Palmisano’s 45 saves tops Michigan Tech

By Stefan Kubus –

DETROIT – Drew Palmisano went 19 days between starts for the Spartans. It sure didn’t show.

The Michigan State senior goaltender stood on his head all day to lead MSU to a 2-1 win over Michigan Tech in the opening game of the Great Lakes Invitational.

Palmisano allowed only one goal, which came on a 5-on-3 Huskies power play. The Ann Arbor native shut the door on the Huskies 45 times, besting his previous season-best of 40 saves against Minnesota.

Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos said it was Palmisano’s strong focus returning from the recent break that helped Palmisano exert his dominance on today’s game.

“He had a real focus the night of the 26th when we came back,” Anastos said. “Palmy was great tonight. He gave us a real chance to win.”

And in this one, the Spartans needed Palmisano to come through, for the offense was outgunned. Michigan State only generated 26 shots on goal throughout the contest, and went a large portion of the third without a single try on the Tech goal.

However, the Spartans were the first on the board. Just five-and-a-half minutes into the first, sophomore Greg Wolfe lit the lamp on the power play to give the Spartans the 1-0 lead. However, Michigan Tech would combat the Spartans with some offense of their own, albeit unproductive on the scoreboard. The Huskies’ sustained pressure gave them a 14-6 edge in shots in the first.

That same recipe would continue to give the Huskies the edge in shots, dominating MSU again in the second 16-9, yet they couldn’t find the back of the net, and the Spartans once again did.

Heading into the third down by two, the Huskies were still searching for a way to beat Palmisano. Although they found the twine on the 5-on-3 in the third, that would be all for the Huskies, as Palmisano steadied the ship the rest of the way.

The senior goaltender clearly stole the show, but he humbly thanked his defense for his success ultimately.

“Our defense did a great job of holding them off and clearing those rebounds,” Palmisano said.

Junior defenseman and team captain Torey Krug said his troops did all the little things to win.

“Coach (Anastos) walked into the locker room and said ‘Good teams find a way to win’ and that’s what we did tonight,” said Krug, a Livonia native. “We’re a pretty confident group. Guys were doing the little things, like blocking shots and cleaning the garbage in front of the net, so to speak.”

Krug also praised his goaltender for his stellar performance.

“Every time Palmy’s in the net, he’s given our team a chance to win,” said the Michigan State captain.

In their 156th all-time meeting, the Michigan State Spartans were able to close the gap in the all-time series record with Michigan Tech, despite the large margin in shots.

The Huskies had been holding a three-game margin of victory over the Spartans, with 78 wins to MSU’s 75. The Spartans notched their 76th win all-time against Michigan Tech, sending them to their 25th GLI Championship Game tomorrow night against the winner of the Michigan-Boston College game.

Although Anastos didn’t tip his hat on who was getting the start in the championship game tomorrow, he hinted it would be Palmisano.

“We’ll talk about it, but he certainly made a strong case,” Anastos said.