4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 7, 2005
LINE OF THE WEEK(
Jeff Tambellini
Forward
Friday vs. Michigan State
1 Goal 1 Assist, 11 Shots
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
"It was a pretty good hit. I think it
was the best one of the game.
- Michigan State goalie Domi-
nic Vicari joking about his collision with
Michigan's Jason Dest on Friday.
Dominic Vicari
(Michigan State)
Vicari's play over the weekend was
outstanding. He saved 82 of the 85
shots he faced and made several
acrobatic stops to stymie Michigan.
Eric Nystrom
(Michigan
Nystrom scored Michigan's lone goal on
Saturday. The tally was the 50th of his
career. Nystrom took seven shots on net
and made three blocks in the series.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
6
FRIDAY'S GAME
Michigan State Spartans
Miller (2)
Michigan Wolverines
Henderson, Tambellini
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan Wolverines
Nystrom
Vicari steals two points from M
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
DETROIT - Dominic
Vicari's favorite movie is "Rudy," which
1
S
Michigan State Spartans 1
McKenzie
Michigan 1, Michigan State 1
Michigan 0 1 0 0 - 1
Michigan State 0 0 1 0 - 1
First period - No scoring. Penalties - Tommy
Goebel, MSU (obstruction-hooking) 1:55; Bran-
don Kaleniecki, MICH (holding the stick) 5:13;
Milan Gajic, MICH (contact to the head-roughing)
9:35; Ash Goldie, MSU (contact to the head-
roughing) 9:35; Eric Werner, MICH (roughing)
10:14; Ethan Graham, MSU (roughing) 10:14;
Jason Dest, MICH (charging) 10:14; Jason Dest
(roughing) 10:14; Chris Snavely, MSU (roughing)
10:14; Brandon Kaleniecki, MICH (contact to the
head-high sticking) 11:34; Jim McKenzie, MSU
(contact to the head-elbowing) 15:34.
Second period - 1. MICH, Eric Nystrom 7 (Kevin
Porter, Jason Dest) 5:18. Penalties - No
penalties.
Third period - 2. MSU, Jim McKenzie 2 (Ash
Goldie, Chris Snavely) 16:42. Penalties - Team,
MSU (too many men on the ice) 5:47; Colton
Fretter, MSU (obstruction-hooking) 12:36; Colton
Fretter, MSU (obstruction-holding) 19:15.
Overtime - No scoring. Penalties - No penalties.
Shots on goal: MICH 8-12-18-4-42; MSU 7-8-8-1-24.
Power plays: MICH 0 of 5; MSU 0 of 3. Saves - MICH
Al Montoya (7-8-7-1) --23; MSU Dominic Vicari
(8-11-18-4) - 41.
Referee: Matt Shegos
At: Joe Louis Arena Attendance: 20,066.
makes perfect sense. The Michigan State goalie stands at just 5-foot-9,
which, for a goalie, is quite small.
But while Rudy lacked the raw ability necessary to compete at the
collegiate level, Vicari showed this weekend that he's got every tool
to succeed. The sophomore made 41 saves in each game and was the
unquestioned star in both ties.
"It was a game, obviously, that Vicari became a big factor in and was
the difference," Michigan coach Red Berenson said after Saturday's
game. "Vicari is a player that we knew about, and we're not surprised.
And we know he's going to play well against us. That doesn't mean that
we can't score on him, but we weren't able to capitalize tonight."
Oh, and on top of it all, Vicari was getting over the flu. He didn't prac-
tice more than 20 minutes in any of the Spartans' practices last week.
Michigan State coach Rick Comley did not even know if Vicari could
play an hour before Friday's contest at Yost Ice Arena.
Who's his favorite basketball player, Michael Jordan?
"I don't know if I want to (get the flu more often)," Vicari said on
Friday after shutting the Wolverines out for the final two periods plus the
overtime. "But I felt pretty good once the game got going. I didn't feel too
good this morning. But once I got settled in, I felt pretty good. But now
I just need to get some rest and go after it tomorrow."
He went after it all right. On Saturday, Vicari was spectacular again.
He held the most lethal offense in the CCHA to just one goal in 65 min-
utes of nail-biting action.
