Nov. 4, 2016
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
OT --> Final #14 Penn State 1 1 3 0 -->
5
Niagara 1 0 0
1
|
Nov. 4, 2016 | Pegula Ice Arena | 6,061 Box Score --> (PDF) | Box Score (HTML) |
| Final | ||||
| #14 Penn State | 12 | 22 | 17 |
51 |
|
| Niagara |
9 | 3 | 9 |
21 |
| Final | ||||
| #14 Penn State |
1-2 | 0-3 | 1-1 |
2-6 |
|
| Niagara | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-3 |
1-5 |
| ||||||||||||
| PSU | Andrew Sturtz (7) Smirnov (8), Autio (5) |
1 | 19:16 | |||||||||
| PSU |
Vince Pedrie (3) Richard (4), Smirnov (9) |
2 | 9:47 | |||||||||
| PSU |
Andrew Sturtz (8) Sucese (2) |
3 | 00:32 | |||||||||
| PSU |
Zach Saar (2) Biro (3) |
3 | 4:10 | |||||||||
| PSU |
David Goodwin (1) Smirnov (10), Pedrie (3) |
3 | 14:04 | |||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.) scored the game-winning goal and added an assist to help No. 14/15 Penn State complete a weekend sweep of Niagara, 5-1, in non-conference men's ice hockey action this evening from Pegula Ice Arena.
With the win the Lions move to 7-1-1 on the year while Niagara drops to 0-7-2 following the loss.
A close game turned into another strong performance by the Nittany Lions who are now leading the Big Ten with 38 goals through their first nine games of the season.
"I thought we did a really good job of keeping them playing our game and making sure we didn't leave it to chance in the third," commented Head Coach Guy Gadowsky following the game. "I thought we played a very good third period."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams started sluggish and couldn't generate many scoring chances early on.
- Niagara jumped on the board first with a man-advantage as it was Noah Delmas sending a shot hard and wide off the end boards and it found the stick of Johnny Curran who just slipped it past the sliding pad of Lion freshman Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) at 16:56 for the power-play goal.
- Penn State answered with a power-play goal of their own as sophomore Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) extended his goal streak to three games as he ripped home a rebound off freshman Denis Smirnov's (Moscow, Russia) initial shot at 19:16 for the 1-1 tie at the first intermission.
- PSU grabbed their first lead of the contest midway through the second period as Pedrie potted his third goal of the season at 9:47 for the 2-1 lead.
- The Nittany Lions came out in the third period skating hard and fast and it paid off early and often as Sturtz registered his second of the game just 32 seconds into the frame for the 3-1 lead.
- Senior Zach Saar (Richland, Mich.) then showed some fancy stick handling skills and notched his second goal in as many nights on the power-play for the 4-1 lead at 4:10.
- Senior David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) capped the scoring with his first marker of the season as Smirnov connected with him tape-to-tape and the senior picked the far corner at 14:04 for the 5-1 final.
GOALTENDING
- Jones stopped 20 shots to remain perfect on the season as his record now sits at 6-0-1. Niagara net-minder Joe O'Brien stopped 46 shots while taking the loss and falls to 0-2-1 overall.
- Jones dropped his goals against average all the way down to 1.95 which now leads the Big Ten and is good for tenth nationally while his .923 save percentage is good for third.
NOTES
- Penn State has killed off both major penalties it has faced so far this season only allowing three shots on goal of the 10 minutes.
- The power-play goal by Niagara was just the third given up by the Nittany Lions all season as they have killed off 41-of-44 (93.2 percent) power-plays, good for fifth in the nation.
- Smirnov extends his point streak to nine games which ties Taylor Holstrom for the Nittany Lion career-mark. Holstrom accomplished that feat from October 10 - November 14 of 2014.
- Smirnov's 15 points (5G, 10A) paces the Big Ten and is good for tied-third in the country while his 10 assists are second-best in the nation and tops in the conference. He also leads the country in freshman scoring.
- Junior Trevor Hamilton (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) sees his career-best 8-game point streak snapped. That streak is currently a new career best for Nittany Lion defensemen.
- Sturtz has now registered at least one goal in three consecutive games and his eight goals ties for the Big Ten lead.
- Goodwin stands just one-point shy of 100 for his career after his third period goal.
- The Nittany Lions outshot the visitors 51-21 for the game while converting 2-of-6 power-plays as the Purple Eagles went just 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions remain home as they welcome Alaska-Anchorage to Pegula for the first time for a pair of contests next Friday and Saturday evening at 7 p.m.