Slumping Irish take on No. 3 Spartans
By MATT ORENCHUK
Sports Writer
This weekend the Notre Dame men's hockey team travels to East Lansing, Mich. to take on the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans, ranked No. 3 in the country by USA Today/American Hockey Magazine, have an impressive resume.
They are first in the CCHA with a 14-4-4 conference record, good for 32 points. The Spartans also has a 32 game home-unbeaten streak (29-0-3).
Despite all of the achievements that Michigan State has racked up, Irish head coach Dave Poulin is not afraid to go on the road and play the Spartans.
"We think we can go in there and play well," said Poulin. "We have played well against them the last four or five years."
The Irish could certainly use the win. They have dropped six of their last seven, and are currently in 9th in the CCHA with 18 points.
For Notre Dame to win, they will have to tighten up defensively. Last weekend against Alaska-Fairbanks, the Irish gave up 13 goals in two games. A lot of those goals came on odd man rushes, something that the team worked on controlling this week.
"This week we worked a lot on handling the rush," said Poulin. "We also worked on handling the puck in the gap between offensive and defensive zones."
A big question mark will be who will be in goal for the Irish. Freshman Morgan Cey has gotten most of the starts this year. But after letting up four goals in the first period Saturday against Alaska-Fairbanks, Poulin pulled Cey in favor of Jeremiah Kimento. As of Wednesday, Poulin was still unsure who would be in net this weekend for the Irish.
One bright spot for Notre Dame during the current losing streak has been the offensive output. Currently Notre Dame has the No. 2 and No. 3 scorers in the CCHA with Connor Dunlop and David Inman respectively.
"In the past it has been the exact opposite," said Poulin. "We have had good defenses and no offense in the past, but this is the first time we have had a really proficient offense."
While the goals are nice, the Irish will need to play a complete game to knock off the Spartans.
Michigan State is loaded with talent. Their top three scorers are forwards Brian Maloney and Adam Hall and defensemen John-Michael Liles.
The Spartans also thrive on special teams. They are first in the CCHA on the power play, and first in the CCHA in penalty killing.
Michigan State boasts the top goaltender in the nation in Ryan Miller. Miller won the Hobey Baker award last season, an award is given out every year to the best player in college hockey.
This year in the CCHA, every team makes the postseason tournament. While the Irish are guaranteed a spot, that does not mean the team can afford to limp into the postseason with a losing streak. Notre Dame is still within four points of a having home ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA postseason. For Notre Dame to do that, they will have to beat one of the elite teams in the country.
That daunting task begins tonight at 7:05 tonight in East Lansing.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 8, 2002
