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FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Three points would have been better. Two points aren't bad in a tough game on the road in Alaska.
Michigan State didn't get the split it was looking for on Saturday in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association finale against Alaska, battling the Nanooks to a 1-1 tie after overtime.
But the Spartans still came away with two points in league play with a 2-1 victory in the shootout. The Nanooks , which get one point, won the series opener 2-0 on Friday.
In Saturday's shootout, MSU's Corey Tropp and Andrew Rowe, the first two shooters, scored on Nanooks goalie Scott Greenham, while Spartans goalie Drew Palmisano allowed just one goal - to Ryan. Hohl.
With a 2-1 lead in the shootout and UA down to its last shooter in the third round, Palmisano stopped the Nanooks' top scorer, Dion Knelsen, to give the Spartans the extra point.
Dean Chelios, MSU's third shooter, was stopped by Greenham.
"Drew was facing probably the best player in the league in shootouts and he found a way to come up big. It's two really important points for us,'' MSU coach Rick Comley said.
The two points allowed the Spartans (17-10-6, 12-7-5-2) to climb three points ahead of third-place Ferris State, which lost to Northern Michigan 4-0 on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost in a shootout to the Wildcats on Friday.
FSU, however, has played two fewer games than MSU, and will make them up next week with a two-game series at Lake Superior State.
The Spartans are idle next weekend and face FSU in a home-and-home series, Feb. 19-20.
After losing three straight shootouts, MSU has won its last two, with wins over Notre Dame and now Alaska.
Knelsen scored all three goals for the Nanooks (11-9-8, 8-9-7-3) in the series against the Spartans. He scored both goals in their 2-0 win on Friday and gave his team a 1-0 lead with his 15th goal of the season at 11:12 of the first period on Saturday.
The Spartans tied it on junior defenseman Jeff Petry's fifth goal of the season on a power play with 35 seconds left in the first period. Defenseman Zach Josepher and Corey Tropp drew assists.
MSU had a couple good scoring chances in the second and third periods but couldn't finish in front of Greenham, who made 32 saves.
Palmisano made 28 saves, including 11 in the third period.
MSU was 1-for-4 on the power play. UA was 0-for-2.
