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Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University, Mankato

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Page address: https://web.mnsu.edu/sports/bluelineclub/news/html/spotlight.html

Stepping into the Spotlight

Freshman goaltender Dan Tormey led MSU to a three-point weekend against Denver.

by Brad Wheeler
November 15, 2005

The fire alarm went off inside the Midwest Wireless Civic Center Saturday during the first period but it was a false alarm. The only thing on fire was the MSU men’s hockey team as they lit up Denver 4-0.

MSU started off hot when David Backes put MSU up 1-0 early and the Mavericks defense allowed just one shot on goal in the entire first period.

“I don’t care who you’re playing, anytime you hold a team to one shot in a period, that’s a good period,” MSU head coach Troy Jutting said.

Freshman Dan Tormey recorded his first career shutout in the victory making all 23 saves.

“What I really like is how [Tormey] keeps things calm for us back there,” Jutting said. “That’s his style — he’s not a real acrobatic kid. If we need a whistle, he’ll get us a whistle.”

Tormey has started in net for MSU in its last four games and the Mavericks have earned six out of a possible eight points in that stretch. The freshman is gaining a lot more confidence as he sees action in consecutive games.

“That was a total team effort tonight,” Tormey said. “I can’t take the credit for the shutout.”

MSU didn’t let up and Denver couldn’t do anything to stop them as the Mavericks poured on three goals in the second period.

Freshman Jon Kalinski tipped in Austin Sutter’s shot for his first career college goal to make it 2-0.

“That’s a big goal for him,” Sutter said. “I was happy it went in off him instead of me scoring.”

Sutter came back later in the period and patiently waited with the puck in the slot and sniped a goal.

“I didn’t think [Sutter] was doing some of the things he does best lately,” Jutting said. “But he played great for us tonight.”

Toward the end of the third period, Ryan Carter added a power play goal when MSU had a four on three man advantage. MSU went two-for-six with the extra man.

MSU rebounded after the night before when it let a victory get away as Denver tied the game late in the third period. After a scoreless overtime, the game ended 3-3.

“I thought we played really hard with a lot of heart,” Jutting said. “We had a few mistakes and they made us pay [Friday].”

MSU’s “checking line” — which consists of Rob Rankin, Ryan McKelvie, and Christian Toll — was plus-two on the night and had the tough task of containing Denver’s top line. Jutting was extremely pleased with the way they played.

Denver never held the lead in the game but never fell behind by more than one goal.

“It was just one of those games where we had to play catch-up the entire time,” said Denver head coach George Gwozdecky.

Both teams scored one goal in each of the three periods. Scoring for the Mavericks were Toll, Backes, and Rankin, respectively. Denver tied the game at three-a-piece with 1:53 left in the game, scoring its third power play goal.

“This is going to sound dumb because they had three power play goals, but I thought our penalty kill was pretty good tonight,” Jutting said. “They just have great players who made some great plays against us.”

MSU is very pleased with taking three out of four points against the two-time National Champions.

“We’re starting to do the small things that win hockey games on a regular basis,” Jutting said.

Next weekend MSU will try to ride its momentum into the Badger state to take on first-place Wisconsin in a two-game road series starting Friday.

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