Leaving Columbus, Ohio on Sunday the Spartans hockey team stood at 1-1-1-1 (win-loss-tie-overtime win). I don’t believe in the chances of a national tournament this season, seeing as close to 1/3 of all hockey programs have already opted out, but if there is a tournament the Spartans are 2-1-1 (W-L-T) as far as that consideration goes. Not a bad start for a team expected to possibly regress slightly from a breakout campaign last season, as this team has shown they still have top notch goaltending, in new starter Drew DeRidder, and have taken advantage of two struggling opponents to get off to a good start. We will cover things that need to improve as well, but overall I think there is plenty to like from the Spartans so far in the early going.
As I mentioned in the ASU wrap-up, I find the College Hockey News Advanced Stats page to be very useful. I will always be a scout at heart, who wants to get to a video breakdown to analyze the game, but analytics can help affirm what I think I have been seeing. So what do the analytics say so far? They say this MSU team is a top 6 team in the country (again out of just 25 who have played thus far, but still). The Spartans have outshot their opponents each game this season, a streak I can’t say I have seen them done in at least 7 years, and right now are controlling 62% of the shot attempts in “close” games.
As I mentioned in our opener, there are caveats here, I was not impressed with either opponent at the time MSU played them, and this is a wildly small sample size. What the numbers say though, is that this is not a MSU team of say the Jake Hildebrand era. Winning 3-2 games despite owning the puck for just 38% of the game is unsustainable and requires a Herculean effort on the part of a goaltender, much like Hildebrand did when the Spartans finished 2nd in the league but miles away from a NCAA berth. This team is showing signs of being a sustainable success, and at year 4 of the Danton Cole era, with a roster still needing to add more high end talent, that is something to be pleased with.
So, in the ASU series wrap up I mentioned the 1-3-1 power play the Spartans like to run, making a point to mention that Bemidji State grad transfer Charlie Combs has filled the slot role that was taken by Patrick Khodorenko for years. This weekend the team continued to have Combs in that spot and the payoff was there as Combs scored a power play goal each night.
Above is the tying goal Saturday night in the series opener. This was the end of a pretty wild sequence, that begin with MSU winning the draw in the zone. Dennis Cesana kept a bouncing puck in at the blue line shortly after the face-off and the puck then never left the zone for the next 30 seconds leading up to the goal. There were 2-3 whiffed one time attempts, multiple loose pucks, but the key was the puck never left the zone. That is the key to a good power play. If you maintain control, and don’t have to regroup and re-enter the zone, you will find a gap in the penalty kill. Cesana works the puck down to Josh Nodler, who calmly works his way up the boards, draws 2 OSU players to him and finds a wide open passing lane to Combs in a danger area. The shot isn’t the most deadly, but the release is quick, catching Tommy Nappier by surprise, leading to his first MSU goal.
The Spartans, as they did against Arizona State last weekend, showed their inexperience by struggling to close out a regulation win again. After being unsuccessful on a 5 minute power play the Spartans surrendered a tying goal with just 28 seconds left in the 3rd period (Adam Goodsir had given the Spartans a 2-1 lead during the 2nd period). Now playing 6x5 is a bit of a scramble, plus you have the anxiety of being close to a big road win over the #10 team in the country. In this situation you have to revert to basics of PK hockey, play your zone, and keep your eyes active. If you all are looking at the puck, there is way too much space, motion, and skill in D1 hockey to not have a negative outcome.
Sure there is a bit of a scramble here, but MSU gets in trouble when 4 guys are in one half of the ice, all watching the puck carrier. This allows for Travis Treloar to drift into a danger spot, and finish an easy one timer off a way too easy pass from Evan McIntyre. This is a small detail the Spartans will need to iron out to move up the standings like they want to.
Fortunately for MSU they have a defensive zone cheat code, in the form of Tommy Apap as your face-off man. In the 3x3 overtime, possession off a draw is so key. 3x3 you can hold the puck forever waiting for any slip up, to get a free and clear shot. This becomes especially potent when you don’t have to expel the energy of a zone entry also.
Apap’s win wasn’t clean but he did the job, drawing the puck towards the boards where Tommy Miller can win a battle and move the puck to Josh Nodler. From there you’re off to a 2-on-1 with Josh Nodler and Apap working it not to beautiful perfection, but doing enough to afford Nodler a huge gap from the defensemen, getting off a wrist shot to easily beat Nappier glove side for the extra point in the standings Saturday night.
Sunday night the BTN+ broadcast gave me the LiveBarn feels (LiveBarn being an app I use in my advising work, to see clients play their games sometimes. It is just a camera in the ceiling of a rink, that responds to motion to “follow” the puck, and is just fine, although very useful for parents locked out of their kids games this season). There was no commentary, no replays, and no response to my complaints that I am tired of paying for access to this hockey league that the league hates.
So with the limited replays and things I missed more of this game as I was also sleep training a 7 month old, and helping with husbandly duties after the MSU sports extravaganza that was Saturday. MSU once again controlled the play, outshooting the Buckeyes 44-31 but the difference was the Buckeyes cashing in on 2 of their power play chances, while the Spartans only converted one.
We talked above about how MSU cashed in a PPG due to OSU not clearing the zone. Well on Sunday MSU repaid the favor as Brody Stevens has a chance here to get the puck out OR he needs to turn to the boards and eat the puck and some body checks. Unfortunately, he does neither, losing the puck as Travis Treloar easily rips the puck from him, goes for a cross ice pass to Mark Cheremeta who does a shot that might as well be a pass as DeRidder kicks a rebound to Quinn Preston who scores his first goal of the season. This is a good example of just how fast a penalty kill can go bad. There was no problem with structure on this PK. Ohio State didn’t do anything special. They used their strength in numbers to overwhelm and be constant on MSU with the puck, force a turnover and then cashed in on the scramble. Hockey isn’t really overly structured, a la football playbooks. There are some simple idioms that are more than just coach speak. Get the puck on a PK? High off the glass and out. The 2nd OSU power play goal, was much closer to MSU’s from Saturday. They win the beginning draw, puck never leaves the zone, they win a 3x2 battle down low, again using strength in numbers until a loose puck is hammered home past DeRidder.
The good news in a 4-2 loss (with an empty net goal for OSU)? Well MSU didn’t quit cashing in another Charlie Combs PPG, and I don’t see something structurally wrong with their penalty kill. They still are a team who is 2nd in the B1G killing 86.7% of their penalties. These are easily cleaned up breakdowns, not huge structural problems. The only team better at PKs in the league? MSU’s opponent this upcoming weekend, the Minnesota Golden Gophers.