"They're the toughest team in the league to play defense against,"
Comley said. "They have such talent and speed coming at you. You
know they're going to get shots on you. If you're going to beat them or
tie them, you (have to save 40-plus shots). Goaltenders are there for a
reason, and good ones get it done."
Vicari got it done under the tensest conditions - Michigan scored
first in both games. Michigan forward Charlie Henderson scored an
early first-period goal on Friday, and Michigan senior Eric Nystrom tal-
lied an early second-period score on Saturday. With all the early scoring,
the Spartans trailed the Wolverines for 87 of the 120 minutes played in
regulation.
"When you're playing from behind, (every mistake you make is mag-
nified)," Vicari said. "You always want to get that first goal and relax on
it a little bit, but we couldn't do that this weekend, so we just had to battle
back both games."
Early in the third period on Saturday, with Michigan leading 1-0,
Michigan senior David Moss skated in alone on Vicari. Moss deked and
shot to the right, but Vicari was game and made a quick glove save.
"He made some key saves when he had to," Michigan State captain
Jim Slater said. "He was on his game. (If he continues to play like that)
we're going to go a long way. He really stepped up this weekend for us."
Such spectacular play from Vicari isn't all that surprising. Last sea-
son he led the CCHA with a 1.88 goals against average in conference
games.
But earlier this year, Michigan got the best of him. The Wolverines
scored four goals at Munn Ice Arena in Michigan's 4-2 win over the
Spartans. The next day, the Wolverines scored five at Vicari's expense in
a 5-4 Michigan win.
Comley was pleased with Vicari's improvement.
"His numbers have been good and I think he's played pretty well,"
Comley said. "But you've kind of been waiting for him to get points for
you. Both games this weekend - he did."
On Saturday, Michigan squandered one of the only openings
that Vicari left them. With only four seconds remaining in regu-
lation, Nystrom sent a swift pass across the mouth of the goal to
freshman Chad Kolarik. The left side of the goal was open, but
Kolarik sent the puck too far right. Vicari got his blocker on it,
and the game went to overtime.
"Nine out of ten times, that's a goal," Nystrom said. "And Chad's bur-
0
0
TONY DING/Daily
Michigan State goalie Dominic Vicari made 82 saves on 85 shots to
lead his Spartans to a pair of ties this weekend.
ied a few on that play, but I think the puck jumped up a little bit ... Vicari
was there with his blocker. And he read it. He was right across, and he's
a quick goalie. It was a good save."
One of many.
Player
Hensick
Tambellini
Gaj ic
Moss
Kolarik
Ebbett
Ryznar
Nystrom
Hunwick
Porter
Werner
Rogers
Kaleniecki
Rohlfs
Martens
Brown
Dest
Henderson
Woodford
Montoya
Olson
Cook
Ruden
Player
Montoya
Ruden
'M' STATS
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Sht
27 16 20 36 +9 18 93
30 14 20 34 +22 20 149
30 14 16 30 +2 36 86
28 7 17 24 +9 20 57
30 10 11 21 +8 37 78
28 2 19 21 +7 18 65
28 5 15 20 +3 42 41
26 7 12 19 +12 27 39
28 5 13 18 +12 46 35
28 8 9 17 +5 28 44
27 6 10 16 +13 38 34
30 2 14 16 +16 58 61
30 10 5 15 +4 36 100
23 5 3 8 +8 8 31
28 1 7 8 +7 26 24
23 3 3 6 +9 62 46
30 1 3 4 +134031
8 2 1 3 +2 4 8
15 1 1 2 +1 12 17
28 0 1 1 -- 20 0
10 0 1 1 +2 6 4
30 0 0 0 +6 42 9
5 0 0 0 -- 0 0
8FFTIEDRAW
I MICNIGcVPLAY.W
~6 - Mast Hu'<Ck
, w . . 18 - 0D MossF
21 - Eric Nytom
AMt 35 - Al Montoya
MICHIGAN STATE PLAYERS
Ati 27 - D w Miller
J -N .
