UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) tallied a career-high four points on two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists as No. 8 Penn State defeated Robert Morris, 7-2, on Friday evening in non-conference action at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 7-1-0 on the year with the victory while the Colonials fall to 3-5-1 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring off a beautiful deflection in front of the crease by sophomore Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) off a blast from the point by junior Kris Myllari (Kanata, Onatrio) for the 1-0 lead at 12:32 of the first period.
- RMU tied things up early in the second period as Alex Tonge beat PSU senior goaltender Chris Funkey (Orland Park, Ill.) over the blocker from the right slot for the 1-1 score at 3:37.
- The Nittany Lions responded as freshman Aarne Talvitie (Espoo, Finland) finished off a beautiful pass from Pavlychev for the 2-1 score 8:37 of the second period.
- Penn State extended that lead briefly thanks to a power-play tally by Pavlychev as he redirected a shot from the point by sophomore Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) for the 3-1 margin at 11:57, but just 30 seconds later the Colonials answered as Grant Hebert found the back of the net cutting the deficit to 3-2.
- Sophomore Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) got the two-goal lead back for the Nittany Lions as he finished off a feed from junior Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) near the left circle for the 4-2 margin at 16:25 of the middle frame.
- Penn State extended its lead early in the third period as sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) finished just to the left of the crease off a feed from junior Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) for the 5-2 margin at 3:26.
- Senior Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) then snuck one under the blocker of RMU net-minder Francis Marotte for the 6-2 advantage at 7:18 of the third period.
- Pavlychev added his second of the game with less than a minute remaining for the 7-2 final.
GOALTENDING
Funkey collected a season-high 37 saves to improve to 4-0-0 on the year while Marotte falls to 3-5-1 after stopping 23 pucks over the first 47:18 before being relieved by Reid Cooper who made 10 saves over the final 12:42.
NOTES
- Penn State improves to 6-0-0 on the season when entering the third period with the lead or tied.
- The Nittany Lions held the slim 40-39 edge in shots while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Penn State had six different player register multiple points as they scored at least seven goals for the second time this season and the 13th time in program history including the second consecutive against Robert Morris. Penn State is now outscoring RMU 14-6 in games played at Pegula Ice Arena.
- Both Barratt and Limoges each extended their career-long point streaks to seven games.
- Barratt added a later assist to secure his 4th multi-point game this season and the 7th of his career while Limoges also turned in a multi-point night for the 5th time this season and the 8th time in his career.
- With the 23rd assist of his career, Myllari has moved past Nate Jensen '15 and into a tie with Connor Varley '16 for sixth on the Penn State all-time list for assists by a defenseman.
- Pavlychev extended his career-best point streak to seven games while adding his third multi-point effort this season and the seventh of his career while also securing his first-ever multi-goal game.
- Freshman Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) secured a pair of secondary assists to record his first career multi-point game while Hults added a pair of apples for his first multi-point effort this season and the sixth of his career.
- With 22 career assists, Hults now moves into a tie with Jenson for eighth on the all-time assists list for Penn State defenseman.
- With a lone assist in the game Smirnov now has a five-game point streak.
- Talvitie set a new career-high with three points after his first multi-point effort this season scoring once while adding a pair of assists.
- Penn State is now 5-4-0 all-time against Robert Morris.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement
"A good win, but, obviously, we gave up a lot of chances and a lot of shots. It's still a very good win. It's not often where your goalie plays a major role in a 7-2 win, but that was the case. We had really good goaltending, so that was a really big part of the game."
Q: You've said that even if Nikita doesn't score he's still one of your best players. How nice is it to see him scoring thirteen points in eight games?
A: "I think it's very nice. I think it's nice to see players who are so committed to the defensive side of the game get rewarded with points, as well. Everybody in this room knows how valuable he is, specifically because he's extremely tough to play against. When you get guys who are that committed to that side of the puck, to see them score is always great for the team."
Q: You called Aarne [Talvitie] a "throwback player" at the beginning of the year. He seemed to exemplify that—very physical today. How did you assess his performance?
A: "He's getting more and more comfortable, isn't he? That was a goal scorer's goal; that was a big time goal. And he's another one—I really like the way those two [him and Nikita] fit together because they are so difficult to play against, but right now they're producing, as well. He's a perfect complement to Nikita. He's really tough to play against. He's a throwback because he really enjoys the traffic; he's a tough guy. He's a bit of an old-time hockey player. And with the mentality that Nikita has, I think their synergy is working perfectly right now."
NEXT UP
The two teams close out the season series tomorrow evening at Colonials Arena in Pittsburgh in the second end of the home-and-home series with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m.