UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Comeback bid falls short as No. 6 Penn State is upended by Arizona State, 4-3, in overtime on Saturday evening in non-conference action to close out the season series at Pegula Ice Arena.
The loss is the first of the season for Penn State snapping a 10-game home winning-streak dating back to last season as the Nittany Lions now stand at 6-1-0 on the year while the Sun Devils improve to 7-3-0 with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- ASU opened the scoring early in the first period as PJ Marrocco collected a loose puck in the slot off an offensive zone draw and fired over the glove of PSU junior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) for the 1-0 lead at 3:07 of the first period.
- Penn State found the equalizer on the power-play early in the middle frame as junior Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) won a battle along the half wall and sent a beautiful cross-ice pass to classmate Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) who let it rip from just below the left dot for the 1-1 score at 5:28.
- The Sun Devils regained the lead with a man-advantage goal of their own as Johnny Walker finished off a feed from Austin Lemieux during an odd-man rush for the 2-1 advantage at 13:14 of the second period.
- Arizona State benefitted from another odd-man rush late in the period as Dylan Hollman finished off a feed from Brinson Pasichnuck at 18:03 giving ASU the 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
- Sophomore Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) then cut the deficit in half early in the third period as he scooped the puck onto his stick behind the net and placed it over ASU goaltender Joey Daccord's right shoulder for the 3-2 score at 3:40 of the frame.
- With two and a half minutes remaining in the third, Penn State opted for the empty net with an offensive zone draw and it worked as the Nittany Lions tied the contest when junior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) finished a feed from Pavlychev for the 3-3 tie at 17:49.
- The game went into overtime and Arizona State's Tyler Busch sent a long pass ahead that connected with Walker for a breakaway and the sophomore finished five-hole at the 1:09 mark in the extra frame for the 4-3 victory.
GOALTENDING
Jones stopped 21 pucks and falls to 3-1-0 on the year while Daccord made 40 saves to improve to 7-3-0.
NOTES
- Saturday night marked the 100th game inside Pegula Ice Arena since it opened doors prior to the 2013-14 season. The Nittany Lions are now 60-30-10 all-time at Pegula.
- The Nittany Lions held the commanding 43-25 edge in shots including the 18-5 advantage in the final period while going 1-for-4 on the power-play. ASU went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
- Penn State was held scoreless in the opening period for only the second time this season and the first time since opening night against Clarkson.
- With two more third period goals Penn State has now outscored opponents 16-4 in the final frame through the first seven games this season.
- Limoges, Barratt and Pavlychev each extend their career-long point-streaks to six games while Limoges collected a pair of assists to secure his fourth multi-point game this season and the seventh of his career while Pavlychev's two assists give him his second multi-point game this season and the sixth of his career.
- With his second period goal, Smirnov has now registered at least one point in four-straight contests. The junior has also now moved in solo fifth place on the all-time points list at Penn State with 78 passing Eric Scheid '16 and Dylan Richard '17.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement
"You have to give [Arizona State] credit, but you also have to give our guys a lot of credit for coming back. Although we would have loved to see that sense of urgency earlier, but give [Arizona State] a lot of credit for coming back, and give Arizona State a lot of credit for ending it."
Q: "Coach, it seemed like resiliency played a big part of the weekend. The comeback last night, the comeback tonight to force overtime. What did you like about the way your team fought back in the last 20 minutes of games this weekend?"
A: "We like that but we cannot be happy with putting ourselves in that position. It is good to see and it says a lot about our character and the fight that is in this team, but I would love to see that sense of urgency a little earlier and not have to fight to come back."
Q: "Evan Barratt seemed to have led the charge tonight, especially in the third period, what did you think of that goal?"
A: "His overall performance was very great and very determined. I have never seen a goal like that live. I have seen it on television on a top play or on SportsCenter, but I have never seen that live. I cannot tell you what it takes to be able to do that in a game at game speed. I cannot even tell you. It is just insane. Everybody on the bench just could not believe that happened. That is an unbelievable play."
NEXT UP
Penn State battles in-state foe Robert Morris in a home-and-home series next weekend hosting the Colonials on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena at 7 p.m. before traveling to Pittsburgh the following night for a 7 p.m. affair at Colonials Arena.