- Skating w/ puck '' Skating w/a puck .*" - Pass - - Shot
How it happened: The Wolverines were so close. Just a
few more moments and they would have escaped Yost with a
2-1 win. But with just five seconds remaining, senior David Moss
took the puck behind Michigan's net to hold the puck there
until the horn blew. Somehow, Michigan State captain Jim Slater
kicked the puck loose and centered it. The puck bounced off
Matt Hunwick's skate to Drew Miller. Miller buried the puck with
only 1.2 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
Analysis: Michigan junior Jeff Tambellini said that the
Wolverines blew it when they left Miller wide open in front
of the net. Moss's play wasn't a stupid one, but, in retrospect,
maybe he should have just tried to clear the puck out of the
Michigan zone.
0
0
GP
28
5
w
19
1
6
1
T
3
0
GAA
2.63
1.54
PCT
.897
.949
CCHA STANDINGS
Team
Michigan
Ohio State
Nebraska-Omaha
Northern Mich.
Bowling Green
Alaska-Fairbanks
Miami (OH)
Michigan State
Lake Superior
Western Mich.
Ferris State
Notre Dame
CCHA Overall
17-3-2
17-4-1
11-8-3
11-7-3
10-7-3
8-10-3
8-11-3
8-9-3
6-9-5
6-13-1
4-14-4
3-14-5
20-7-3
20-7-3
15-10-3
13-9-5
13-9-4
9-11-3
12-14-4
13-12-4
7-15-6
11-14-1
9-17-4
5-19-6
Turco returns to Yost but
stuggles to find the net
FRIDAY'S RESULTS:
Michigan State 2, MICH IGAN 2
NORTHERN MICHIGAN 6, Alaska-Fairbanks 3
Nebraska-Omaha 1, NOTRE DAME 1
Bowling Green 5, FERRIS STATE 5
Miami (Ohio) 5, WESTERN MICHIGAN 2
Ohio State 3, LAKE SUPERIOR 1
SATURDAY'S RESULTS:
Michigan 1, MICHIGAN STATE 1
Bowling Green 4, FERRIS STATE 2
Nebraska-Omaha 6, NOTRE DAME 3
Ohio State 3, LAKE SUPERIOR 2
Alaska-Fairbanks 2, NORTHERN MICHIGAN 1
WESTERN MICHIGAN 5, Miami (Ohio) 2
By Gabe Edelson
Daily Sports Writer
Al Montoya and Dominic Vicari were the men between
the pipes on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena, but neither
was the most famous goalie in the building.
Marty Turco - the netminder for both the 1996 and
1998 national championship Wolverine squads - was in
attendance to witness the latest chapter in the state's most
storied college hockey feud. Turco is
currently the goalie for the NHL's Dal-
las Stars.
"This is the biggest (rivalry
Michigan) has," Turco said. "My
whole tenure, my whole career,
both teams were good, so there was
°
always something on the line. It was fun, it was very
intense and these games made our season. These
were the ones we always looked back on, whether we
lost or won and kind of figured out how our season
went accordingly."
Turco, a four-year starter in Ann Arbor, still holds
Michigan's career record of 15 shutouts. Montoya is three
shy of the mark with 12. During Turco's Michigan career,
he set the all-time NCAA record for career wins by a goal-
ie with 127 and led Michigan to four consecutive Frozen
Four appearances. Last season, he started for the Western
Conference All-Stars in the NHL All-Star Game.
But Turco's skills were put to the test on Friday. He
walked out onto the ice to try his hand at Score-O, the
second-intermission diversion where - on most nights
- relatively anonymous fans try to shoot a puck through
a small opening in a barrier blocking the goal mouth.
Turco's first and third attempts - taken with a goalie's
stick - sailed wide right of the net. His second shot went
in after staff members lifted up the barrier when it became
apparent that the puck wasn't on line for the small open-
ing. But even though his Score-O experience wasn't as
legendary as his playing career at Yost, Turco still enjoyed
every minute of it.
"It was a lot of fun," Turco said. "I wish I had my own
stick, but it was great to get on the ice.
"It's always special when you walk out onto that ice in
front of these fans. It's inspiring, because I have a lot of
great memories."
Turco - who spent part of the currently locked-out
NHL season playing in Sweden - last visited Yost for a
game during the team's first-round CCHA playoff series
against Nebraska-Omaha on March 12, 2004, when he
was honored with a Marty Turco bobblehead doll give-
away. On Friday, Turco indicated he would be back for
more visits in the future.
