MSU goes pointless over the weekend and loses BIG lead
MSU headed into this weekend in full control of its own destiny. Win three of the last four and the BIG title is yours. That is no longer the case as MSU fell in OT on Friday and in a disappointing loss on Senior Night Saturday. Minnesota has now taken over the lead in the conference and MSU not only needs to win out, but also get some help to walk away with another conference title. Luckily, MSU closes out in South Bend against the last place Irish and Minnesota will look to slow down the red hot Nittany Lions. Let’s hope PSU does some damage to the Gophers as they did to the Spartans.
Friday night had penalties ramping up to keep the Spartans off their game. An odd man advantage gave PSU the first goal of the game at the 7:18 mark. MSU did not lack opportunities as they doubled PSU in shot attempts but Sergeev was in a zone and you could tell it was going to be a tough night.
Fortunately for MSU, Augustine has been in a zone for the last four games with almost a 95% save percentage. MSU managed to survive a 5 on 3 and an additional kill before they were able to tie it up with a goal from one of my favorite skaters for MSU, Shoudy. At the 19:04 mark, PSU took the lead again as what is seeming to be a strange weakness of giving up goals in waning minutes strikes again and we headed into the third period down 2-1.
Period three saw MSU score on its first power play of the game with maybe a second or so left on the man advantage. Strbak hit a lovely shot from Howard and Stramel to tie the game up. PSU had the pressure on and Augustine responded stopping everything that came his way and off to overtime we went.
Overtime was full of heart stopping, gasping moments for both teams. MSU had some beautiful opportunities but PSU goalie, Sergeev was not to be denied. With big time stops against Howard, Andrews, and stopping a two on one he single handedly took this game to the shootout. Shootout was ties at 1 going into the last pair and Kelly missed and Laubach scored giving PSU that very special point which may come back to haunt MSU this time next week.
Saturday’s game was not the typical start to a second game in a series that MSU has needed on all season. Typically the second game is all MSU as their conditioning seems to get the best out of its opponents. Not to mention, the energy was through the roof at Munn as Senior Night was in full swing and the Spartan faithful were in full capacity and ready to celebrate with this special team. Penn State, they had a very different idea of how they wanted the night to go and took to seeing it to fruition right away.
Period one started with a blink of the eye and suddenly down by two within the first 1:45 of the game. A terrible defensive turnover and an odd man rush made it nearly impossible for Augustine to make a save. Penalties continued to be an issue in game two of the series as PSU ended the first and carried over into the second on the power play. Within the first minute and a half MSU was down 3-0 and Munn was the quietest it has been all season. Stunned would be an understatement.
However, this team has had some answers throughout the season and the Spartans began the attempted climb to get back into the game. The second period felt like a long PK as the penalties continued to mount and put MSU’s defense to the test but allowed little opportunity for the offense to strike back even while outshooting the Nittany Lions.
In the third, MSU had a couple of power play opportunities but Sergeev was remarkable. Spartans went over 30 shots and none found the back of the net until Mannisto was able to use his speed to give the Spartans their first goal and while short handed. With just over three minutes left, Nightingale pulled Augustine and the Spartans started to mount an offensive assault but Sergeev was a wall that just wasn’t breaking. With nine seconds left, Dorwart was able to slap one home to make it 3-2 but there was no nine second miracle tying goal. Sergeev ended the night with 42 saves and had 36 saves on Friday.
Some sloppy and carless play hurt the Spartans this weekend but there is not much to be done when you run into a hot handed goal tender. MSU will look to clean up the penalties and in zone turnovers and will cross fingers that Sergeev stays hot enough to shut down the Gophers next weekend. It was a disappointing night for the Spartan Seniors, Red Savage, David Gucciardi, Tanner Kelly and grad student Nicklas Andrews. There’s still a lot of hockey to play this year and maybe a weekend where you get slapped in the face comes at a good time and the Spartans use it as motivation and use the experience gained this weekend in the tourney.