| 2 | 6 |
| Mariucci Arena | Minneapolis, Minn. | 10,178 | |
| STATISTICS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
March 14, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Nittany Lion men's hockey team was unable to hold off a powerful Minnesota side in a 6-2 loss at Mariucci Arena on Saturday night in front of 10,178 fans. Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) and James Robinson (Cochrane, Alberta) tallied goals for Penn State, who wrapped up their regular season in fourth place.
Saturday's loss means Penn State finished 10-9-1-0 in the Big Ten for 31 points and fourth place. The Nittany Lions will be the No. 4 seed and face fifth-seeded Ohio State in the Big Ten Quarterfinals hosted by Detroit's Joe Louis Arena beginning Thursday (4:30 PM ET).
Gardiner, a former Gopher, was the beneficiary of a Zach Saar (Richland, Mich.) slapshot from an odd angle for a 1-0 lead with 4:44 remaining in the first. Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) kept a puck in the zone from the left point to the right corner as Saar wound with a powerful shot that hit off Gardiner's stick in front.
The assist was Saar's first point of the season and the goal Gardiner's first goal since Dec. 6, 2014 at Wisconsin as well as his first even-strength goal of the season.
Penn State's lead was short-lived as the Gophers tallied back-to-back within 20 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. First it was Seth Ambroz putting home a Travis Boyd rebound off the post after Boyd danced through the Penn State defense.
Then it was Hudson Fasching tapping home a Jake Bischoff screamer from the point that caromed off PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) over his shoulder to an awaiting Fasching with 1:51 left.
The final minutes saw Penn State nearly tie it up on chances by Robinson and Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) leading to a Nittany Lions power play that stretched into the second period.
After the Gophers killed off the Nittany Lions' power play, they extended the lead to 3-1 on Kyle Rau's first of the nice off a Fasching shot 15:28 remaining, the first of three goals in a three-minute span.
Robinson would pull Penn State within a goal two minutes later, knocking home a Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) offering from the point in a scramble. Loik sent a pass from behind the net to Varley on the right point as he put it on net off Adam Wilcox. That rebound came to Robinson for his fourth of the season.
The one-goal deficit would become two once again as Ryan Collins fired home his first career goal from the right circle off a Christian Isackson pass from the right with 12:27 remaining in the period.
The breathless period would see Penn State up the pressure on the Gophers with chances by Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.), Robinson and Loik, all denied by Wilcox.
Rau and Fasching would team up again notching Rau's second of the game with 6:16 left in the period for a 5-2 lead as Fasching sent a pass from behind the net to a skating Rau. Then Fasching tallied his second of the game and fourth point of the night for a 6-2 lead with 3:51 to go, chasing Musico (58 saves) from the game. Musico entered the game with a .935 save percentage against the Gophers in three starts.
Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) made his first appearance since Feb. 28 at Ohio State.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State will be the No. 4 seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament, facing No. 5 seed Ohio State at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. That game will take place on Thursday at 4:30 PM ET on Big Ten Network and BTN2GO.