Hockey: Wolverines Settle for Series Split with Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The University of Michigan ice hockey team was defeated by Michigan State, 5-0, Friday night (Dec. 8) at Munn Ice Arena.
The Spartans got on the board first with a power-play goal 8:18 into the first period. The goal came after the ensuing faceoff following the penalty when Mitchell Lewandowski moved the puck over to Taro Hirose on the point, who found Patrick Khodorenko all alone on the doorstep for a tap-in goal.
U-M’s best chance of the opening stanza came when sophomore forward Will Lockwood had a scoring opportunity from inside the slot, but his shot attempt sailed just wide of the glove-side of the MSU netminder.
Michigan State doubled its lead with five seconds remaining in the first period with Khodorenko picking up his second goal of the night. Khodorenko tipped in Jerad Rosburg’s shot from the point off a screen in front of the net after he was fed the puck by Lewandowski — giving the Spartans a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
The Spartans added to their lead halfway through the second period with a rare four-on-three power-play situation. After some back and forth passing on the point between Hirose and Carson Gatt, Hirose found Lewandowski on the back door to extend MSU’s lead to 3-0.
The Wolverines were called for a penalty at the 11:48 mark in the second period when Spartan Brennan Sanford was hauled down from behind on a breakaway. Michigan State opted to take the penalty shot and Sanford was denied by the blocker of Michigan netminder Hayden Lavigne.
MSU found the back of the net shortly after the penalty shot to make it 4-0 when Mitch Eliot scored at the 14:10 mark of the second. He received a pass from Cody Milan and quickly fired it into the goal, with Sanford also picking up an assist on the play.
The Spartans opened up the third period with their third power-play goal of the night, coming at the 4:44 mark. Logan Lambdin scored on a one-timer after receiving the pass from Rosburg, with Hirose picking up the secondary assist on the play.
The Wolverines turned up the pressure midway through the third period, keeping the puck in MSU’s zone for an extended period of time, but couldn’t break the seal on the Spartan net during a scrum in the crease.
The Maize and Blue will not have games through the remainder of the 2017 calendar. The Wolverines will return to action on New Year’s Day in the Great Lakes Invitational at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Michigan will face off against Bowling Green on Jan. 1 before playing either Michigan State or Michigan Tech the following day. Michigan leads the all-time series 82-36-3 over Bowling Green.

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