Inside Michigan State hockey's loss to Northern Michigan

Lansing State Journal

Michigan State defenseman Zach Osburn fights off Northern Michigan's Connor Frantti for a loose puck during MSU's 4-3 loss on Saturday night. The Spartans won't play again until Oct. 26 at Cornell.

EAST LANSING – The Michigan State hockey team settled for a split of its two-game season-opening series with Northern Michigan, falling 4-3 on Saturday night at Munn Arena.

In a penalty-filled contest that saw NMU have six power-play chances to MSU's five, it was the Wildcats' Darien Craighead who rifled home the game-winning power-play goal 6:29 into the third period.

MSU pulled goaltender Drew DeRidder with just over a minute remaining, but couldn't muster a quality chance in the end.

MSU defeated the Wildcats 4-2 in Friday's contest behind sophomore forward Mitchell Lewandowski's goal with just 1:14 remaining in the game.

What happened

DeRidder, a freshman, got the start in net Saturday after junior Jon Lethemon got the start and win in the season opener. DeRidder finished with 23 saves, allowing four goals.

MSU captain Sam Saliba scored his first of the season in the second period on the power play, with assists going to forward Logan Lambdin and defenseman Zach Osburn. The Spartans got another power-play chance just two minutes later, but it was NMU's Adam Rockwood who tucked home a shorthanded goal off a rebound given up by DeRidder.

The Wildcats tacked on another late in the second period, after a shot from Rockwood was knocked down in front of DeRidder and NMU captain Denver Pierce snuck one past the freshman.

It was a dream start to the third period for MSU, as junior Taro Hirose deflected a point shot from defenseman Dennis Cesana just 1:46 into the period. After an NMU penalty just 34 seconds later, it took only six seconds into the power play for Patrick Khodorenko to tie things up with a one-timer goal set up by Lewandowski.

A "closing hand on the puck" penalty on Khodorenko led to Craighead's game-winning power-play goal.

What it means

An opening season split against a Northern Michigan team which has the most votes of any team outside the top 20 is still a positive sign for a young Spartans team that dresses only three seniors.

The Spartans have nearly two weeks until their next contest, giving them the opportunity to clean things up and become more cohesive as a team. That applies especially to the defense, which boasts three freshmen, one on each pairing.

Munn Arena was nearly sold out with attendance at 5,718. The student section was filled from top to bottom, and if the Spartans can generate a home-ice advantage all season like they had this weekend some of MSU's tight home losses from last season might turn into wins this time around.

Stars of the game

MSU's Khodorenko: 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 shots.

NMU's Craighead: 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots.

NMU's Atte Tolvanen: 26 saves.

What they're saying

MSU coach Danton Cole: "I thought we played a little bit too much one-on-one hockey for two periods. We tried to do too much and it slowed us down. It affected our forecheck, it affected our offensive zone time, and it affected our chances and our shots. There's still some good lessons for us in terms of how we have to play and with consistency in what we do."

MSU forward Sam Saliba: "There was a lot of positives out of the weekend. Our power play got a few goals, our penalty kill was really good Friday and still pretty good tonight. Overall, I think it's definitely a positive takeaway and something we can carry over into practice next week."

MSU defenseman Zach Osburn: "It was a tough game and a tough team to play against and bounces just seemed to go their way. We just have to tighten a few things up, it's still a new team with new guys and we will be learning all year long."

Next up: MSU hockey won't hit the ice again until it travels to Cornell on Oct. 26-27 for a two-game series. It will be the Spartans' first road test of the season, and it comes against a strong opponent, as Cornell is ranked No. 7 in the nation.

Contact Nathaniel Bott at nbott@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @Nathaniel_Bott