By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
HOUGHTON, MICH. — Rylan Galiardi called the Minnesota State men’s hockey team’s Friday-night loss at Michigan Tech nothing short of an embarrassment.
“Last night was pretty much a low point for us,” he said after Saturday’s 3-2 bounce-back victory over the Huskies at the MacInnes Ice Arena. “We had a way better mental approach tonight. We pretty much wiped the slate clean and said, ‘We have nine games left until the playoffs. What are we going to do?’”
What the Mavericks did was put a season-high 45 shots on goal and bust up a five-game losing streak. The win was also Minnesota State’s first in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play since Dec. 4, a stretch of six league defeats.
After Minnesota State became the first team since mid-November to lose to Michigan Tech on Friday, coach Troy Jutting paraphrased an old saying and declared Saturday to be the first day of the rest of the Mavericks’ season.
“I told the guys last night, ‘We’re 0-0 and it’s a nine-game season. Then we’ve got the playoffs after that,” Jutting said. “Our goal is to play in Game 13. Game 13 gets us to the Xcel Center (for the WCHA Final Five).”
While the Mavericks are now 1-0 in their newly christened short season, the victory didn’t come easily.
“It was still the same story,” Jutting said. “We had a number of quality scoring chances that didn’t go in. We had some opportunities in the second period where you have to score. If you’re going to consistently win, then those have to go in the net. ...
“Tonight, we were fortunate that three (goals) was enough.”
Galiardi tapped a loose puck behind goalie Kevin Genoe (42 saves) after a Kurt Davis power-play shot on net to open the scoring at 9:51 of the first period. Eriah Hayes deflected a Michael Dorr shot into the net during a power play to make it 2-0 with 3:51 remaining in the second period.
“We did get some dirty goals tonight,” Jutting said. “We just didn’t score on the pretty ones.”
Galiardi also assisted on Hayes’ goal and finished the series with three points.
“In a way, it’s the same old, same old — we gotta finish,” Galiardi said. “But I think we made some strides tonight. The big thing is, we’re still strong defensively. All we can do is keep putting shots on net.”
Kael Mouillierat, who sat out Friday’s game because of a game-disqualification penalty in MSU’s Jan. 16 game against Minnesota Duluth, finished off a hard-working forecheck with linemates Geoff Irwin and Jerad Stewart at 12:23 of the third period.
After Irwin fired a shot wide, he chased it down behind the net, while Stewart got possession and threw it out front to Mouillierat, who fired a low shot under Genoe’s blocker from below the right circle.
“(Mouillierat) scored the game-winner,” Jutting said. “He’s our career-leading goal scorer, and he’s second on the team in goals. It definitely helped having him back tonight.”
No cushion was comfortable, though, as Tech made it a 2-1 game on a 2-on-1 rush from Jordan Baker to Brett Olson with just 10 seconds remaining in the second period.
Mouillierat’s goal proved to be important as Adam Mueller was called for tripping, and Tech’s Olson made it 3-2 on the ensuing power play with just 3:46 to play.
“We worked hard tonight,” Mouillierat said. “We deserved a win tonight.”
The game also marked the return of freshman goaltender Phil Cook, who hasn’t played since suffering a back injury on Jan. 8 at North Dakota. He finished with 30 saves — 10 in each period.
“(Michigan Tech’s) got nothing to lose,” Cook said. “Give them credit. They don’t back down. They came back after every goal we scored and put on pressure.”
With the win, the Mavericks (12-14-2, 6-13-1 in WCHA) remained in ninth place in the WCHA standings but have a seven-point lead over the Huskies (4-21-1, 3-17-0).
Minnesota State is idle next weekend and will play again Feb. 12-13 at Wisconsin.
Minnesota State 1-1-1—3
Michigan Tech 0-1-1—2
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1. MSU-Galiardi 7 (Pitlick 5, Davis 12) ppg 9:51
Penalties: Gwilliam, MTU (hooking) 1:21; VanWagner, MTU (hooking) 6:34; MTU bench (too many on the ice) 8:39; Irwin, MSU (tripping) 11:06; Cousens, MTU (tripping) 17:11; Dorr, MSU (holding) 17:39
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 2. MSU-Hayes 6 (Dorr 4, Galiardi 10) ppg 16:09; 3. MTU-Olson 14 (Baker 6, Cousens 5) 19:50
Penalties: VanWagner, MTU (interference) :11; Hayes, MSU (hooking) 4:48; Irwin, MSU (tripping) 5:15; Boe, MSU (boarding) 8:19; Mueller, MSU (roughing) 13:38; Louwerse, MSU (roughing) 13:38; Nielsen, MTU (roughing) 13:38; Witt, MTU (roughing, facemasking) 13:38; Pietila, MTU (delay of game) 15:32
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4. MSU-Mouillierat 8 (Stewart 9, Irwin 10) 12:23; 5. MTU-Olson 15 (Seigo 13, Kattelus 5) ppg 16:14
Penalties: Louwerse, MSU (cross-checking) 6:10; Mueller, MSU (tripping) 15:45; Dobson, MSU (slashing) 17:34
SUMMARIES
Shots on goal: MSU 13-16-16—45; MTU 10-11-11—32. Penalties: MSU 9 for 18 minutes; MTU 10 for 20 minutes. Power-play opportunities: MSU 2 for 8; MTU 1 for 7. Goalie saves: MSU-Cook 10-10-10—30 (2 GA), MTU-Genoe 12-15-15—42 (3 GA).
Referees: Pete Friesema, Tim Walsh. Linesmen: Dan Juopperi, Sean Jacques
Attendance: 1,982
