Palmisano's effort not enough as Spartans drop 3rd straight, 2-1 to Minnesota

After allowing four goals on Friday night and being yanked midway through the game, sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano wanted to make up for his spotty performance when he received the starting nod Saturday night.

And Palmisano did that and more – stopping a season-high 40 shots.

But it wasn’t enough for the No. 8 MSU hockey team, as the Spartans just couldn’t seem to get a bounce to go their way in the offensive zone en route to a 2-1 loss to Minnesota in Saturday’s final game of the College Hockey Showcase.

MSU head coach Rick Comley was pleased with the way Palmisano, and his team, bounced back after getting trampled 7-3 by No. 15 Wisconsin on Friday.

“Even with the bad start last night, we had a chance and got back in that game,” Comley said. “Then tonight we could have won this game. The first half (of the season) is all about learning. We had a great start and everyone was real happy with that. Everything is still fine.”

While Palmisano stood on his head for the Spartans, it was Minnesota backup goaltender Kent Patterson who stole the spotlight in his fourth start this season by stopping 37 shots to earn his first career win.

“We had lots of shots but we couldn’t get anything clean,” Comley said. “(Patterson) made a couple of really nice saves. He did what he had to do. He got a chance and did a real nice job.”

MSU hasn’t won a Showcase game since 2004 at Wisconsin and Minnesota now owns a nine-game unbeaten streak against MSU (4-0-5).

Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder put the Golden Gophers on the board at 3:32 of the second period. Schroeder charged up ice with the puck on a 2-on-1 and made a nifty move to beat junior defenseman Jeff Petry before firing the puck over Palmisano’s glove.

The Spartans had the momentum late in the game, but couldn’t get a bounce to go their way until junior forward Andrew Rowe scored a fluky goal at 16:36 of the third period.

Sophomore forward Daultan Leveille fired a shot that whizzed over the goal and the rebound bounced off the glass and sat at the side of the net. Rowe corralled the puck and took a quick shot that hit off Patterson and went into the net.

But the Golden Gophers stole the momentum back the very next shift.

Just 39 seconds after the Spartans netted the tying goal, Minnesota’s Mike Carman took advantage of an MSU turnover in the defensive zone and beat Palmisano with a hard wrist shot from the top of the slot.

“We had two chances to get the puck out, but we got a bad bounce and the puck was fluttering,” Palmisano said. “Then they got a good shot off and I couldn’t see it.”

Comley pulled Palmisano for an extra skater with 1:28 remaining in the third period and the Spartans had a 6-on-4 advantage when Wisconsin’s David Fischer was whistled for tripping at 19:43.

The Spartans were able to generate a handful of scoring chances, but were unable to beat Patterson.

After holding a nation-best eight game unbeaten streak two weeks ago, MSU is now winless in four straight games (0-3-1).

The Spartans (9-5-2 overall, 6-2-2-0 CCHA) will travel to Northern Michigan for a two game series with the Wildcats this weekend.

“We have to be a little stronger defensively and stick to our system,” Rowe said. “We need to get our bounces back and our luck back and put some goals past the other goalie. We just have to bear down more in front of the net.”