Offense, home ice crucial for rivalry series

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Both MSU and No. 14 Michigan struggled early this season and are looking to head in the right direction before winter break in their first two of four meetings.

Hockey reporter Alex DiFilippo discusses some of the big questions surrounding the home-and-home series against the Wolverines this weekend.

Question With the Spartans struggling to score all season, what can they do differently this weekend to spark some offense?

Answer The Spartans have the worst scoring offense in the CCHA and U-M’s top three goal scorers are just one goal shy of totaling more than the entire Spartans roster has mustered all season. But after putting up four goals against No. 1-ranked Minnesota, it appears the ball is starting to roll in the right direction.

MSU head coach Rick Comley has insisted his offense dump and chase the puck to gain entry into the offensive zone. While Comley admits it isn’t his preferred style of offense, it’s necessary to get the offensive juices flowing and set up the cycle down low. When the Spartans do get possession in the offensive zone, they need to throw everything they have at the net. Junk goals count all the same, and a garbage goal or two would be huge from a momentum standpoint.

Q What do the Wolverines bring to the table?

A First and foremost, U-M has proven they can get up and down the ice. While the Spartans have shown they are good at clogging up the neutral zone, MSU can’t afford to sit back in the defensive zone this weekend. Getting behind early has been deadly for the Spartans and they have to push forward to establish an offensive presence right away. The Wolverines also play a physical style, and with freshman forward Andrew Conboy out of the lineup, the Spartans will be lacking in this department.

Q Which team has the edge in goaltending?

A This is an easy one. I have no hesitation in saying that both senior Jeff Lerg and freshman Drew Palmisano are better than both Wolverines goaltenders. While Lerg’s stats might not be the prettiest so far this season, he still makes every save he’s supposed to make. And more often than not, he makes the spectacular save too.

U-M, on the other hand, has quite the goaltender controversy.

Senior Billy Sauer was the obvious choice to be the starter this season for the Wolverines, but he has been demoted to sharing time with sophomore Bryan Hogan. The records make it clear why Sauer has been riding the pine more than expected — he is 2-6 while Hogan is 7-1.

Expect them to split time this weekend.

Q How big is home ice going to be?

A In the past home ice has proven to be huge. Saturday’s game will be the only time MSU will face U-M at Munn Ice Arena this season as one of the games will be played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. MSU holds a winning record (59-45-9) at Munn and a losing record (42-67-4) at Ann Arbor’s Yost Ice Arena. Even though the student section has been great so far this season at Munn, U-M fans really get up when the Spartans make the trip to their barn and the atmosphere makes life difficult for the Green and White.

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