After the Spartans’ top forward line produced impressive statistics in Saturday night’s 4-3 win over Miami (Ohio), MSU head coach Ron Mason was thinking the same thing as many Spartan fans.
“It’s about time,” the longtime MSU foreman said.
The three players that comprise the top line - junior left wing Brian Maloney, freshman center Jim Slater and senior right wing Adam Hall - weren’t really slumping. All three have had plenty of success individually and Hall and Maloney are the top two goal-scorers on the team.
But Saturday was the first time in quite a while that all three players clicked and made each other better on the ice. Hall fed Slater for the first goal. Slater fed Hall for the second. Maloney scored the game winner and collected three assists.
Basically, three of the most talented forwards on the MSU roster finally jelled as a unit - and they carried their team to a much needed win.
“(After) every game, it seems like each one of us can sit back and count all the chances we had,” said Hall, who had two goals and two assists Saturday. “It’s just frustrating sometimes when you expect so much of yourself.
“You see these guys practice day in and day out and you know the potential that they have. You just want them to have success so badly that, when it comes, it feels a lot sweeter.”
When all was said and done Saturday, the line combined for 10 points. By contrast, the trio only managed seven points in the last six games before Saturday.
Not to say that the line hasn’t produced offensively this season. Hall has 17 goals and 14 assists, Maloney has 16 goals and 15 assists and Slater has nine goals and 17 assists. Only junior defenseman John-Michael Liles’ 31 points are keeping the Maloney-Slater-Hall line from being 1-2-3 atop the MSU points list.
But Mason knows that a large chunk of the line’s point totals have been accumulated on special teams. Hall has nine power-play goals, Maloney has four and Slater has two.
On Saturday, only Hall’s second goal was scored with a man-advantage and that’s why Mason was particularly pleased with their output.
“When you come down to it, the line hasn’t had any luck around the net except on power plays,” Mason said. “Tonight they came through. It’s really been the (freshman center Ash) Goldie line that’s been making the plays for us.”
Until the top line’s breakthrough on Saturday.
“Tonight, the pucks were going in for us, especially early on,” Hall said. “It feels good when the whole line can have success together.”
Hall’s and Slater’s accomplishments may have actually spurred Maloney to knock home the game-winning goal.
“I figured I needed to pot one so they didn’t give it to me on the way home,” Maloney said. “Any time we can get our line going, it helps the other lines out.”
Surrounded by Hall’s and Maloney’s four-point nights, Slater’s achievements were slightly overshadowed Saturday. He tallied his ninth goal of the season, snapping a seven-game goal-scoring drought.
As a junior hockey player last season, Slater amassed 27 goals and 37 assists in 48 games. He said the drop-off in his statistical production from juniors to college hockey doesn’t bother him.
“I’m happy with my numbers, but they could be a lot better - all the points aren’t there that should be,” Slater said last week. “I came here expecting a lot more.
“But I’m just going to keep playing hard. It’s not all about the numbers, it’s what you do on the ice that matters.”
