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PITTSBURGH -- The No. 15 Nittany Lion men's hockey team bounced back on Tuesday night in a 5-1 victory over Clarkson at CONSOL Energy Center in the Three Rivers Classic. Five Nittany Lions tallied goals and Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) had a spectacular game (36 saves) in his home city to remain unbeaten in his last eight starts (5-0-3).
"In the first two periods Skoff was absolutely awesome," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "He stole a few sure goals and that gave us a chance to get our legs under us and I think we did (that). (We had a) huge, huge short-handed goal by (Eric) Scheid so we feel pretty good about that."
Penn State (11-3-3, 2-0-0-0 Big Ten) opened a 3-0 lead over Clarkson (7-2-2, 0-5-2 ECAC Hockey) thanks to goals by Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) and David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) in the first period as well as a power-play tally by David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) in the second.
Another multi-point outing landed Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) on the Three Rivers All-Tournament Team. Juha recorded a goal and three assists in two games.
Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) added a short-handed goal early in the third and Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) cemented the game with his first of the season for the final 5-1 score line as PSU out-shot Clarkson 22-7 for a final tally of 39-37.
Penn State grabbed the game's first goal through Brooks after 7:33 of play. Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) won a defensive zone faceoff to Juha who flicked the puck through the neutral zone where Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) won it from a Clarkson defenseman behind the net. Brooks swung in on the left post and beat Steve Perry for his sixth of the year.
As the period came to a close, Penn State's possession and pressure yielded a second goal with only 13.6 seconds remaining. Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) and Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) fended off a pair of Golden Knights in the corner as Richard found Thompson on the right point. The junior alternate captain snapped a shot toward net that ricocheted off a Clarkson defenseman for a goal and a crucial two-goal lead.
Thompson's goal was his second of the year and third point of the tournament following his first multi-point effort on Monday night vs. Robert Morris.
The second period featured a heightened pace of play that featured great scoring chances and even better goaltending. Richard nearly made it 3-0 on a breakaway chance just two minutes into the frame. Three minutes later, Skoff made a highlight-reel save during a 5-on-3 penalty kill that allowed Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) a short-handed breakaway chance that was stopped on the other end.
Penn State finally pounced on an opportunity with 12:32 remaining as Goodwin put away a power-play goal for a 3-0 lead. Brooks was denied on a backhanded effort by Perry after Juha poked the puck his away from a David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) shot from the right point.
PSU's tally was just the 10th power play goal Clarkson conceded all season, while the Lions picked up their 22nd power play tally.
Following the goal, Clarkson took over en route to its first goal of the game. With 9:14 remaining, Skoff made a terrific left pad save on Marly Quince and a minute later stoned AJ Fossen with his right pad on a rebounded effort to briefly preserve the shutout.
Nevertheless, the Golden Knights on the board as Troy Josephs redirected a Terrance Amorosa shot from the left point with 7:04 remaining in the period. Clarkson registered its first goal since Dec. 5 vs. Cornell, a span of 100:58 of game time. CU earned a decisive 17-7 edge in shots during the second period.
Penn State went on to dominate the third period, out-shooting Clarkson 22-7. Scheid put the game out of reach as he picked the pocket of a Golden Knight at center ice and went in for a breakaway goal and his second short-handed goal in as many games just 22 seconds into the period.
Scheid became the first Nittany Lion with two short-handed tallies in a single season. Penn State now leads NCAA D-I with seven short-handed goals.
With 5:15 remaining, Varley scored from the right point on an Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) pass for the 5-1 advantage. Glen won the faceoff and Marsh quickly found Varley.
NITTANY NOTES • Penn State and Clarkson are meeting for the first time; Clarkson is PSU's sixth first-time opponent this year
• PSU looking for its second straight victory over an ECAC team after going winless in first nine games (currently 1-8-1)
• Eric Scheid last scored in back-to-back games on Jan. 10-Jan. 16, 2015 vs. Ohio State and Michigan State.
• Penn State has a goal differential of only minus-2 on the penalty kill this year (9 power play goals against, 7 short-handed goals for).
• Matthew Skoff is 5-0-3 in his last seven starts after dropping his opening game of the season. Skoff has a .936 save percentage and a 1.82 GAA in those eight games.
• The Nittany Lions are 9-0-1 when scoring first this season, 12-0-0 when leading after two periods and 10-2-2 when tallying a power-play goal.
NEXT TIME OUT Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena for its second Big Ten series when it hosts Minnesota on Jan. 8-9. The Jan. 8 game will be shown live on Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.