EAST LANSING, Mich. — For Michigan State, all it took was one goal.
At 8:18 in the first, after not being able to find the net for the previous 169 minutes of hockey, the Spartans scored on the power play to take a 1-0 lead over Michigan, the archrival that had shut them out 4-0 the night before.
It was Patrick Khodorenko’s fifth goal of the season and it held up to be the game winner, as Michigan State returned a favor and beat the Wolverines 5-0 to earn a weekend split.
“Give our guys a lot of credit, figuring out just some energy and some focus and commitment and bouncing back from a game like that last night,” said Michigan State coach Danton Cole. “I liked the way they skated and they were physical and shot the puck.”
For the Wolverines, it was a bit of a reversal, said coach Mel Pearson. “They got a great goaltending effort from their goaltender. They made their chances count and we couldn’t score. I think it was just a tale of two games. Last night, we got the best of them. Tonight, they were the better team.”
Michigan controlled the play early in the first period but neither team had a good chance until Khodorenko redirected Mitchell Lewandowski’s shot past Hayden Lavigne for that 1-0 lead, just five seconds after Nick Porikos went to the box for boarding. After that, the tenor of the game changed completely and the Spartans controlled the puck for most of the game, in spite of being outshot 29-26.
“I thought we were ready to play, got off to a good start,” said Pearson, “but they get that power play and it goes in too easy, blown coverage. From that point on, we were on our heels the rest of the night.”
Khodorenko scored again with 4.9 seconds left on the clock in the first period.
“The second one, I thought, was really big, too,” said Cole. “Now some stuff’s going. I felt really good how the guys played. They loosened up. They were still working but they loosened up and they made some plays.”
In all, the Spartans had three power-play goals, one in each period. Lewandowski scored one of his own at 9:14 in the second from linemate Taro Hirose, who had three helpers on the night. At 14:10 in the second, defenseman Mitch Eliot made it a 4-0 game, and Logan Lambdin had Michigan State’s third power-play tally and the final goal of the game at 4:44 in the third.
Cole said he hasn’t been unhappy with the way the Spartans have played, but the lack of scoring was taking a toll. “I thought our guys were a little tight. I thought we were working hard. Again, we scored one goal in the last three games combined, and then you lose four-nothing last night in a tough rivalry game and you come back, you want things to go right.”
Enter Khodorenko, Lewandowski, and Hirose, linemates who combined for that first power-play goal and eight points on the night.
“To get that, it just kind of takes a load off,” said Cole. “Just get us on the right side of it.”
“Goals give your team a spark,” said Pearson. “They got some goals at some key times to get their team on the board. We had some looks, some good chances at key times and we didn’t finish. When you can’t finish, you’re not going to win many games.”
In his third shutout of the season, the fourth of his career, John Lethemon made 29 saves. Lavigne started in net for Michigan, stopping 13 on 17 shots. Jack LaFontaine played the third period for the Wolverines, making eight saves on nine shots.
Michigan State (8-9-1, 2-7-1-1 Big Ten) plays the U.S. Under-18 team in exhibition on Dec. 16, but neither the Spartans nor the Wolverines (7-7-2, 3-5-2-1 B1G) play games that count until they both appear in the Great Lakes Invitational tournament Jan. 1-2, 2018, in Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena.
Big Ten roundup
No. 4 Notre Dame 3, No. 12 Wisconsin 2
Dylan Malmquist had two of Notre Dame’s three third-period goals, including the game-winning goal at 16:09, as the host Fighting Irish surged ahead of Wisconsin, 3-2.
The Badgers led 2-0 after two periods on Cameron Hughes’ first-period power-play goal and Tarek Baker’s goal early in the second period. Malmquist opened the scoring for the Irish at 7:06 in the third, and Dawson Cook’s goal at 14:43 tied the game, 2-2. Colin Theisen assisted on both of Malmquist’s goals, and Cale Morris made 34 saves in his 14th win.
The game was the first conference meeting between the Irish and the Badgers since 1981, when both were members of the WCHA. The victory extends Notre Dame’s win streak to 12 games.
No. 15 Ohio State 2, No. 7 Minnesota 1
At 3:44 in overtime, Christian Lampasso scored his sixth goal of the season to send Ohio State past visiting Minnesota, 2-1.
Tanner Laczynski scored on the power play at 14:46 in the first to give Ohio State its first lead of the game, but Minnesota’s Rem Pitlick evened it up, 1-1, with less than four minutes to go in regulation.
For the Buckeyes, Sean Romeo made 33 saves in his eighth win of the season.
No. 18 Penn State 5, Robert Morris 2
Trailing 1-0 after the first, Penn State scored three goals in the second to carry a 3-1 lead into the third and finished the night with a 5-2 win over Robert Morris in the PPG Paints Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Michael Louria scored on the power play at 13:11 in the first for that early Colonials lead, but Nate Sucese and Sam Sternschein scored less than five minutes apart in the first half of the second period to put the Nittany Lions ahead, and James Gobetz ended the period with the game winner at 18:32.
Denis Smirnov scored a power-play goal 34 seconds into the third to give Penn State a 4-2 lead. Brady Ferguson scored at 12:22 for the Colonials, and Chase Berger added Penn State’s fifth goal at the 17-minute mark. Peyton Jones had the win with 28 saves.
