Big Rapids - Playing in one of its biggest games of the season, fifth-ranked MSU laid an egg at Ferris State on Friday night.
The Spartans (23-7-5 overall, 17-6-4 CCHA) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second period, but the underdog Bulldogs came back and stole a 3-2 win at Ewigleben Ice Arena.
The loss darkens MSU’s league title hopes heading into the last game of the regular season. Michigan beat Western Michigan 4-2 in Ann Arbor on Friday, taking a two-point lead on the Spartans in the CCHA standings.
MSU plays Ferris (15-17-1, 12-14-1) at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Munn Ice Arena - the same time U-M plays Western at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo. The Spartans must win Saturday and U-M must lose to the Broncos for MSU to get a piece of the regular-season title. A Wolverine tie or win would give them the title outright.
“Michigan can still screw up and we’ve got to still play for position,” MSU junior goaltender Ryan Miller said.
Miller made 24 saves Friday, but also allowed two soft goals in the loss. His counterpart, Ferris goalie Mike Brown, stopped 26 shots and generally thwarted the Spartans.
What really quashed MSU, however, was its futility on the power play. The Spartans went 1-for-10 with a man-advantage and had three separate 5-on-3 power plays, although the longest one was for 1:01.
MSU had the best power play percentage in the CCHA (.241) coming into Friday’s game.
“We had a lot of power plays and didn’t get the puck through and when we did, the goalie made a save,” said MSU head coach Ron Mason, who left a postgame press conference without taking questions. “The puck didn’t come to us much in front of the net tonight like it has in the past.
“It’s a classic example of a team that’s really just playing to win the game as opposed to playing for a championship. But I’m not taking anything away from our team at all, I thought we played hard tonight.”
The Spartans claimed a 1-0 lead in a power play-laden first period. Ferris racked up four penalties in the period, including two whistles within a minute of each other that gave MSU a 5-on-3 power play for 1:01. The Bulldogs killed the first penalty, but the Spartans broke through seconds afterward on junior left wing Brian Maloney’s 17th goal of the season.
Maloney gathered a deflected puck in front of the net and easily backhanded a shot into the wide-open net at 17:13.
“It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t find the back of the net,” Maloney said. “We weren’t floating out there, we wanted to win.
“We’ve got to put this aside and come out tomorrow night. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Referee Steve Piotrowski, a Ferris graduate, awarded the Spartans four more power plays in the wacky second period, but MSU couldn’t convert.
Instead, after grabbing a 2-0 lead on an even-strength goal by freshman center Ash Goldie 7:06 into the middle frame, the Spartans let Ferris come back.
Ferris’ first goal followed a questionable MSU icing call that forced a face-off in the Spartan zone. Bulldog center Jeff Legue won the draw and the puck slid to right wing Derrick McIver, who beat Miller stick-side with a slap shot at 8:01 of the period.
The Bulldogs evened the score 2-2 with an odd power play goal 12:37 into the second. Ferris defenseman Troy Milam unleashed a 90-foot slap shot that eluded Miller under his glove.
“I’ll take the blame for it,” said MSU junior defenseman John-Michael Liles, who screened Miller on the shot that came from almost center ice.
MSU senior defenseman Andrew Hutchinson came close to undoing the tie late in the period, hitting the right post with a power play wrister. MSU went 0-for-4 with a man-advantage in the second period.
The only goal of the third period was Bulldog left wing Phil Lewandowski’s game-winner at 8:04. After Lewandowski raced past MSU defenseman Brad Fast en route to a puck sliding toward the MSU goal, Miller temporarily decided to try to get to the puck before Lewandowski. Upon realizing he was going to lose the race, Miller was caught too far out of the net, and Lewandowski steered the puck around him for a 3-2 Ferris lead.
Personnel: Freshman center Lee Falardeau sat out of Friday’s game with the flu. Junior forward Troy Ferguson moved up from the fourth line to Falardeau’s spot on second line and sophomore center Tim Hearon played on the fourth line.
During MSU’s last trip to Big Rapids on Jan. 15, Falardeau sprained his left knee and missed the subsequent five games.
Mason honored: Ferris head coach Bob Daniels, a 1982 MSU graduate, presented Mason with a commemorative plaque before Friday’s game. Mason, who has coached MSU for 23 years, is stepping down after the season to become MSU athletics director.
