Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

[HarleyMC]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Gopher Highlights

[5mn_Major]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Good coaching last night by Lucia and Co. Calculated decision to play Lehr, cool under pressure after the 3 goals, stuck with him and said the right things.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Good coaching last night by Lucia and Co. Calculated decision to play Lehr, cool under pressure after the 3 goals, stuck with him and said the right things.

Lucia was definitely more poised than Lehr in the first. Lehr was obviously nervous in his first start with a lot on the line, but once he settled into his game he made some good saves. I thought the D gave him a lot of support blocking more shots than their average. Usually Ben Marshall leads in the shot blocking dept. But last night it was Bischoff (6), and surprisingly Kloos was second with 4.

[D2D]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

I thought Rau made a very poor attempt at blocking a shot last night that ended up in the back of the net. Anyone else notice that one?

[ex_goldy]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

That was an amazing comeback. Lehr was in a hole, he had 2 just bad goals, then the defense was standing around and they bury a wrap around. Lehr was moving but didn't get there. Getting their first goal really got them fired up. They turned it on in the 2nd period, what a show. I don't know how you coach that, they have to want it and go get it. Warning is playing like he's 6'2", he was hitting everything last night. He's really picked up in the hitting dept. Seniors are playing strong and even Kloos's game has shot up. Boyd has become a standout on this team. You want him to get the puck to see what he's going to do. Like Bonin used to be.

[Spartanforlife4]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Good series boys, it's been real. Hopefully we can avoid you until the finals in Detroit.

[The Rube]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Good series boys, it's been real. Hopefully we can avoid you until the finals in Detroit.

The way we played tonight? We ain't making sh*.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

The story tonight was the Gophers played sloppy and out of sync, and MSU played physical and dominated defensively play ALL game for the 4-2 W. Credit Sparty and some solid goaltending from Hildebrand with a well deserved and hard fought forechecking win tonight, outshooting the Gophers 34-24 on 66 attempts vs the Gophers 55 and handing the Gophers their first B1G loss at home this season.

MN committed turnovers, struggled on zone breakouts and couldn't get pucks behind the Michigan State's D to solve the neutral zone trap like last night. Their two way game was non-existent with key players Ambroz, and Boyd at -3, M. Reilly and Bischoff at -2. Losing 3 COp's tonight and the game, dropped the Gophers from #10 to #13 in the PWR putting them in a must sweep situation @ OSU next week if they want to stay relevant in the PWR and B1G standings. If Yale, Mass-Lowell, and St. Cloud win tomorrow night, the Gophers will be teetering dangerously on the PWR bubble.

[owslachief]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Having witnessed what UM did to Mich. and basically blowing by MSU for the middle 40 minutes of Thursday's game, I was shocked at how little jump the Gophers had most of the game last night. State seemed to win the vast majority of puck battles. They also won the "dirty goals" battle as well.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Having witnessed what UM did to Mich. and basically blowing by MSU for the middle 40 minutes of Thursday's game, I was shocked at how little jump the Gophers had most of the game last night. State seemed to win the vast majority of puck battles. They also won the "dirty goals" battle as well.

100%. And how we played at PSU. I think most fans were stunned at the game the Gophers turned in last night...not that we lost to a solid MSU team, but how we didn't seem to show any effort.

[goldy_331]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Echoing the above. Gophers got out hustled, out worked, out hit, and out skated all night except for a few brief flurries. Spartans really brought it and got a well deserved win. Disgusting non-effort from what should be a well seasoned team.

[Pirateasaur]

A split always feels much nicer when you win the 2nd game.

[Koho]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Echoing the above. Gophers got out hustled, out worked, out hit, and out skated all night except for a few brief flurries. Spartans really brought it and got a well deserved win. Disgusting non-effort from what should be a well seasoned team.

Gopher 4th line looked good on several shifts.......

[D2D]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

Gopher 4th line looked good on several shifts.......

If the other three lines had given the same effort the game might have had a different outcome.

[4four4]

Re: Michigan St @ Minnesota Thursday 2/26 & Friday 2/27

The Gophers didn't deserve to win this game. For the betterment of the NCAA game they need to ban the trap.