Michigan
25-4-4, 18-3-4CCHA
Michigan State
21-8-5, 17-5-3CCHA
Third-Period Letdown Leads to Defeat at Michigan State
2/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Munn Ice Arena)
Score: #1 Michigan 2, #6 Michigan State 5
Records: U-M (25-3-4, 18-2-4 CCHA), MSU (20-8-5, 16-5-3 CCHA)
Attendance: 6,956
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 23 -- vs. Michigan State (Detroit, Mich.), 7:05 p.m.
Boxscore | Notes & Quotes | Video Report
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan ice hockey team fell by a 5-2 margin to the sixth-ranked Michigan State Spartans Friday (Feb. 22) at Munn Ice Arena. Down 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, the Wolverines gave up three goals in the third period, including a pair of markers 18 seconds apart, and could not recover. Max Pacioretty(New Canaan, Conn.) led the U-M charge, tallying a goal and an assist for the night.
The loss, combined with Miami's 2-0 win over Western Michigan, gives Michigan a three-point (40-37) lead in the CCHA standings over both theSpartans and RedHawks.
Michigan State wasted no time breaking onto the board, capitalizing on an odd-man rush just 1:43 into the opening period. With the three-on-two advantage, Tim Kennedy dished the puck to Nick Sucharski streaking through the left faceoff circle. Sucharski relayed it to Jeff Petry, who had eluded his man in front of the crease, and the rearguard tapped the puck into the net for the 1-0 lead.
The Spartans came within inches of adding to their lead, when, coming off the penalty kill, Corey Tropp blazed in alone on Billy Sauer(Walworth, N.Y.). Tropp deked across the front of the crease, but his shot ricocheted off the right post to negate the opportunity.
MSU capped off the period with another tally to push its margin to a pair of goals. Andrew Rowe carried the puck deep into his offensive zone, then sent a backhanded feed to Tim Crowder skating up the middle of the slot. Crowder one-timed a shot over Sauer's glove at 19:00.
Despite the two-goal deficit, Michigan out-shot the Spartans by a 15-3 margin.
The Maize and Blue cut the lead in half with a power-play marker at 10:45 of the second stanza. Kevin Porter(Northville, Mich.) sent a cross-ice feed to Aaron Palushaj(Northville, Mich.) stationed below the left faceoff circle. The freshman slid a dish to Max Pacioretty(New Canaan, Conn.), who lasered a shot past Jeff Lerg for his eighth goal of the year on the man-advantage.
Michigan had its chance to knot the score with just over six minutes remaining in the period. On a two-on-one breakaway, Steve Kampfer(Jackson, Mich.) found a wide-open Ben Winnett(New Westminster, B.C.). However, the right winger could not get a handle on the puck in time to put it behind an out-of-position Lerg, and his shot trickled just wide.
Skating four a side, Michigan State blew the game wide open with a pair of goals just 18 seconds apart. Justin Abdelkader put the puck on edge and wristed a precision shot that found the top corner of the net at 5:25.
Kennedy followed the tally up with a goal of his off a big rebound. Petry blasted a shot that Sauer kicked aside, but the rebound bounced out to Kennedy, who wasted no time in stuffing it past the sprawling U-M netminder for the 4-1 lead.
U-M narrowed the gap on Winnett's fifth goal of the campaign at 11:45. The freshman grabbed a pass from Pacioretty and cut across the front of the crease. Winnett got Lerg to commit to the shot early and slid the puck under the MSU goalie to cut the margin to 4-2.
Following the marker, Michigan was assessed a pair of penalties to give the Spartans a five-on-three opportunity. Just as Louie Caporusso's (Woodbridge, Ontario) time in the box expired, Petry found Bryan Lerg in the right circle, and the MSU captain one-timed a shot for the power-play goal and the 5-2 advantage at 13:48.
The Wolverines and Spartans will travel to Joe Louis Arena on Saturday (Feb. 23) to complete the two-game set. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:05 p.m., and the game will be televised on FSN Detroit.
Contact: Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
