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Comley's eye leads to Palmisano's 1st shootout victory

By Alex DiFilippo

Created:
02/18/10 4:32pm

Last updated:
02/18/10 4:33pm

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It was almost the exact scenario as in “D2: The Mighty Ducks.”

The last time the No. 12 MSU hockey team took the ice on Feb. 6 against Alaska, the Nanooks final shooter would decide the outcome of the shootout.

It was MSU sophomore goaltender Drew Palmisano against Alaska forward Dion Knelsen. If Knelsen scored, extra shooters would be needed to determine the outcome of the shootout. If Palmisano could come up with the clutch save, MSU would earn the extra point.

A betting man would certainly have put money on Knelsen. MSU head coach Rick Comley called the Alaska stick-handling sensation one of the best players to have in the shootout. And Palmisano was 0-for-3 in shootouts this season.

But the MSU coaching staff pulled a Mighty Ducks-esque move to give Palmisano the edge.

In studying film of Knelsen, MSU coaches discovered he used the same move on every shootout attempt.

Mimicking legendary Mighty Ducks coach Gordon Bombay, Comley pulled Palmisano aside and told him to expect Knelsen to come in with speed, fake a shot and then bring the puck to his backhand and elevate the shot.

As Knelsen skated in on Palmisano, the MSU netminder slowly slid his hand up his stick and executed a perfectly-timed poke check to prevent Knelsen from bringing the puck to his backhand.

And voila, Palmisano earned his first shootout victory and the Spartans earned the valuable extra point in the conference standings.

“We’d seen his move,” Comley said. “You hate to say anything to your goalie, but we did. As soon as Palmy saw him take it to his forehand, he anticipated him going to his backhand, and he poke-checked him. He did the same move every time, and it’s a dynamic move. But he never got a chance to use it.”

And it sure felt good for Palmisano to finally get the shootout monkey off his back.

“It was definitely a struggle for me in the first three shootouts this year,” Palmisano said. “I always thought I was good at shootouts in juniors. But for it to finally come in the big win for us against Alaska was pretty nice.”

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About Lighting the Lamp

Hockey reporter Dillon Davis takes you inside the MSU hockey team.

Follow Dillon on Twitter at @DillonDavis and the rest of The State News sports desk at @thesnews_sports.

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