UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior goaltender Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) registered 32 saves to help lift No. 10 Penn State past No. 13 Princeton, 4-2, on Friday evening in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 5-0-0 on the year while the Tigers fall to 0-1-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring early in the first period as sophomore Alex Stevens (Plymouth, Minn.) sent a beautiful pass to spring junior Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) in on a breakaway and he used a nifty forehand-backhand move to slip the puck five-hole on Tiger goaltender Ryan Ferlund for the 1-0 just 106 seconds into the contest.
- The Nittany Lions extended their lead to a pair as sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) tipped a shot from the point by classmate Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) under the blocker of Ferlund for the 2-0 margin at 4:02 of the opening period.
- Princeton cut the deficit in half as Matthew Thom let one go from the blue-line and it found its way through traffic and into the back of the net for the 2-1 score at 2:37 of the second period.
- Penn State responded as the hard skating of junior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) caused Ferlund to mishandle the puck behind his own net and classmate Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alberta) was in the right place at the right time to one-time the puck into the net before Fedrlund could get back in position for the 3-1 lead at 4:50 of the middle frame.
- The Tigers finally struck with the man-advantage after their first four came up empty as it was Alex Richie redirecting a pass in the slot from Max Veronneau for the 3-2 score at 2:23 of the third period.
- The Nittany Lions were again able to answer just 2:17 later as freshman Aarne Talvitie (Espoo, Finland) beat a Princeton defender to the puck on a dump into the corner and he skated around the net finding senior Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) for a one-timer in the slot and the 4-2 lead.
GOALTENDING
Jones collected his third-straight 30-plus save game as he stopped 32 pucks to move to 3-0-0 on the season while Ferland falls to 0-1-0 after making 30 saves in the setback
NOTES
- With the 74th start of his career between the pipes this evening, Jones became the all-time leader at Penn State in starts by a goaltender passing the 73 of Matt Skoff '16.
- Both teams rattled off 34 shots while Princeton went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
- Penn State now takes the 2-1-0 lead in the all-time series and improve to 2-0-0 against the Tigers at Pegula Ice Arena.
- The Nittany Lions earn their 59th victory at Pegula Ice Arena and improve to 5-0-0 on the year when tied or leading after two periods.
- Penn State was once again dominate on the draw winning 46-of-67 faceoffs as Larsson went 20-3 and senior Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) went 11-4.
- Sophomore Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) secured the secondary assist on Limoges first period goal to run his point-streak to four games, which is a new career-best.
- Junior Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) also extended his point-streak to four games, tying his career-high, with his secondary assist on Larsson's third period goal.
- Talvitie extended his career-long point streak to four games while Limoges extends his streak to three games.
- Junior Kris Myllari (Kanata, Ontario) led the team with six blocks as five other Nittany Lions registered at least three with Penn State accumulating 26 as a team for the game.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement
"I loved our mentality and the way we came out and I actually feel really good about this win because they are an excellent team. They are just excellent. You saw what they do on the power play and the skill they have. I thought they really, after the first five minutes, really took it to us in the first. It feels really good to get the win."
Q: "There were a lot of question marks in replacing guys [on defense] this season. Did you think they would be this developed at this point in the season?"
A: "No, but to be fair really good goaltending makes your defense look really good. We do have some improvements to make on the back end, but we are very happy with what they have done so far. You look at the contributions in the games that Alex Stevens and Paul DeNaples had, we did not expect that. The fact that we had great goaltending and the fact that those two have transitioned really well has been a big plus."
Q: "Coach, 46-21 advantage in the faceoff. You seemed to control the game from that spot. Do you feel like it is the team's mentality that has led you to success at the dot?"
A: "It is something that we struggled with all last year and we talked a lot about. We finished 44th in the nation. I guess it is also hard to compare because the year before we were number one. I think it is the coaches and my responsibility. We lacked in that area and learned a lesson and it is hard to flip that switch. It is something we addressed from the start, but sort of like the same thing, how goaltending really helps the statistics of your defense and Ludvig Larsson really helps the mentality of your team. He has been great and we cannot over state that enough. He is just excellent."
NEXT UP
Penn State remains home next weekend as they welcome Arizona State to town for a pair of contests on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m.