Apparently new players and a fresh season don’t make much difference - at least not for MSU and Miami (Ohio).
The fourth-ranked Spartans blanked Miami 3-0 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday, extending their defensive dominance over the RedHawks (6-5-1 overall, 4-3-1 CCHA) to four straight games.
MSU also shut out Miami twice last January - 1-0 and 5-0 - and the RedHawks haven’t scored against the Spartans in 292:07 minutes of hockey, dating to the first period of a 5-1 MSU win on March 11, 2000.
All five games in the streak have been played at Munn Ice Arena.
“I’m always surprised we get a shutout,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said. “To get a shutout, there’s gotta be a lot of good things that happen.
“I’m not sure (Miami has) a lot of scorers. As a whole, they have a lot of workers and as long as they don’t out-work you, they’re not going to score. They didn’t really out-work us, and we matched them in that aspect and our scorers were able to get some goals.”
NCAA shutout king Ryan Miller earned both whitewashes for the Spartans, good for his 22nd and 23rd career blankings. The junior goaltender made 23 saves Friday and 28 saves Saturday for MSU (8-2-1, 7-2-1).
He was in command all weekend, rarely allowing Miami’s high-powered offense to get a clear look at the net behind him.
“I felt good this weekend,” Miller said. “I knew it was going to come down to rough and tumble type games with weird bounces and I just had to be in control of my zone.
“With the way the defense played tonight, you know, (it) pushed (Miami) to the outside. All they could do was cycle and get shots from rolling out (and those) aren’t that dangerous.”
Junior left wing Brian Maloney said he can’t say anything about Miller’s play that hasn’t already been said.
“I look at him and I don’t even have to say ‘good game’ anymore,” Maloney said. “I just smile and smirk and go ‘there you go buddy, another one.’
“He’s just an amazing goalie, and he makes it a lot easier for us.”
MSU’s sweep, coupled with Ohio State’s surprising sweep of first-place Northern Michigan, puts the Spartans back atop the CCHA standings with 15 points. The Wildcats (6-3-1, 6-3-1) are second with 13 points and the Buckeyes (7-2-1, 5-2-1) are third with 11.
Offensive contributions from senior left wing Joe Goodenow and junior defenseman John-Michael Liles propelled MSU to victory in Friday’s series opener. Both players notched power-play goals as the Spartans went 2-for-3 with a man-advantage.
“If you can’t get goals 5-on-5, hopefully you can get them in special teams,” Mason said. “Miami couldn’t score on their power play, so us scoring on ours was the difference in the game.
“We had to battle to score goals in this series and when you battle to score, sometimes you give a lot up. We gave up some odd-man rushes and turned the puck over trying to get some goals and that’s where Ryan Miller made the saves.”
Junior defenseman Brad Fast also tallied Friday. It was the fourth goal of the season for all three scorers.
Freshman center Lee Falardeau and Maloney both scored in Saturday’s 28-shot effort against Miami goaltender David Burleigh. Falardeau has three tallies this season and Maloney notched his fourth.
The sweep pushes MSU’s home unbeaten streak to 25 games (23-0-2) heading into the College Hockey Showcase this weekend. The Spartans entertain Wisconsin at 7:05 p.m. Friday and No. 1 Minnesota at 1:35 p.m. Sunday to finish off a seven-game homestand.
