MSU hockey: Spartans make it three straight over Michigan

EAST LANSING -- Three minutes into the third period and the Michigan State hockey team was looking good with a 3-0 lead. It appeared that the Spartans were ready to close out another victory over Michigan.

"Whenever you play Michigan, you never know what all will happen until the clock is at 0:00,'' MSU right wing Corey Tropp said.

For that reason, not many fans among the sellout crowd of 6,737 fans on Friday night at Munn Arena headed for the exits.

If they had, they would have missed all sorts of bizarre happenings - a slew of penalties, a Wolverine rally, disallowed goals, a quick whistle and an exciting finish.

The No. 12-ranked Spartans opened the door for the No. 20 Wolverines to get back into the game and had to scramble to hold on for a 3-2 victory in the first game of a Central Collegiate Hockey Association series.

When the clock hit 0:00 and the buzzer sounded, MSU and U-M fans were about as exhausted as the players.

"That's my last home game against Michigan and coming out with a win is a great feeling,'' MSU captain and senior center Nick Sucharski said. "When I went to see my parents, I had a big smile on my face. I could hardly talk when people asked me for my autograph.''

The Spartans (17-8-4 overall, 12-5-4-1 CCHA) have won all three meetings with the Wolverines (9-9-1, 14-12-1) this season, and will try to sweep the season series with the teams meet at 7:30 tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Tropp scored two power-play goals - one in the first period and one in the third - and Andrew Rowe scored late in the second. Tropp's goals, his 18th and 19th of the season, ended a seven-goal goal drought.

"I don't know how many games it got to ... it was like was like "come on now, let's go,' '' Tropp said. "It's nice to get the goals to help the team and there's no better team to score against than Michigan.''

With a 3-0 lead, the game turned because the Spartans got into penalty trouble starting at 3:13 of the final period.

"We played really for two periods and if those penalties don't happen, I don't think Michigan gets back into it,'' MSU coach Rick Comley said. "They've got good players, they're skilled and they took advantage of some opportunities.''

MSU found itself down two players after a scrum in the corner in the Spartan zone. Daultan Leveille was about to get called for holding when the two battles broke out. MSU defenseman Matt Grassi was assessed a 5-minute major penalty for grabbing facemask as six penalties were called on the scrum.

With a 5-on-3 edge, U-M's Carl Hagelin cut the deficit to 3-1, but the Spartans managed to skate off the 4:28 left on Grassi's penalty.

But the Spartans got in trouble again when freshman Dean Chelios was penalized for tripping at 15:53. Michigan's Louie Caporusso scored at 16:40 to make it 3-2.

At 17:22, MSU appeared to have taken a 4-2 lead when Rowe capped a 4-on-1 rush and tapped home a loose puck in the crease. But after the officials conferred, the goal was disallowed because Rowe had checked a U-M defenseman from behind before scoring.

So, Michigan went on the power play, and then pulled goalie Bryan Hogan for a 6-on-4 advantage. But the Spartan penalty killers and defense survived the onslaught, but not without a lucky break.

Michigan thought it had tied it with 31.8 seconds left when Chris Brown tapped the puck under MSU goalie Drew Palmisano. But referee Mark Wilkins blew his whistle before the puck slid into the net and ruled no goal.

"We cracked a bit but didn't break,'' Comley said. "You're in a game that you're in control and instead of playing with your head, you get wrapped up in the physical part.

"The crowd loves it but it leveled the game. You hope maturity takes over and you don't get drawn into those things.''

MSU 3, Michigan 2

Michigan 0 0 2-2

Michigan State 1 1 1-3

• First period-1, Tropp 18 (Petry, Chelios), pp, 15;16; Penalties - Shelgren, MSU (cross check), 1:04; Winnett, Michigan (hook), 6:04; Lynch, Michigan (cross check ), 14:21; Petry, MSU (trip), 17:49.

• Second period-2, MSU, Rowe 12 (Gazley), 17:21. Penalties - Hayes, MSU (charge), 3:16; Glendening, Michigan (interference), 6:04; Rowe, MSU (rough), 7:40; Josepher, MSU (elbow), 11:57; Pateryn, Michigan (elbow), 14:29; Sucharski, MSU (hold), 18:11.

• Third period-3, MSU, Tropp 19 (Sucharski), pp, 2:51; 4, Michigan, Hagelin 13 (Lynch), 5-on-3 pp, 3:50; 5, Michigan, Caporusso 7 (Kampfer, Burlon), pp, 16:40. Penalties - Lebler, Michigan (rough), 1:53; Krug, MSU (delay of game), 2:04; Wohlberg, Michigan (delay of game, 10-minute misconduct), 2:04; Gazley, MSU (rough), 3:18; Grassi, MSU (rough, 5-minutes facemask), 3;18; Leveille, MSU (hold), 3:18; Treais, Michigan (rough), 3:18; Brown, Michigan (rough), 3:18; Kampfer, Michigan (elbow), 9:31; Glendening, Michigan (elbow), 11:14; Chelios, MSU (trip), 15:53; Rowe, MSU (check from behind), 17:22; Hagelin, Michigan (cross check), 19:51; Wohlberg, MSU (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:51.

• Saves-Palmisano (MSU) 8-6-8-22; Hogan (Michigan) 11-4-5-20.

• Power-play opportunities-MSU 2-9, Michigan 2-10.

• Referees-Matt Shegos, Mark Wilkins; Linesmen-Patrick Bracco, Rodney Tocco.

• Attendance-6,737.

Contact Neil Koepke at 377-1070.