Spartans in throes of scoring drought

EAST LANSING - The puck is not going into the net very often. Winning is difficult and the losses are piling up.

Players are getting frustrated. So are the coaches.

Everyone is stressing patience, hard work and development.

These are tough times for Michigan State, a hockey team very low in confidence, very low in goals scored and out of the 20 in the polls for the first time this season.

"It's frustrating but it's a learning process. I've never been in this situation where we've struggled to win,'' senior left wing Matt Schepke said.

"It's going to take time some time until it works itself out. We can't dwell (on the negatives). We need to stay positive.''

The Spartans have lost four games in a row and scored only three goals while getting swept by Ohio State (3-0, 3-1) on the road and Miami (5-1, 3-1) at home.

MSU's average of 1.5 goals per game ranks 57th among 58 NCAA Division I teams. The power play is 5-for-60 (8.3 percent).

To make things more challenging, MSU (4-6-2 overall, 2-4-2-2 CCHA) plays its next five games on the road, starting at Nebraska-Omaha (4-3-3, 4-2-2-1) at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

"I'm not all gloom and doom. I knew what the situation would be and I accept it and we're working to change it,'' Spartan coach Rick Comley said. "It's not going to happen quickly.

"I think we have progressed (offensively). We just need to increase the quality of our chances.''

Comley said he expected scoring to be difficult after the departures of several top offensive players from last year, including two forwards who could have been All-Americans if they had returned for their senior seasons - forwards Justin Abdelkader and Tim Kennedy.

But he didn't anticipate goals would be as difficult as they've been during the first 12 games.

"We're a victim of the system. Now we have to build this team and not dwell on the past," he said. "You always believe there will be growth and some guys will score.

"In reality, our problem is a talent problem. It's not that these kids ultimately can't be good players. It's just that they're not ready to do what we need them to do.''

Senior right wing Tim Crowder, who had 15 goals and 38 points, and Schepke, who had 11 goals and 24 points are MSU's top returning scorers from last year.

While the nation's top scorers have 11 or 12 goals and 19 or 20 points, the Spartans' top scorers have six - Schepke (four goals, two assists), and Tim Crowder (2-4).

"The only approach we can take is to work on the basics, try to build on it and set up different situations in practice,'' Comley said. "All we can demand of them is attitude, workload and giving ourselves a chance to win.

"The last two Saturdays, we played well enough to win. As a coach, you can beat them up if you're not careful. If you come in negative and pound them for what they're not doing, you can lose them.''

Despite the losses, the players are showing up on Monday for practice ready to work to improve.

"It's tough but the guys are trying to stay positive, put (the losses) behind us and work hard in practice,'' freshman defenseman Tim Buttery said. "All teams go through slumps and things like this. You just have to fight through it.''

Comley said he won't change his team's offensive style of puck pursuit and turn defensive, because he wants his players to develop their offensive skills.

"We have to improve offensively and the only way you do that is to let them play,'' he said. "I have no doubt that we're going to get better, be competitive and get back in the thick of the (CCHA) race.

"My goal is that by February that we'll have figured out some things and have had some growth going into the playoffs. And being home for playoffs (by finishing in the top four) is still realistic.''