University of Minnesota Athletics
Spartans Defeat Gophers
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota dug itself a hole it couldn't get out of on Friday night and fell to Michigan State 5-2 in the opening game of the College Hockey Showcase at Mariucci Arena. No. 15 Minnesota tried to rally with two goals in the second period after falling behind 3-0 early, but Dustin Gazley netted his second goal of the game late in the second period and Spartan goaltender Drew Palmisano kept the Gopher offense at bay with several key saves in the third to preserve MSU's first win in four games.
"That's not the way you want to start," said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. "The guys did a lot of good things, but to me it was our start and turnovers that doomed us."
Michigan State opened the scoring with an unassisted power-play goal by sophomore captain Torey Krug, just 2:26 into the game. With Jake Hansen off for a tripping penalty, Krug blasted a shot through traffic and past Minnesota goaltender Kent Patterson.
The Spartans wasted little time adding to their lead. Just 22 seconds after Krug's tally, Daultan Leveille took a shot that squeaked through Patterson and landed in the crease. The puck briefly sat in the paint before Gazley swooped in and whacked home his first goal of the game.
The Spartans made it 3-0 when Brett Perlini batted a Derek Grant rebound out of the air and in to give the Spartans a three-goal lead, just 8:48 into the contest. Alex Kangas entered the game in relief and settled things down, saving the last six MSU shots of the period.
Minnesota began to turn it around in the second, using a Cade Fairchild slapshot from the point to get on the board at the 5:46 mark of the second period. The Gophers struck again less than five minutes later when Taylor Matson blew a slapshot from the right circle past Palmisano on the blocker side to make it a one-goal game.
Less than 60 seconds after Matson's goal, Grant took a ten-minute misconduct, causing him to miss the remainder of the period.
The two teams exchanged chances for the remainder of the second, looking for a pivotal goal until an unlucky bounce gave the Spartans a two-goal lead heading into the final stanza.
With 1:50 remaining in the second period, Gazley and Dean Chelios went in on a 2-on-1 against Minnesota defenseman Seth Helgeson. Gazley tried to make a cross-ice pass to Chelios, but the puck deflected off Helgeson's stick and past Kangas to give MSU a 4-2 advantage.
Palmisano turned aside all 11 shots he faced in the third period and Grant returned from his misconduct to score Michigan State's fifth goal and seal the victory for the Spartans. The loss was the Gophers' first setback to Michigan State in the last 10 meetings between the teams, dating back to 2000.
"Our starts have been a problem this year," said Matson. "The first five minutes we've been kind of getting down. Obviously we've got to work on the first 10 minutes, not taking penalties and get into our game, and begin with good starts."
Minnesota will look to rebound on Sunday as they take on No. 8 Michigan at 4:30 p.m. at Mariucci Arena in the final game of the College Hockey Showcase.
