A little more than a month into the season, freshman left wing Kevin Estrada finally feels his game is catching up to his teammates.
Estrada, who was shut out in his first six collegiate games, scored his first goal as a Spartan on Thursday and then popped in two more in No. 3 MSU’s 4-0 win over Bowling Green at Munn Ice Arena on Friday.
“He’s a very talented player, but we didn’t want to force him or push him too much - we wanted him to find his groove,” said junior defenseman Brad Fast, who set up Estrada’s first goal Friday by charging to the side of the net and sliding a backhand pass in front of the crease.
“I think he’s found it and we can expect a lot more out of him now.”
Estrada said he’s still battling back from two off-season surgeries - one on his right shoulder and one on his nose - that have slowed his development at MSU.
“I knew it would put me back two to three months,” said Estrada, who’s now part of a multi player tie for the team lead with three goals. “My shoulder’s still getting stronger and I knew I’d have to take some time while everyone else jumped right in.
“But our line’s working really well right now and I feel more relaxed and confident and I’m just going out there and having fun.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder came to MSU from the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League - the same team that produced junior left wing Brian Maloney and former MSU center Jeremy Jackson.
With the Chiefs, Estrada totaled 34 goals and 84 assists in 59 games last season, statistics that compelled the Carolina Hurricanes to select him in the third round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
So most people expected Estrada to jump right in and light up the score books. But his transition into Division I college hockey had crawled along until this weekend.
“It’s great for him,” said freshman center Ash Goldie, Estrada’s roommate. “He had a rough go of it at the start. He was working hard, but nothing was happening out there for him.
“Now his confidence is up and he’s flying out there.”
In all, Friday’s game was a much better all-around effort by the Spartans (5-2-1 overall, 5-2-1 CCHA) than the series opener. Junior right wing Steve Jackson and senior right wing Adam Hall notched goals of their own and the Spartan defense was sound - led by a few excellent plays by senior Jon Insana.
“We played better positionally all night long, there’s no doubt about that,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said. “We talked about it in our meeting before the game and I think we had more commitment to ice balance.”
Junior goaltender Ryan Miller was the beneficiary of the MSU defensive clamp-down, making 30 saves to record the 21st shutout of his career.
He dazzled the crowd of 6,636 with a diving glove save late in the first period that denied a seemingly inevitable goal by Falcon center Greg Day.
“That was the kind of save standing ovations are made of,” Mason said. “Our crowd should have just gone nuts at that point to see a kid do what he did right there.”
The sweep of Bowling Green (1-5-2, 1-4-1) puts the Spartans back on a winning track after getting swept by Nebraska-Omaha last weekend.
It also extends MSU’s home unbeaten streak to 22 (20-0-2) since Oct. 20, 2000, and the Spartans next five games are at Munn - starting with a one-night, nonconference matchup against UMass-Amherst on Friday.