"I can't get enough of this," Turco said. "I don't care
how old I get. It's always a trip to come back."
Turco was accompanied at Friday's game by class-
mates Bill Muckalt, Chris Fox and Gregg Malicke - a
group representing four-fifths of the senior class during
Michigan's 1998 national title run. Before Saturday's
game, a collection of Michigan and Michigan State
alumni players convened for an afternoon contest at
Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Turco and the Michigan
side won, 7-6.
BACK ON TRACK: Michigan's penalty killing
unit continued its solid play over the weekend.
Despite two ties in the series against the Spartans,
the Wolverines shut down all six Michigan State
SPARTANS
Continued from page 1B
found the back of three jerseys - two Michi-
gan State and one Wolverine - in front of
him. The puck kicked around in the three
players skates less than a foot in front of the
Michigan netminder. In a move reminiscent
of table hockey, Spartan forward Ash Goldie
swung around and put the puck on Montoya
and the rebound came out to a spinning Jim
McKenzie. McKenzie took two swipes at the
puck, knocking it past Montoya on his second
swipe and tying the game at one.
"(Goldie) took a slap shot at the net, and
it popped out right at my stick," McKen-
zie said. "(It was) just a typical hard work,
grinder, garbage goal."
After the Michigan goal, Vicari stifled all
attempts from the Wolverine forwards.
After spending most of Friday trying to
shoot high in the net on the 5-foot-9 goalie,
the Wolverines frequently attempted cross-ice
one-timers. Michigan had come so close to
scoring with that strategy that Spartan defend-
er Colton Fretter drew a penalty with less than
a minute left in the game when he hauled
down a wide open Brandon Kaleneicki.
Perhaps the most important save of the
night came on a one-timer, when Nystrom
sent a pass across the crease to freshman
Chad Kolarik with six seconds left. But
Kolarik couldn't make solid contact with
the bouncing puck, and Vicari made another
side-to-side save.
"The key to that shot is getting it along the
ice," Nystrom said. "And I think it popped
up, and Vicari was there with his blocker."
The overtime period saw Michigan creat-
ing clear scoring chances, but Vicari contin-
ued to stymie the Wolverine offense, and the
teams skated to the tie.
Just a night earlier, as the buzzer sound-
ed, Michigan State forward Drew Miller
deflected a shot over Montoya's glove to
complete a two-goal comeback. Spartan
captain Jim Slater took a kicked pass from
Fretter in the corner and fired it at the net
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Michigan Junior goalie Al Montoya.
power plays. Saturday's contest marked the fourth
straight game for Michigan in which the penalty
kill was perfect.
The last time the Wolverines allowed a goal with a
man-disadvantage came on Jan. 22 against then-No. 10
Ohio State. It was the ninth game in a row that Michi-
gan allowed a power play goal. Since the third period
of that game, the Wolverines have denied 14 straight
extra-man opportunities.
GOLDEN GOAL: Senior captain Eric Nystrom's second-
period goal on Saturday was the 50th of his career. Nys-
trom has seven goals and 12 assists this season.
FILE PHOTO
The Wolverines travel to Nebraska-maha
for a twogame set with the Mavericks.
UP NEXT:
NFnR RAKA-OM AHA
HEREBERT
Continued from page 1B
Michigan's offensive threat. You could
call it lucky.
But I don't buy all that. Superstars just
tet lucky mare often than ether nlavers.
shutouts, .945 save percentage and 1.,62
goals against average. He single-handedly
swept the Red Wings and pushed his team
to the Stanley Cup finals.
Al Montoya has the potential to be
that good. Talking to the pro scouts about
Montava at Yost a connle months ago,
Last year, in the game to go to the
Frozen Four, Montoya faced 45 shots
and stopped 42 of them. But even that
game was the start of a disturbing trend.
Michigan was leading 2-1 heading into
the final frame before Boston College
tied, and eventually won. the game.
of the season, but he still needs to be bet-
ter. It's hard to call out Montoya - partly
because you can't ask for much better
than three goals allowed in a series with
Michigan State and partly because I've
seen what Michigan defenders do to skat-
ers who challenge their goalie. I can only