MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Junior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) potted the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 8 Penn State erased a two-goal deficit with five unanswered goals to defeat Minnesota, 6-3, on Saturday night in Big Ten Conference action at 3M Arena.
Penn State improves to 9-2-0 on the year and 5-1-0-0 in conference action with the win while Minnesota drops to 4-6-2 this season and 1-3-2-2 in Big Ten play.
The sweep against the Gophers marks the first ever for Penn State at Mariucci Arena and the first Big Ten road sweep for the Nittany Lions since winning a pair of games at Michigan State on February 24-25, 2017.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Minnesota opened the scoring with a power-play goal as Scott Reedy redirected a point shot from Tyler Nanne the snuck past PSU senior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) for the 1-0 edge at 11:08 of the first period.
- The Gophers extended the lead to 2-0 as Joey Marooney ripped a shot intentionally wide that bounced hard of the end boards and came to the left side of the net where Cullen Munson popped it over the shoulder of Jones at the 16:50 mark. The goal was reviewed as it looked like Jones snagged it with the glove off his back, but the call on the ice stood.
- Penn State cut the deficit in half early in the second period with a power-play tally of its own as Jones sent a stretch pass all the way to the blue-line for junior Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) and he walked into the slot and ripped one over the glove of Gopher freshman goaltender Jared Moe for the 2-1 score at 3:15 of the stanza.
- Minnesota came right back and regained the two-goal cushion just 66 seconds later as Sampo Ranta slipped behind the defense and buried a shot past Jones for the 3-1 advantage at 4:21.
- Back-and-forth they went as off the ensuing face-off senior Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) slipped the puck through Moe's five-hole off a feed from junior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) just 14 ticks later for the 3-2 deficit.
- The Nittany Lions got the equalizer as senior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) lunged to tip a pass from junior Evan Bell (Livonia, Mich.) and it floated over the shoulder of Moe for the 3-3 tie at 12:37 of the second period. The goal was the 55th of his career breaking a tie with Andrew Sturtz for the Penn State all-time goals record.
- Penn State grabbed its first lead of the night early in the third period as Phillips let one rip from the blue-line that snuck through traffic and into the back of the net for the 4-3 edge at 3:51 of the frame.
- Sucese then added his second of the game to extend the lead as he finished a feed from freshman Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) past the blocker of Moe for the 5-3 margin at 10:48 of the third period.
- Senior Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) added a late insurance tally as he redirected Wall's initial shot into the back of the net for the 6-3 score at 18:22.
GOALTENDING
Jones Improves to 9-1-0 on the year after making 35 saves while Moe falls to 3-3-1 after stopping 25 pucks in the setback.
NOTES
- Minnesota held the 38-31 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-6 with the man-advantage. Penn State was 1-for-2 on the power-play.
- Penn State is now 11-2-0 in its last 13 games against Minnesota including four-straight victories dating back to last season while improving to 5-9-0 all-time at Mariucci.
- Along with breaking the program's all-time goals record, Sucese collected his first multi-goal game of the season and the tenth of his career along with his fourth multi-point game of the season and the 27th of his career. With three points on the night the senior moves past Chase Berger '19 for second on the Penn State all-time points list with 120 career points just eight shy of David Goodwin's '17 program record of 128.
- Sternschein has scored at least one goal in five of his last six games including three-straight for the first time in his career.
- With a pair of secondary assists, junior Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) has three-straight multi-point games this season and now has 19 for his career.
- With one goal and one assist Phillips registers his second multi-point effort this season and the fourth of his career.
- Wall collected a pair of assists on the final two goals of the game for his first multi-point effort of the season.
- With one goal and one assist Smirnov passes Andrew Sturtz for solo-fourth on the Penn State all-time points list with 106 for his career while collecting his third multi-point game this season and the 26th of his career.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home next weekend to continue Big Ten play with a pair of games against No. 11 Ohio State next Friday and Saturday evening. Tickets remain available for both games including student section tickets due to Thanksgiving Break for $18 by clicking HERE. You can also purchase standing room only tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY.
For more information on the 2019-20 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.