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| Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa. | 6,098 | |
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Box Score | Weekend Highlights |
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Jan. 24, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- It was déjàvu all over again Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena as 6,089 fans witnessed Penn State men's hocking overcoming a 4-1 deficit to Northern Michigan. While PSU didn't grab the win like it did on Friday, the Nittany Lions grabbed a 5-5 draw with the Wildcats in the series finale.
Redshirt-junior forward Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) delighted the Penn State faithful with a dazzling show of speed and scoring ability, netting two goals including a crucial short-handed tally late in the second period. Linemate Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) scored with 6:32 remaining in the third as Penn State (12-7-4, 5-2-1-0 Big Ten) forced overtime and settled for a tie with Northern Michigan (9-9-6, 6-8-4 WCHA).
"Right now, (Scheid's) playing at a different speed than everybody else," said head coach Guy Gadowsky. "I mean, he just, I don't know how. Honestly, it's like he just plays at a different level right now and his speed is phenomenal. He's, boy, he's something to watch. When he's skating like he's skating now, he's incredibly dangerous and obviously if you can get those two lines scoring at the same time we could be pretty tough."
Gadowsky was referring to Penn State's top line of David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.), Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) and Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) who came into the weekend scoring 37 percent of the team's offense. This weekend, Penn State found scoring from the other parts of the lineup with nine of its 10 goals scored by the other three lines.
Last night it was Richard two had the two-goal, one assist game, while Scheid picked up the pace on Saturday. Before Scheid found the score sheet in the second period on a short-handed weave through traffic assisted by Richard, the Nittany Lions were in a 3-0 hole despite dominating the first period.
Penn State out-shot the Wildcats 20-8, but Dominik Shine, Ryan Kesti and Zach Urban combined for the 3-0 lead, chasing starting goaltender Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) from the game as PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) led the team the rest of the way. It looked early as though PSU took a 1-0 lead on a Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) effort, but the goal was waved off by the officials after a review.
After Scheid's short-handed goal 12:31 into the second, Reed Seckel made it 4-1 two and a half minutes later off a Kesti assist.
Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions fought back as they had 20 hours previously when Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) lit the lamp with 2:08 remaining in the second, cutting the lead to 4-2. DeRosa redirected a Patrick Koudys (Smithville, Ontario) blast from the point.
Scheid doubled his goal count on another breakaway, beating backup goaltender Michael Doan (20 saves) five-hole with 41 seconds remaining in the period. Doan replaced starter Mathias Dahlstrom (39 saves) who left the game for the majority of the second period with a cut to his arm. He would return for the third period.
Penn State wasted little time in evening the score as Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Pa.) took a DeRosa feed off a Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) shot just three minutes into the frame.
Nearly four minutes later, Penn State took a pair of minor penalties that not only wiped out a PSU power play, but eventually allowed NMU to go on a 5-on-3 power play itself. Penn State killed off the first opportunity, but Darren Nowicki scored on a Zach Diamantoni pass for the 5-4 lead with 13:05 remaining.
Penn State's pursuit of another equalizer was on once again and it was the line of Scheid, Richard and Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England) that would excite the crowd. Richard put away his fifth of the year from a Scheid shot that was hit into the hair as Richard knocked it down past Dahlstrom for the 5-5 score less than seven minutes from the final horn. Conway had two assists in the game.
The physical game saw 19 penalties for 60 minutes. The majority of the minutes came after Richard's game-tying goal when Koudys got tangled up with Seckel. Each received five minute major penalties and game misconducts and PSU was unable to capitalize on the ensuing power play supplied by Urban's cross-checking penalty.
The Nittany Lions were unable to find the game-winner and settled for a tie despite out-shooting Northern Michigan 64-29. The 64 shots were a season high. PSU out-shot the Wildcats by a total of 117-59 for the weekend.
Penn State went 0-for-6 on the power play, while NMU had Nowick's goal in five opportunities. NMU blocked 20 shots and Penn State stopped nine from reaching net. Musico ended the game with 19 saves.
PSU and NMU participated in an exhibition shootout that the Wildcats won 3-2 in four rounds. Scheid and Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.) made their attempts to equal the tally at 1-1 and 2-2, respectively.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions are now 8-1-3 at Pegula Ice Arena overall and 6-0-2 against non-Big Ten teams in 2014-15.
• The Richard-Conway-Scheid line combined for six goals, eight assists and 14 points this weekend.
• Penn State's record this season when allowing four goals or more is 1-6-1. Penn State is 5-0-1 when scoring at least five goals.
• DeRosa tallied his second multi-point game of the season (Holy Cross, Oct. 26, 2014).
• Penn State received three points from defensemen for just the second time this year (4 at Alaska)
• Scheid's short-handed goal was Penn State's fourth of the year. Four different Nittany Lions have short-handed goals (Scheid, Holstrom, Richard, Olczyk).
• Penn State fired 50 or more shots for the sixth time this season and is now 4-0-2 in those games.
• Conway has multi-point games in three of his last five games.
• Richard and Scheid finished with a team-high five points this weekend. Richard had three goals, two assists; Scheid had two goals, three assists.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State steps away from the friendly confines of Pegula Ice Arena next weekend to take on Vermont in the Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff on Saturday at 1 p.m. That game will be the third installment at Wells Fargo Center, home of the Flyers. Tickets are available on ComcastTix.com.
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