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| Pat Christman/The Free Press |
1. Johnny on the spot: Minnesota State bounced back from Friday's crushing overtime loss to Nebraska Omaha and won in extra time Saturday when Johnny McInnis blasted a shot in as he skated into the high slot. Joe Schiller assisted on the game-winner. MSU looked like it was going to close out the game in regulation, but Omaha's Jayson Megna tied it up with 9.6 remaining in the third period. Credit MSU for bouncing back from that blow to get the victory. It was a wild, back-and-forth game in which Omaha had three one-goal leads. Omaha outshot MSU 43-42, and each team failed to score on a five-minute major (on Omaha's MSU failed to convert four 2-on-1 short-handed chances!).
2. Purple Hayes: Minnesota State junior forward Eriah Hayes rebounded from what he called his worst college game ever to perhaps his best. Moved to a line with freshmen Jean-Paul LaFontanie and Matt Leitner, Hayes got his first college hat trick, including a pair of third-period goals that tied the game aat 3-3 at the 9:09 mark and gave MSU a 4-3 lead at 17:46. The rookies made some nifty passes for assists on those goals. LaFontaine's backhander to Hayes' tape for the go-ahead goal was as good as it gets. "I don't score that goal without Jean-Paul making that play," Hayes said.
You'll be able to read more about Hayes' weekend — from being benched to being one of the stars of the game — in Monday's series review in The Free Press.
3. Suddenly ... dangerous? Is Minnesota State getting better, as Jutting and his player suggest? MSU is 5-5-0 in its last 10 games and has outscored its opponents 31-26 in those games. Meanwhile, goalie Phil Cook, who was brilliant again with 39 saves on Saturday, is 3-1 in his last four starts and has a .951 save percentage in that stretch. "We set our goals really high for the second half of the season," McInnis said. "To do that we're going to have to play better than .500 hockey."
Deep thought: It was good to hear that Omaha goalie Ryan Massa was in the building on Saturday and that he was released from the hospital late Friday night/early Saturday morning following that scary collision in his net in overtime Friday. Dayn Belfour, the son of Hall of Famer Ed Belfour got the start on Saturday and made 29 saves before being pulled from the game when Hayes made it 3-3. John Faulkner, who didn't make the original trip with UNO but came up to Mankato on Saturday to back up Belfour, finished the game and took the loss. It should remind MSU fans of the time Cook got hurt at North Dakota on a Friday night, and Kevin Murdock was beckoned from Mankato the next morning to back up Austin Lee.
Quote of the night: "Stud. Just a stud tonight." — Johnny McInnis on Eriah Hayes
Read The Free Press' game story here.
Around the WCHA: Minnesota 2, Colorado College 1 ... Northern Michigan 5, Michigan Tech 2 ... Wisconsin 3, Alaska Anchorage 2 ... Minnesota Duluth 4, Alabama Huntsville 3 ... North Dakota 3, St. Cloud State 2
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