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| Munn Ice Arena | East Lansing, Mich. | 6,528 | |
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Feb. 13, 2015
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Penn State men's hockey team saw its eight-game unbeaten streak come to an end Friday night at Munn Ice Arena as Michigan State took a 3-0 win. Senior goaltender PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) made 31 saves as Penn State was shutout for the first time since Jan. 17, 2014 at MSU.
The Nittany Lions and Spartans skated to a scoreless first period after Michigan State (11-12-2, 5-4-2-2 Big Ten) owned the opening 11 minutes of play. The Spartans took nine of the first 10 shots, but Penn State didn't allow a shot in the final eight minutes of the period.
The Spartans owned a 14-9 edge in shots, the 14 shots tying the most Penn State (15-8-4, 7-3-1-0 Big Ten) allowed in the first all season and the first time the Lions were out-shot in the first since Dec. 30 against Western Michigan.
The pace of play in the second period slowed considerably as the two teams combined for just 12 shots in the entire frame, which included four by the Nittany Lions, the fewest PSU attempted in a single frame all season.
The Spartans would stake a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals in a three-minute span midway through the period. Mackenzie MacEachern tallied his seventh of the year when he punched home a Matt Berry rebound at 10:04.
A turnover by the Nittany Lions in its own zone gave JT Stenglein a free pass, beating Musico stick side for his second of the season. For the fifth time since Jan. 9, Penn State faced a multiple-goal deficit.
Penn State would try to cut the lead in half just 90 seconds into the third period on an Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) breakaway down the right wing, but his low shot was stoned by Jake Hildebrand's right pad. Hildebrand finished with 34 saves. In fact, the Nittany Lions took seven of the first nine shots of the period all in the opening four minutes.
Nevertheless, Michigan State would capitalize on another defensive miscue as a turnover cycled around to Matt DeBlouw who one-timed a shot from the high slot for his seventh goal of the season with 15:44 remaining in the game.
The Nittany Lions would attempt to generate some momentum when off-setting penalties to Berry and David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta) put the teams in a 4-on-4 situation as Penn State elected to pull Musico with 5:25 remaining.
Penn State had a chance during its 5-on-4 empty-net situation where Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England) had a chance that bounced off the back of Hildebrand, skip on the goal line and get cleared away by a Spartan defenseman.
Ultimately, the advantage would end on a PSU tripping call and the Spartans would skate away with the shutout victory, their third blanking of the year.
Michigan State out-shot Penn State, 34-28, just the fourth time this season the Nittany Lions failed to out-shoot their opponent. Each team went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Michigan State held a decisive 37-23 edge in faceoffs.
The two teams combined for a staggering 47 blocked shots with MSU earning a slight 24-23 advantage. David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) had a team-high five on the night.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions fell to 4-4-0 in true road games and 5-7-1 in all games away from Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions played its first game outside the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 68 days.
• Penn State fell to 0-5-2 when scoring two goals or less and 1-8-1 when allowing three goals or more.
• The season series with Michigan State stands at 1-1-1. The Nittany Lions are all-time 1-4-0 at Munn Ice Arena.
• Musico made his fourth straight start, dropping his first game in which he starts (3-1-0). Musico's last loss came in a 5-4 overtime tilt with Ohio State on Jan. 9.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State and Michigan State conclude the season series at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday with a 6 p.m. opening faceoff. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.