MSU blanks Nebraska-Omaha

EAST LANSING - Drew Palmisano (right) faced 31 shots and made 31 saves, including a clutch breakaway stop early in the second period, on Thursday night against Nebraska-Omaha.

Still, the Michigan State sophomore goaltender didn't think it was his best game the season.

The Spartans scored three goals, gave up none and converted on two power plays.

Still, coach Rick Comley said what he witnessed wasn't MSU's best performance this year, claiming there were too many system flaws.

Overall, the No. 17 Spartans made enough good plays and Palmisano was sharp and smooth in earning his first career shutout in a 3-0 victory over the No. 10 Mavericks in the opener of a Central Collegiate Hockey Association series at Munn Arena.

In winning its fourth straight game, MSU (7-2 overall, 4-1 CCHA, built a 3-0 cushion after two periods and stayed away from bad penalties in the third period. The Spartans avoided having to hold on to win in the final minutes, like they've done so often in recent games.

The loss was first of the season for UNO (4-1-2, 1-1-1-0).

"I thought Palmisano played really well and we kind of played steady, but we broke down at times in playing our systems,'' Comley said. "We escaped some breakdowns.''

MSU junior right wing Corey Tropp regained the national scoring lead with a goal and an assist, both coming on power plays. He has eight goals and seven assists for 15 points in nine games, one more point than Minnesota-Duluth's Jack Connolly (6-8-14).

Tropp assisted on Derek Grant's power-play goal at 6:47 of the first period and scored on a power play at 16:57 of the second period to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

Freshman center Anthony Hayes scored MSU's other goal, finishing off a perfect passing play with linemates Kevin Walrod and Dean Chelios at 5:22 of the middle period.

A few minutes earlier, MSU lost possession on a power play and UNO senior left wing Dan Swanson broke in alone from near center. But Palmisano made an excellent save to keep his team ahead, 1-0.

"I stayed with him and he decided to shoot early and luckily I got my blocker on it and it went right into my (catching) glove,'' Palmisano said. "Those things can happen. You just have to bail your teammates out.''

Palmisano credited his defense for helping with his first shutout and third straight solid game.

"I wasn't too busy and when it was, it wasn't like there were a lot of point-blank shots,'' he said. "A lot were from the (perimeter), and I just had to control rebounds. Our defense blocked a lot of shots and cleared the puck well.

"It definitely was one of those games where you feel a lot better sliding back and forth and seeing the puck better. I've been feeling that way for a couple weeks now.''

Palmisano said Thursday's game "was right up there" among his best but he still believes his strongest game was in MSU's 3-2 win in overtime at Miami two weeks ago.

Comley, who has rotated Palmisano and senior Bobby Jarosz the last two weekends, said he was uncertain about the starter in tonight's 7 p.m. series finale.

Tropp agreed with his coach that the Spartans have to be better in playing their system in the neutral and offensive zones.

"We made a couple of mistakes and got caught with three guys down low in their zone three or four times,'' he said. "In tight games, that's how you can get hurt.''

Said Comley, "It was OK, but we can play a lot better for sure.''