UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 2 Michigan used three unanswered goals to close out the second period en route to a, 6-4, victory over No. 19 Penn State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State falls to 6-5-0 on the year and 0-4-0 in the Big Ten with the setback while the Wolverines improve to 10-2-0 on the year and 5-1-0 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan opened the scoring for the second-straight night as PSU sophomore goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) couldn't control a bouncing puck and Brendan Brisson roofed it from the near post for the 1-0 edge at 7:02 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions evened the score early in the second period as junior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) cashed in on the doorstep just 36 ticks into the frame for the 1-1 score.
- The Wolverines responded quick to regain the lead just over two minutes later as Luke Hughes lifted a wrister from below the left dot over the glove of Souliere at the 2:44 mark.
- Matty Beniers doubled the margin for the visitors with his third powerplay goal of the weekend at 10:03 of the middle frame before Thomas Bordeleau gave Michigan a third-straight goal and the 4-1 lead at 18:45 of the second period.
- Owen Power, the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL draft, ballooned the lead to 5-1 as he lifted a shot into the back of the net just 1:49 into the third period.
- Penn State ended the Michigan scoring run with a powerplay goal as senior Ben Copeland (Edina, Minn.) jammed one in at the net mouth for the 5-2 score at the 12:06 mark.
- Luke Hughes answered just 35 seconds later with his second of the game at the 12:41 mark for the 6-2 final.
GOALTENDING
Souliere falls to 2-2-0 on the year after stopping 27 shots in the loss while his counterpart, Erik Portillo, moves to 10-2-0 on the season following a 35-save performance.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Q: Opening Statement
A: I thought our team handled our start pretty well. I think we were playing really well and obviously a bad break to go down 1-0 but we were a lot more positive. We handled it well and I thought we fought hard to get to a point where we could have turned the game around. We had a breakaway to make it 2-2 in the second period and instead it turned into a power play against and now they're up by two but I can tell you the team remained positive throughout that which I thought was a positive but obviously we're not good enough right now.
Q: Did you feel like tonight was better?
A: I did. I felt like tonight was better. I thought we came on really well early and I thought obviously a little bit of a tough break for us to play very well and then give up a goal on a really benign play but I do like how we handled it. We still handled it decently and put ourselves in a position to come back.
Q: What was the general mood in the locker room after tonight's game and comparing that to last night?
A: I can speak for myself, I think I was disappointed last night because of a couple things that we can control that we didn't do especially our attitude. From our coaching standpoint, one thing that was very important to us was that the guys stayed very positive on the bench when there's a couple of instances where we certainly maybe could have let it go and they didn't so I was very proud about that. I think the mood was that we have to work our way out of this funk. I thought there were a couple instances where the game could change early. At the end of a 6-2 game and you may not say that's fair but I think early we could have changed the game and we have to work our way out of the funk. We've got work to do."
Q: How do you evaluate your team when it's put into a situation where it's playing against a roster like Michigan?
A: We evaluate on what we can control and last night our attitude got away from us. That's something we can control number one, no one else controls that. That was very disappointing to us. We made a big step in that department tonight. Obviously, we have more to do but if we can maintain that we're going to be better off for it. So again, it's what we can control.
NOTES
- Junior Kenny Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich.) collected his first collegiate point with the secondary assist on McMenamin's second period goal.
- Friday night's crowd of 6,437 was the second largest in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- Penn State held the 37-33 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage but were unable to capitalize on a five-minute major penalty in the first period. Michigan went 1-for-3 on the powerplay.
NEXT UP
Penn State hits the road for four games in six days as they travel to Minneapolis to battle Minnesota next Friday and Saturday followed by a short trip to St. Paul first the first ever meetings between St. Thomas on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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.