UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) scored twice to help lead Penn State past Canisius, 5-2, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon inside Pegula Ice Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State (3-1-0) opened the scoring just a few seconds after killing off an early penalty as freshman Carson Dyck (Lethbridge, Alberta) fed classmate Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and the rookie toe dragged through a defenseman's legs before backhanding the puck five-hole on Canisius goaltender Matt Ladd for the 1-0 edge just 2:30 into the first period.
- The Nittany Lions doubled the lead just 30 ticks into the second period as MacEachern went bar-down from the high slot over the glove of Ladd for the 2-0 lead.
- Penn State extended the margin to 3-0 early in the third period as sophomore Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) fired a wrister bar-down from the right faceoff dot just 3:06 into the final frame.
- The Griffs got on the board with a shorthanded tally as Keaton Mastrodonato fired one past the blocker of PSU sophomore net-minder Liam Souliere (Brmapton, Ontario) for the 3-1 score at 10:38 of the third period.
- Just 41 seconds later the Nittany Lions responded with a powerplay goal as junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) lifted a backhander over the glove of Ladd after a feed from Dzhaniyev for the 4-1 lead at 11:19 of the final stanza.
- Canisius wouldn't go away quietly as a Max Kouznetsov centering pass deflected off a Penn State defenseman and by Souliere for the 4-2 deficit at 15:18 of the third period.
- MacEachern sealed the victory with a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 19:07 for the 5-2 final.
GOALTENDING
Souliere moves to 1-0-0 on the year with the victory after tying his career-high with 36 saves while Ladd falls to 0-1-0 after stopping 39-of-43 shots he faced.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement:
"I thought it was a really gritty win. Guys blocked a lot of shots and played really hard defensively, although we'd like to see us playing in their end a lot more than having to block shots ,but still a gritty win."
Q: Can you speak to the way you thought Danny Dzhaniyev played tonight?
A: Obviously a big-time goal to start us off, which is great, but as I talked about the last time we were asked about him, he's got that obvious skill, but what were continuously impressed with is his ability to win pucks and play gritty. He's a real gritty guy, extremely skilled, and I very much appreciate the pucks that he wins and how he does it.
Q: What went into the decision to start Liam Souliere tonight?
A: I think it was a good opportunity to do it. Oskar has games under his belt, but Liam has been working hard and he's been very positive and deserved to go and he was great today. Not only did he play extremely well but he looked really good."
Q: Yesterday you said the guys played cute. What did they do or what did you say to them to switch it up?
A: We addressed it last night. I think they knew they were trying to play a cute perimeter game. Tonight, it didn't look like that. They showed a lot of grit, blocked shots, played physical. The next step is to make sure we're getting more time in the offensive zone. The defensive effort, and non-cute play, was excellent tonight so were happy with that for today.
Q: One such period where you spent a lot of time in that defensive zone was at the end of the second period. Can you speak a little bit on that and how your team responded?
A: That's part of where I think they really gritted it out, but again I think that was a good time for us. We played tough defensively, blocked shots, and that was a stretch we needed to play gritty, sacrifice our body, block shots, and I'm really happy to see that but it's our hope that we turn that into playing in the other end. It's great to see and it's really nice to know that we have that in us, and I think the team feels a lot of confidence from it, but I think we also understand you can't live that way forever.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 44-38 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
- The Nittany Lions again clogged shooting lanes racking up 26 blocked shots led by junior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) and sophomore Christian Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) with four each.
- With his two goals, MacEachern collects his first-career multi-goal game while registering his fifth career multi-point game, first of the season.
- Dyck recorded his first collegiate point on Dzhaniyev's goal while classmate Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) registered his first collegiate point with the primary assist on MacEachern's goal.
- Schoen added his second primary assist of the afternoon on Sarlo's goal marking his first collegiate multi-point game.
- Dzhaniyev recorded his second multi-point effort of the young season with one goal and one assist while Berger notched a pair of helps to secure his first-career multi-point game.
- Penn State controlled the faceoff circle for the game winning 42-of-76 draws (55.3 percent) led by Dyck who went 12-for-19 (63.2 percent).
- Penn State improves to 3-0-0 on the year when scoring first and when holding a lead entering the third period. PSU is now 130-12-10 all-time when leading entering the final frame.
NEXT UP
Penn State will have next weekend off before returning to action against Niagara University on October 21-22 to close out its six-game homestand at Pegula Ice Arena.
For more information on the 2021-22 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.