Ryan Lindgren, Minnesota D Shines in 3-1 Win Over Michigan State

At the same end of the Mariucci Arena rink where he had to be helped off the last time Michigan State was in town, a healthy Ryan Lindgren spun, fell to the ice and got back up. The sophomore defenseman could celebrate this time around.

He had scored a goal.

Minnesota (6-3-0, 2-1-0-0 Big Ten) added two more Friday and get help from its defense in a 3-1 victory over the Spartans.

“I thought our D were active tonight,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia. “They were much more assertive in their play, something we’ve really tried to get them more involved from an offensive standpoint so it was nice to see them score the goal.”

It began early Friday on No. 5 Minnesota’s first shot of the game. Lindgren and junior defenseman Jack Sadek, part of a Gopher blue line that had two total goals this season, combined for the team’s opening goal 3:22 into the game.

Lindgren, whose freshman season ended last March when he broke his leg trying to beat out an icing call against MSU’s Taro Hirose, hustled to the net. He was rewarded.  With Hirose on the ice, the Minneapolis native’s shot went past Michigan State (4-3-0, 0-1-0-0 Big Ten) goaltender John Lethemon for his first goal since the injury.

“I saw they were changing and our guys were changing too. So I started to skate up with (the puck) and saw Jack was coming up with me, so at the blue line I kicked it out to him and thought I’d try to go back door,” said Lindgren. “Again, it was such a nice pass, so all the credit to (Sadek).”

The Spartans showed resilience under first-year head coach Danton Cole. Minnesota’s defense cleared a couple loose pucks out of the crease. Sam Saliba and Hirose each missed on point-blank chances that would have tied the game before Brent Gates Jr. doubled Minnesota’s lead in the final minute of the second period.

On the power play for the first time Friday, the Grand Rapids, Mich. native tipped a Leon Bristedt shot into the net for a goal against a school he grew up following.

“Any time you get a goal you get a boost. Especially going into the locker room, a little insurance up one to start and getting that one, a little insurance, a little cushion,” said Gates. “Going into the locker room we felt better about ourselves and coming out for the third we had momentum and some juice to our game.”

Saliba got the Spartans on the board early in the third period. Michigan State had three power-play opportunities that they were unable to convert.

“We were around it, but Eric played a really nice game and their D did a good job,” Cole said about his team’s power play, which went 0-for-4 Friday. “In a game like this, your power play needs to come through. I thought they did a good job, but we weren’t able to finish.”

Rem Pitlick, for the third consecutive Friday, scored a goal. Casey Mittelstadt and Pitlick restored Minnesota’s two-goal lead when the former found the latter wide open in the slot for the sophomore’s fourth goal of the season.

Eric Schierhorn made 25 saves Friday, giving up a single goal for the third consecutive game. He now has a .927 save percentage in parts thanks to the defensive success in front of him.

“It’s been different every game. Sometimes we have guys blocking shots, picking up sticks. On their goal today obviously we didn’t do a good job clearing out in front, but we’ve done a pretty good job of letting Eric make the first save,” Lindgren said. “Then we’re there to clear out the rebound, clear out guys and box out. Obviously, we’ve got to keep working on that, but it’s been a team effort.

“It’s not just the defensemen. It’s the forwards too. So it’s been a team effort and it’s been good.”

Minnesota and Michigan State have a quick turnaround Saturday. The two teams play Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Fox Sports North will broadcast the game on TV. It can be heard locally on KTLK 1130 AM.


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