McLeod Blog: An inside look at Gophers vs. Michigan State
The Matchup: No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3) vs. Michigan State Spartans (4-2), 3M Arena at Mariucci, Friday night and Saturday afternoon
Key Stats: Minnesota’s anemic special teams finally began to click last weekend in the sweep of No. 9 Clarkson. Although still well shy of elite status, the power play has at least broken into double figures (14.6%).
The Spartan power play, on the other hand, is off to a smokin’ start, going 8-for-31. Their 25.8 percent conversion rate ranks 17th nationally. The Spartans didn’t record their eighth power-play goal last season until their 10th game.
Players to Watch: Two-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Eric Schierhorn stopped 44 of 46 shots over the weekend to lead the Gophers to a sweep over Clarkson and earn Big Ten First Star of the Week honors. The junior led the conference over the weekend in goals-against average (1.00) and save percentage (.957). Schierhorn has started all 83 games since arriving on campus -- a performance that leads all active goaltenders nationwide and ranks seventh in NCAA history. The netminder owns a 48-32-3 career mark with the Gophers and needs two wins to crack Minnesota’s top-10 wins list.
Gophers newcomer Casey Mittelstadt is tied for second among Big Ten rookies with seven points (two goals, five assists) in seven games. The freshman forward has been Minnesota’s most consistent scorer with points in six of his first ten games. Mittelstadt recorded two assists in Friday’s 3-1 win over Clarkson for his first multi-point game in Maroon and Gold.
Michigan State’s line of Patrick Khodorenko, Taro Hirose and Mitchell Lewandowski has been the Spartans’ most productive so far, accounting for 43 percent of the team’s total points. Hirose (2-7-9) has at least a point in every game, becoming the first Spartan to score in his first six since 2009. He has three multi-point games.
Spartans Replace Their Coaching Staff: What a difference a change at the top can make. Michigan State, a frequent Big Ten and CCHA cellar-dweller in recent years, has blossomed to its best start in eight years. New head coach Danton Cole is a former Spartan star who has been working for 18 years in various coaching positions preparing to take over at his alma mater. His players are surprised and delighted to actually have a shot at every game now instead of racking up a string of futile weekends.
Former Spartan captain Chris Luongo and goalie Jason Muzzatti were Cole’s teammates on the 1989 MSU team that won the CCHA championship and went to the NCAA Frozen Four.
Why These Games Matter: Minnesota is playing what may be the strongest early-season schedule in its 96-year history. It’s hard to know for sure because, really, how good were those Marquette teams the Gophers topped nine times or those North Dakota Aggies, whom they outscored 32-2 in 1926 and ’27 under coach Emil Iverson? The world may never know.
Every one of the Golden Gophers’ first eight games this season has been against a nationally ranked opponent. It’s been quite a wakeup call for student-athletes who traditionally need a few games against the Little Sisters of the Poor to get all the cylinders banging properly. They’ve made it work, though, and come into the weekend with wins in four of their last five games. Momentum is critical in hockey and if this keeps up the season should be quite an entertainment.
No matter what, no one next March will be able to criticize Minnesota’s strength of schedule.
As to the Spartans: although they’ve started strong, MSU is only now about to play its first Big Ten games under Cole. After dismal performances over the previous seasons,
the Spartans have been given new hope and confidence by Cole and his assistants. How strong or fragile they are should be tested hard this weekend.
Keys for the Gophers:
Broadcasts: Ben Clymer, Krissy Wendell and I will call both games on Fox Sports North. Air times: Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m..
The Sports Information Departments at Minnesota and Michigan State contributed to this report.
DOUG McLEOD is the five-time Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports and a longtime voice of Division I and NHL hockey. This is his 21st season calling Golden Gopher hockey games.
