NCAA Season Over, College Signings By NHL Has Begun

With the NCAA hockey season cancelled by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the NHL season on hold due to the same, several players have already jumped ship from the former level to the latter.

The biggest undergraduate catch so far has been Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth), who signed as a free agent last week with the Pittsburgh Penguins after two years of college hockey. The 6-foot-3 native of Chatham, N.J. posted an assist in his final NCAA appearance, a 5-4 overtime loss to Princeton on March 7 in the ECAC Hockey tournament that ended Dartmouth's 2019-20 season. He finished the campaign leading the Big Green with 22 goals and 34 points in 31 games, and posted 38 goals and 59 points in 64 career contests.

Signing with the New York Rangers last week after four NCAA seasons was Patrick Khodorenko (Michigan State). The six-foot forward from Walnut Creek, Cal., led the Spartans this past season with 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 36 outings. In 143 career contests with MSU, he finished with 54-68—120 points.

Also signing with the Rangers recently was defenseman K'Andre Miller (Wisconsin), who posted seven goals and 28 points as a sophomore with the Badgers. Wisconsin teammate Alex Turcotte signed with the Los Angeles Kings after notching nine goals and 26 points in his only NCAA season.

Michigan State Routes Minnesota at Munn

Patrick Khodorenko scored one goal and set up two others, and John Lethemon made 25 saves as 20th-ranked Michigan State topped visiting Minnesota, 4-1, in a Big Ten/NCAA hockey contest on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.

Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski each tallied a goal and an assist in the first period, sandwiching their scores around a goal by Gianluca Esteves, as MSU (11-9-1 overall, 7-3-1-0 Big Ten) built a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Sam Saliba then scored just over midway through the second stanza to put the host Spartans up, 4-0, after 40 minutes.

Jackson LaCombe broke up Lethemon's shutout bid with a power-play goal for the Golden Gophers with 6:22 remaining in regulation. Jack LaFontaine took the loss for Minnesota (7-10-4, 2-5-4-3) after stopping just six of nine shots in the opening period before being pulled from the game.

The two teams will complete their two-game conference set on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET (Big Ten TV Network) at Munn.

Penn State, Michigan State Split Big Ten Series

John Lethemon made 48 saves on Friday night as Michigan State blanked host Penn State in Big Ten play at Pegula Ice Arena. Patrick Khodorenko scored the game-winning goal just over halfway through the game for the visiting Spartans, who also got an empty-net goal late in regulation from Logan Lambdin.

On Saturday, the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions gained the series split with a 6-4 victory, powered by two assists apiece from Liam Folkes and Aarne Talvitie, plus 25 saves from Peyton Jones. Khodorenko scored two goals and set up another for the Spartans, who got 25 stops from Lethemon.

Penn State (7-2-0 overall, 3-1-0) will hit the road for the first time this season when it visits Minnesota next weekend. MSU (3-5-0, 1-1-0) will play a home-and-home set with archrival Michigan.

Michigan State Blanks Michigan, 5-0

Patrick Khodorenko scored two goals and Taro Hirose set up three as Michigan State rebounded for a 5-0 victory tonight at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans split a two-game series with the Big Ten rival Wolverines, who had earned a 4-0 triumph Thursday night in Ann Arbor.

Mitch Lewandowski added a goal and two assists for MSU on Friday, while John Lethemon made 29 saves for his third shutout of the season. MSU improves to 8-9-1 overall (2-7-1-1 Big Ten), while Michigan falls to 7-7-2 (3-5-2-1).

The two schools will both return to regular-season action on Jan. 1 in the first round of the 2018 Great Lakes Invitational at the new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The Spartans will face Michigan Tech, while the Wolverines take on Bowling Green.