No. 9 Men's Hockey Drops Series Opener at No. 19 Michigan State, 4-2No. 9 Men's Hockey Drops Series Opener at No. 19 Michigan State, 4-2
Craig Houtz

No. 9 Men's Hockey Drops Series Opener at No. 19 Michigan State, 4-2

EAST LANSING, Mich.  – The ninth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 19 Michigan State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.

With the loss the Nittany Lions fall to 16-8-1 on the year and 8-6-1-0 in Big Ten play while the Spartans improve to 13-11-1 overall and 9-5-1-0 in conference action.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Michigan State gained the early advantage as Patrick Khodorenko unleashed a vicious one-timer from the top of the left circle off a feed from Gianluca Esteves that beat PSU senior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) over the glove for the 1-0 lead at 18:23 of the first period.
  • The Spartans extended their lead as Khodorenko got behind the defense and ripped a shot past the blocker of Jones for the 2-0 margin at 13:17 of the second period.
  • Penn State then cut the deficit in half as freshman Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) sent a centering pass from behind the net to junior Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) who skated between the circles and picked the top right corner of the net over the glove of MSU goaltender John Lethemon for the 2-1 score at 16:41 of the middle frame.
  • MSU regained the two-goal lead at 7:40 of the third period as Cole Krygier finished off a cross-ice pass from Adam Goodsir for the 3-1 lead.
  • Khodorenko completed the hat-trick with a power-play tally at 12:52 of the third period for the 4-1 lead.
  • Freshman Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) added a late extra attacker goal as he finished off a feed from junior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Pa.) at 19:38 to account for the 4-2 final.

GOALTENDING
Jones falls to 14-7-0 on the year after stopping 28 shots while Lethemon improves to 13-8-1 this season following a 40-save performance.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the 42-32 edge in shots, but went 0-for-1 on the power-play while the Spartans went 1-for-2.
  • The extra attacker goal for Gratton marks the third such goal for the Nittany Lions this season.
  • Khodorenko's hat-trick was the first allowed by Penn State this season and the first since Wisconsin's Sean Dhooghe scored three times during a 4-3 Badger win last March in Big Ten quarterfinal action.
  • Hults collected a pair of points with one goal and one assist securing his sixth multi-point effort this season and the 18th of his career. He now moves within eight points of the Penn State single-season defenseman record.
  • Penn State drops to 0-7-0 on the year when trailing after two periods of play and the Nittany Lions are now winless (0-3-1) in their last four Big Ten games slipping to third place in the conference standings.

NEXT UP
Both teams return to Munn tomorrow to close out the season series with a 6 p.m. puck drop. The game will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.

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.