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| PSU |
David Goodwin (14) Pedrie (11), Sturtz (6) |
3 | 2:49 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PSU
Zach Saar (5)
Goodwin (19)
3
16:05
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Nittany Lion men's hockey team used its balanced offense to roll by the Michigan State Spartans, 6-1, at Munn Ice Arena on Friday night in front of 5,424. Six different Nittany Lions scored and Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) was nearly flawless by stopping 28 of 29 shots.
For a second straight win, Penn State (18-8-3, 8-5-0-0 Big Ten) never trailed by pinning Michigan State (7-20-2, 3-10-0-0 Big Ten) in its own end for much of the night and generating offense from multiple points on the ice. Penn State matched its win total from last season with the victory, while handing Michigan State its 20th loss of the year.
Four Nittany Lions registered multiple points as David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.), Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.) and Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) each tallied a goal and an assist, while Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) dished two assists.
Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.), Zach Saar (Richland, Mich.) and Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) also pitched in with goals in the rout, which matched Penn State's largest margin of victory over the Spartans, which occurred in the teams' last meeting on Dec. 5 at Pegula Ice Arena.
In the opening period, Michigan State committed back-to-back penalties and Penn State cashed in on the second power play opportunity with 12:19 to go. Pedrie took an Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) feed on the right wing and fired one past Jake Hildebrand (43 saves). MSU entered the game with the eight best penalty kill in NCAA Division I at 85.4 percent.
The Nittany Lions doubled the lead with 3:02 remaining as Olczyk scored for his career-high ninth tally of the season. Olczyk intercepted an errant Spartan pass in the neutral zone to kick start a rush the other way. He found Marsh driving down the middle and his shot was saved by Hildebrand as Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) went hard to the net, missing the puck but clearing space for Olczyk to score.
Penn State held a decisive 20-8 edge in shots, notching its 12th period of 20 shots or more this season.
The Nittany Lions found themselves in penalty trouble in the second period, committing three minors that led to Michigan State power plays. Penn State nearly made it 3-0 during a penalty kill when Pedrie sent a stretch pass to Scheid to set up a 2-on-0 opportunity. Scheid's pass found Goodwin who was denied Penn State's 11th short-handed goal this season as Hildebrand went across the crease to get his paddle on the puck with 15:30 to go.
Less than 90 seconds later, Michigan State cut the lead in half following PSU's successful penalty kill as Cody Milan tallied his second of the year with 14:04 remaining in the period. MSU's momentum would be short-lived.
Fifty-five second later, Scheid put home a rebound for his ninth of the year to restore Penn State's two-goal advantage. Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) had a shot from the right point blocked as it caromed to Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) His shot from the slot was saved by Hildebrand and Scheid swerved around the netminder to deposit the goal.
Penn State's advantage grew to three with 6:18 remaining when Sturtz blocked an MSU attempted dump in the neutral zone and went down the right wing, wristing a seeing-eye shot over Hildebrand's glove for his team-leading 14th marker of the season and a 4-1 lead.
The Nittany Lions continued their stranglehold on the game in the third period by dominating the Spartans with a 17-8 shot advantage and two more goals. Only 2:49 into the frame, after Penn State killed off 88 seconds of an earlier Saar minor, Goodwin potted his eighth of the year.
PSU won an offensive zone faceoff and eventually Pedrie found Sturtz, who was able to get the puck to Goodwin on the right wing for the junior's eighth goal of the year.
Goodwin would chip in on the final goal of the game, which again came after a Saar exited the penalty box. This time he was there serving Eamon McAdam's (Perkasie, Pa.) unsportsmanlike penalty as he raced out to collect a Goodwin feed from the neutral zone. Saar drove down the left wing, made a move around his defenseman and flicked the puck top shelf for the final goal of the game.
Penn State held a decisive 49-29 edge in shots, the widest margin of shots against Michigan State this season. MSU won the faceoff battle 41-31, but Penn State won the special teams battle by going 1-for-4 on the power play and owning a perfect 4-for-4 mark on the penalty kill.
NITTANY NOTES
Kenny Brooks has tallied points in back-to-back games. Last time he did that was Dec. 4-5 vs. MSU.
Eric Scheid is the first Nittany Lion to record three 20-point seasons
Tommy Olczyk's ninth of the year is a new career-high
Andrew Sturtz's goal was Penn State's 10th such goal this year, which is the 2nd most in NCAA D-I
Sturtz tallied his fifth multi-point game of his caree (last Dec. 4 vs. Michigan State).
Matthew Skoff is 2-0-0 against Michigan State this season. He was in net for PSU's 4-2 in over the Spartans on Dec. 4 when he made 31 saves. Skoff has made 59 saves with only three goals against.
Penn State now trails in the series 6-5-2 to Michigan State after winning three straight games. Penn State won its first game at Munn Ice Arena since Jan. 26, 2013.
Vince Pedrie's recorded his second multi-point game of his career
Penn State posted its 18th game with 40 or more shots. PSU out-shot Michigan State 49-29.
Zach Saar scored in back-to-back games for second time in his career (Feb. 7-8, 2014)
Penn State skated with just 11 forwards on Friday night due to various injuries. This is the third straight game PSU has skated with 11 forwards
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State concludes its two-game set at Michigan State on Saturday with a 7 p.m. puck drop.