SOUTH BEND, Ind. – An early overturned goal and strong goaltending from Cale Morris set the tone on Saturday night as No. 7 Penn State dropped a, 3-0, decision to No. 15 Notre Dame in Big Ten Conference action at Compton Family Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions drop to 13-6-0 on the year and 8-4-0-0 in the Big Ten with the loss while the Irish snap their seven-game winless streak and improve to 9-7-2 overall and 5-3-2-1 in conference action. Penn State remains five points up on Ohio State and Michigan State in the Big Ten standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second-consecutive night, Notre Dame opened the scoring as they took advantage of a turnover behind the Nittany Lion net and Max Ellis one-timed a feed from Jesse Lansdell from the low slot for the 1-0 edge at 7:35 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions thought they had the equalizer a little over five minutes later as sophomore Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) wired a shot through traffic from the point that snuck over the shoulder of ND net-minder Cale Morris, but the goal was immediately waived off for goaltender interference and after a brief review the call stood.
- The Irish extended the lead midway through the second period as Alex Steeves finished off a pass from Matt Hellickson shortly after a power-play had ended for the 2-0 margin at 9:05 of the frame.
- ND kept the pressure on pushing the lead to 3-0 after Graham Slaggert jammed the puck home from the far post after Matt Hellickson drove the puck intentionally wide from the slot and it bounced hard off the end boards at 15:15 of the second period.
GOALTENDING
Penn State senior Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) made 20 saves, but drops to 12-5-0 on the year while Morris improves to 6-6-2 overall after a 37-save shutout, his first of the season.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 37-23 edge in shots on goal including a 13-1 mark in the third period, but went 0-for-3 on the power-play while Notre Dame was 0-for-1 on the man-advantage.
- The single shot allowed in the third period is a new Penn State program record for fewest shots allowed in a period.
- The Nittany Lions played nearly the final six-plus minutes of the game with the empty net, but failed to break Morris with the extra-attacker on the ice.
- Penn State is just 3-5-0 this season when surrendering the first goal of the game and has now been shutout for the third time this season marking the first time since its inaugural season of 2012-13 that the Nittany Lions have failed to score a goal on three separate occasions.
NEXT UP
Penn State will have the next three weeks off during the holiday season before returning home to begin the second half with a weekend series against Niagara at Pegula Ice Arena on January 3-4, 2020.
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.