Break out the eggnog.
Minnesota State found reason for early holiday cheer as it entered the Christmas break with a 7-3 exhibition win over Team Italy.
Riding an emotional 4-2 victory over Colorado College on Saturday, the Mavericks now find themselves heading into break with a lot of confidence after the win over the Italians.
“They’re happy, and I think attitude-wise we’re in real good shape,” MSU coach Troy Jutting said. “Five, six days off now and then get back at for the second half of the season. Good time to have a little break mentally and physically and then get back after it. I think it’s a good way to go into Christmas break. We’re going in with good momentum, and we’re going in with some confidence. So I think it’s a good way to go into Christmas break for sure.”
But maybe more importantly the team kept all of their players healthy in the exhibition win.
MSU has suffered from injuries to players on its defensive core early this season. Matt Paluczak, Jon Dubel and Kyle Peto have all suffered shoulder ailments this season, leaving the Mavericks with only five healthy defensemen.
However, keeping players healthy wasn’t the only thing MSU took from the game. It also gave extended play to the younger players, who reciprocated with a good overall effort.
The freshmen accumulated six points, including three goals, and the sophomores tallied nine points for Minnesota State.
“[To] put some young guys in some different situations and also give them a lot of ice time were the main goals tonight,” Jutting said. “And obviously you don’t want to lose anybody in a game like tonight.”
“It’s nice to get some ice time,” said sophomore Jon Hart, who had played only four games this season prior to Tuesday’s game. “It’s a little unexpected how tired you get out there. It was nice to get out there and get a little chemistry with some guys you’re playing with. It was a fun game.”
Individually, sophomore Brad Thompson led MSU with two goals and an assist. Four other players had two points each.
Freshman goaltender Kyle Nixon also had a chance to shine for his team and stopped 22 of 25 shots in net for MSU.
MSU took the lead on a nifty goal from Chad Clower. The freshman got the puck on the right side of Italy’s zone and deeked several times before he slid the puck into the right side of the net past Italian goaltender Gunther Hell. Clower’s goal came at 4:28.
The Italians came back and tied the game shortly after. Andrea Molteni started the rush as he carried the puck into the left side of the Maverick zone. Molteni passed to teammate Alex Egger and crossed over to the right side of the net. Egger completed the give-and-go play as he passed back to Molteni, who puck the puck past Nixon at 7:54 of the period.
But a man-advantage goal gave MSU the lead once again. With Alessandro Rotolo off for slashing, Maverick sophomore Jake Brenk took a shot from the right side of the zone. Hell stopped his shot as well as Jeff Marler’s rebound attempt on the right side, but Marler wrapped around to the left side of the net and put the puck into the goal at 11:36 of the first.
The Mavericks’ lead climbed to two goals as freshman Ryan McKelvie scored just 36 seconds later. McKelvie gathered the puck below the left faceoff circle and put a backhander past the Italian goalie to make the score 3-1.
Minnesota State continued to dominate as they scored two more goals in the second period.
“A lot of the young kids got to play a ton,” Jutting said. “[We] rolled three lines all night long, and our young kids had some success too. Good game for us to be involved in. It came at a very good time for us. It gave our young kids a chance to have some success, and hopefully that’ll carry through for them into the second half of the season.”
The game marked the finale for Team Italy’s tour of the WCHA. The team went 0-4-1 in their visit. After losing to Minnesota 4-2 and Wisconsin 7-0, the team picked up a tie against Michigan Tech on Dec. 14 before losing to St. Cloud State, 4-1, Monday night.
The Mavericks will take a short Christmas break before they return to action Dec. 27 and 28 in a non-conference series at home against American International.
“We’re trying to get everybody with confidence,” Hart said. “When we come back, we’re looking to make a run in the second half. We think we put ourselves in a pretty good position. That first half, we played some tough teams and had pretty good results — a lot better than people expected out of us. We expect big things out of us.”
