Senior defenseman Daniel Vukovic looks for the puck in front of the Wisconsin goal. Vukovic had no shots on goal during Saturday’s game which ended in a 4-4 tie.
It was a tale of two ties for the No. 5 MSU hockey team this weekend in the College Hockey Showcase.
Things weren’t looking good Friday night against No. 13 Minnesota after the Spartans lazily gave up a shorthanded goal to trail 3-2 midway through the third period. But less than 90 seconds later, MSU had tied the game on a shorthanded goal of its own by junior forward Tim Kennedy. The 3-3 score stood.
Having never led, this could be considered a good tie for the Spartans.
However, when MSU met No. 12 Wisconsin on Saturday night, outside of losing the game in overtime, the worst possible scenario played out.
MSU built a quick two-goal lead in the third period but couldn’t hang on as the Badgers fought back and forced a 4-4 tie.
This was a bad tie.
MSU head coach Rick Comley and senior captain Bryan Lerg summed up the game in one word: “Disappointing.”
“You’re up 4-2 with 10 minutes to go and you don’t get it done — it’s pretty frustrating,” Lerg said. “We had a really good first two periods, but the third period I think we registered maybe four shots on net. That’s something we can’t have. The third period has to be our best period.”
MSU got goals from Lerg and junior forward Matt Schepke in the first period and took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
The lead looked to hold up through two periods, but Wisconsin struck with 5.6 seconds remaining in the period to even up the game at 2-2.
“We had three chances to clear it and didn’t get it out anytime,” Comley said.
Like Friday, the third period was wide open offensively. The Spartans burned Wisconsin for two goals in 28 seconds as Lerg and Schepke each netted their second of the night.
The lead was short-lived. Wisconsin scored twice in the final 10 minutes. John Mitchell deflected a point shot past junior goaltender Jeff Lerg while Ben Street broke in down the left wing, cut to the net and roofed it.
“Our poor defensive play led to their last three goals,” Comley said.
Overtime was just as action-packed as the third period. MSU went on the power play with 1:18 remaining, but the Spartans couldn’t capitalize despite never letting the puck go past center ice.
“We had great chances, but the ice was just so bad,” Comley said. “At that point, with the ice, it’s going to be tough, but we had plenty of chances.”
In a slight sign of disrespect to the crowds at Munn Ice Arena, both Minnesota and Wisconsin opted to start its freshman goaltenders against MSU rather than at Yost Ice Arena against Michigan.
Minnesota’s Alex Kangas played in his fourth career game, while Wisconsin’s Scott Gudmandson saw action for the third time.
“This had kind of been a debuting place for our young freshman goaltenders,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said. “It’s a non-conference game and … It’s not a bad building for them to start in. It’s not as raucous as Yost Arena, for instance.”
The two ties push MSU’s winless streak to four games — all at home. The Spartans will look to break that streak next weekend when they return to CCHA play against Lake Superior.
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