Palmisano leads Spartans to 3-0 win over Buckeyes

By Michael Caples –

EAST LANSING – What a difference a week makes.

Last weekend, the Spartans opened up CCHA play by giving up 8 goals in two games against Lake Superior.

Thursday night, it was a little different. Michigan State welcomed Ohio State to East Lansing, and goaltender Drew Palmisano posted a 29-save shutout, leading the Spartans to a 3-0 win.

“I thought I played pretty solid tonight,” Palmisano said. “Our defense did a great job, making sure there wasn’t too many second or third opportunities. Our forwards blocked a lot of shots for me, so it was a good overall team-defensive win for us.”

The Spartans’ captains – Torey Krug, Anthony Hayes, and Trevor Nill – recorded the goals for MSU, who improved to 2-3-0 on the season.

“Well I thought we had a real good effort tonight,” coach Tom Anastos said. “I thought we played with good energy; we played with better physical presence than we’ve had, which we thought was important to feed off of a little bit. Certainly being at home and having the home crowd and so on, helped feed that a little bit right from the beginning.

“I think more importantly, we were a tougher team to play against, I thought we played better defensively all over the rink, and so as a result we got a good result. It was nice to see some pucks go into the net for some of the guys too. Overall, we’re pleased with the effort, and it’s a good start to the weekend, or end of the week I guess.”

Krug opened up the scoring, taking a pass from defensive partner Brock Shelgren and firing the puck through traffic during a MSU power play in the first. It was the second goal of the season for the Spartans’ captain.

The line of Kevin Walrod, Matt Berry, and Anthony Hayes created a turnover in the Buckeyes’ zone in the second period for MSU’s second goal. Walrod passed cross-crease to Hayes for the easy goal – his first of the season.

After a lengthy video review, Nill was awarded MSU’s third goal of the night. The Spartans’ assistant captain was driving to the net, and while in the process of stopping, the puck hit his skate and went past goaltender Cal Heeter.

The Spartans and Buckeyes will play again tomorrow night. Palmisano said it was great to see MSU’s home crowd once again.

“It’s always good to come back and play at Munn, especially when the student section’s going in warm-ups even. It gave us some energy before the game and set the tone for us to come out hard.”