Men's Hockey Silences No. 6 North Dakota in Music City, 6-4Men's Hockey Silences No. 6 North Dakota in Music City, 6-4

Men's Hockey Silences No. 6 North Dakota in Music City, 6-4

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) and junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) each tallied a pair of goals as Penn State defeated No. 6 North Dakota, 6-4, as part of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game inside Bridgestone Arena on Saturday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State (6-1-0) opened the scoring as an errant shot from UND sent the Nittany Lions in on an odd-man rush and freshman Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sent a sauce pass to junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) who finished into a yawning net at the near post for the 1-0 edge just 4:02 into the first period.
  • Phillips doubled the lead with the help of a 5-on-3 powerplay as he cleaned up a rebound at the far post after junior Kevin Wall's (Penfield, N.Y.) initial shot was turned aside at 12:48 of the opening frame.
  • North Dakota (4-3-0) cut the deficit in half with a powerplay tally of its own as Judd Caulfield ripped home a rebound by the near post for the 2-1 score at the 18:10 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions regained the two-goal edge, 3-1, as junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) sniped far blocker on UND net-minder Zach Driscoll from the slot on the powerplay at 5:32 of the second period.
  • The Fighting Hawks came right back with a man-advantage tally of their own as Ethan Frisch was left all alone in the slot and he beat PSU senior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) over the glove for the 3-2 score at 7:37 of the middle stanza.
  • Phillips regained the two-goal lead for Penn State as he collected a loose puck at the blue line and ripped a shot past the glove of Driscoll for his second of the game and the 4-2 lead at 15:47 of the second period.
  • North Dakota again used a late period goal to cut into the deficit heading into the intermission as this time it was Jake Schmaltz who snuck one through traffic and into the back of the net on the powerplay with just 10.7 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
  • The Nittany Lions regained the two-goal lead again as MacEachern lit the lamp with his second of the game at 15:52 of the third period for the 5-3 score.
  • UND wouldn't go quietly as Riese Gaber made the score 5-4 with an extra attacker goal at the 17:59 mark before senior Ben Copeland (Edina, Minn.) sealed the victory with an empty net goal, his first career goal as a Nittany Lion, for the 6-4 final at 19:56.

GOALTENDING
Autio improves to 4-1-0 on the year after making 28 saves while Driscoll falls to 4-3-0 after stopping 17 shots.

NOTES

  • This marks Penn State's first win over a top-10 ranked team since sweeping No. 7 Wisconsin to open Big Ten play on October 31 and November 1, 2019. It was also the first win over a top-10 team on the road since beating No. 6 Ohio State in the Big Ten semifinal on March 17, 2019.
  • The Nittany Lions snapped a seven-game winning streak for North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game as it is the first time the Fighting Hawks have been defeated in this game since 2001 against Minnesota. UND is now 7-4-1 all-time in this destination game.
  • Penn State improves to 17-12-1 all-time at NHL arenas with the victory while securing the first victory over an NCHC team in program history.
  • North Dakota held the 32-23 edge in shots on goal including the commanding 26-10 margin over the final two periods.
  • The Nittany Lions went 3-for-5 with the man-advantage while UND was 3-for-6 on the powerplay.
  • With his two goals on the night, Phillips registers his first-career multi-goal game and his seventh career multi-point game, his second this season.
  • With an assist on Phillips' first goal of the game, Wall extends his point-streak to three games, just one shy of his career-best.
  • With one goal and one assist, Copeland also extends his point-streak to three games while collecting his second multi-point game of the season and the 13th of his career.
  • MacEachern collected his second multi-goal game of his career and the season while also registering his third multi-point game of the season and the seventh of his career.
  • Penn State improves to 6-0-0 on the year when scoring first and when holding a lead entering the third period. PSU is now 133-12-10 all-time when leading entering the final frame.
  • The Nittany Lions also hit their magic number of five goals for the fourth time this season improving to 86-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals with 28-straight victories under those circumstances.

NEXT UP
Penn State begins conference play on the road in Columbus next weekend with a pair of games against Ohio State on Friday and Saturday.