. Michigan State finished one-for-four on the power play.
The Gophers had a flurry in the final 30 seconds of regulation, but neither team mounted many chances in the overtime as Michigan State had the only shot on goal in the extra period.
Kangas finished with 26 saves for Minnesota and allowed four goals for the third consecutive game after doing so only twice in his first 42 career games. Palmisano had 22 saves in his fourth career game for the Spartans.
The Gophers have a week off before hosting Colorado College at Mariucci Arena on Dec. 13-14.
