Facing a top-10 team for the third consecutive weekend, the Gophers men’s hockey team fell to No. 2 Michigan State 3-1 on Friday, Jan. 23, in East Lansing, Mich.
The loss was the sixth in a row for the Gophers (8-15-1, 4-9 Big Ten), who were swept by No. 1 Michigan and No. 9 Penn State the previous two weekends.
“We just have to stay positive right now,” Gophers coach Bob Moztko told KTLK radio after the game. “... We’re playing really good teams right now, and we’ve got to stop chasing the game.”
Gophers goaltender Luca Di Pasquo produced his third consecutive outing of at least 40 saves in a losing effort, making 40 stops against his old team after making 92 saves over two games against Michigan last weekend. Di Pasquo, a junior from Livonia, Mich., went 7-0 with the Spartans last season.
Ryker Lee gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead with 14:54 left in the first period, scoring off a spin-o-rama that enabled him to shoot into a wide-open net.
Michigan State took a 2-0 lead with 8:43 left in the second period on a goal from Gavin O’Connell, scoring from the high slot on a 3-on-2 break.
“For two periods, we were right there,” Moztko said. “We had a handful of chances. Unfortunately, we need one to go in. We made one mistake in the second period, and then we had to chase the game.”
Maxim Strbak, who assisted on the Spartans’ first two goals, scored in the first three minutes of the third period to make it 3-0.
