UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Notre Dame scored late leading to a 3-3 tie with No. 8/9 Penn State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. The Irish also secured the extra Big Ten point during a shootout.
With the tie the Nittany Lions move to 17-8-2 on the year and 9-6-2-0 in conference play while the Irish stand at 11-11-5 overall and 6-7-4-3 in Big Ten action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Irish opened the scoring as Mike O'Leary finished an easy tap-in out front off a feed from Colin Theisen for the 1-0 edge at 4:31 of the first period.
- Penn State got the equalizer on an incredible individual play by senior Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) as he forced a turnover in the neutral zone and skated strong to the net and after his initial shot was saved, freshman Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) found him open in the left circle and he sniped a shot over the right shoulder of Notre Dame net-minder Cale Morris for the 1-1 score at 14:05 of the opening frame.
- The Nittany Lions gained the lead early in the second period with a fury of sustained pressure and junior Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) finally lit the lamp off a feed from freshman Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) right outside the crease for the 2-1 score at 5:01 of the middle stanza.
- The Golden Domers tied the contest not long after as Matt Hellickson picked the corner after Cal Burke's initial one-timer bounced to him in the high-slot for the 2-2 score at the 7:16 mark.
- Penn State regained the lead early in the third period as freshman Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) redirected a point shot from junior Alex Stevens (Plymouth, Minn.) for the 3-2 advantage at the 1:38 mark.
- Notre Dame again grabbed the equalizer on a strange play as a bouncing puck in front of the net deflected off a Nittany Lion skate and trickled into the net for the 3-3 score with just 1:49 remaining in the third period. Michael Graham was credited with the goal to send the game to overtime.
- Senior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) laced a shot off the crossbar early in the extra session and despite a commanding 7-0 edge in shots during overtime the Nittany Lions were unable to secure the victory and the game officially ended in a 3-3 tie.
- After a scoreless 3-on-3 overtime period, the Irish finally ended a long night in the seventh round of the shootout as Cam Burke secured the extra Big Ten point for Notre Dame.
GOALTENDING
Senior Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) made 29 saves and moves to 15-7-1 on the year following the tie while Morris now stands at 8-10-5 after stopping 45 shots on the night.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement: A really good hockey game. I think you can say, both teams arguably deserve to win it, but in the end, Notre Dame got it done.
Q: What kind of things did you like about your team's effort starting this series?
A: Well, I thought it was a tough game. I thought our effort was excellent. I thought we did a lot of great things. I liked a lot of our game. So, like I said, I thought it was excellent hockey, I think we played very well and they played very well. Both teams had good goaltending and some nice good offense into the game.
Q: After Tyler [Gratton] scored early in the third period, you guys seemed to really push the pace for most of that period. What did you like about that third period?
A: Yeah, we didn't come back and sit back and tighten up and not play. I thought we kept on playing our game and I thought we played well. When you see the last four minutes, I thought we defended, even when they pulled their goalie. I thought we defended really well.
Q: How do you kind of balance that conversation between the value behind all of these points right now but you are still as much in the face of things right now as you were at the beginning of the day?
A: Yeah, I mean, it's the same as we know, because of our experience last year that every single point is huge. And unless you win, you feel a little bit like you let one get away because of the knowledge that we have and the experience that we were so close last year not getting there that every point, every game is so important. So, yeah, I don't know if you balance it. I think we very well know what can happen when you don't take advantage of every point. And that's probably how they feel right now.
Q: Is that the type of performance you're expecting from [Tyler] Gratton the rest of the weekend?
A: Yeah. You saw at the end, he took the puck to the net, I think that could have easily been a penalty at the end. That's what he has to do. He has to play fast and short. He's extremely high energy when he is fresh and moving his feet. He's excellent. I think you have to give him some credit, he's worked really hard to keep that and he's the kind of guy you have to pull the reins in, not kick him. He's done a great job. I think learning how referees call it in in this league and I think you have to give him credit for that.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 48-32 edge in shots and went 1-for-1 on the penalty kill, but was unable to capitalize on three power-plays on the night.
- With a pair of assists, McMenamin registers his first career multi-point game while extending his career-best point streak to four games.
- Tonight's attendance of 6,226 marks the fifth largest crowd in Pegula Ice Arena history, three of the top five crowds have come during the last three home games this season.
- The shootout was the first for the Nittany Lions since last November at Wisconsin in which they won. It was the first time Penn State has lost a shootout in nearly two years dating back to February 3, 2018, also against Notre Dame.
- Penn State is now 1-1-2 this season in overtime games with three of the last five games heading to the extra session including two-straight.
- With the single point, the Nittany Lions do jump into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with 29 points, a single point clear of idle Michigan State and a full three points clear of Ohio State with 26 points. Notre Dame and Minnesota are now tied for fourth with 25 points each.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula tomorrow evening for the series finale as part of the Hockey Valley White Rush where fans are encouraged to wear white and Penn State will don football themed White Rush uniforms. Puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. Standing room only tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY or verified resale tickets can be bought HERE.
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.