UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) potted his ninth goal of the season to break a tie midway through the third period and help Penn State to a 4-2 victory over Michigan State in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions have now won three-in-a-row and four out of five running their record to 10-6-0 on the year and 2-5-0 in the Big Ten. Michigan State sees its four-game winning-streak snapped falling to 8-6-1 overall and 3-4-0 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring as sophomore Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) collected a loose puck and found classmate Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) streaking through the slot and the sophomore buried the puck past the glove of MSU goaltender Drew DeRidder for the 1-0 lead at 9:56 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead to 2-0 as freshman Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) backhanded home a rebound after senior Clayton Phillips' (Edina, Minn.) initial shot was turned aside at 15:31 of the middle frame.
- Just over two minutes later, Michigan State cut the deficit in half as on a third chance effort Cole Krygier roofed a loose puck in front of the crease for the 2-1 score at 17:54 of the second period.
- The Spartans found the equalizer early in the third period as Christian Krygier split the PSU defense and skated through the slot roofing a shot over the blocker of Nittany Lion senior net-minder Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) for the 2-2 score at the 2:33 mark.
- Penn State grabbed the lead back with a powerplay tally as MacEachern fired from just above the left dot fooling DeRidder for the 3-2 score at 8:30 of the final frame.
- Junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) hit the empty-net with just 0.4 ticks left on the clock for the 4-2 final.
GOALTENDING
Autio improves to 7-4-0 on the year after stopping 30-of-32 shots, his second 30+ save outing of the season while DeRidder falls to 6-4-1 after making 35 saves in the defeat.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Q: Opening Statement
A: Four things, Oskar was really good. We had one big powerplay in the third, late in the game and a big penalty kill late in the third and our student section was great.
Q: Connor [MacEachern] has points now in four straight games. What have you seen from him on the offensive side of the ice?
A: The same thing we have seen from him since day one. He came in this summer in incredible shape. You knew as soon as he came in, and you saw him, and you saw the numbers he's putting up in the weight room, you knew he took this summer very, very seriously. He hit the ground running right from game one. I really think he's been an excellent player, aside from the points and the goals, his motor is great. He's in great shape. He's strong. He plays a discipline style of hockey that is very explosive, and you have to be in incredible shape to do that. I think he's been excellent from game one, taking away the points.
Q: MacEachern's powerplay goal with time winding down, just stuck it in before it went to even strength. What did it mean to get that goal, not only given that powerplay ending, but also that juncture in the game?
A: That's a huge goal. It's really nice when your powerplay comes through when it matters most. I actually thought our powerplay was doing quite well, we just didn't happen to get anything to show for it at least until the third. It was nice to see that one go in. Obviously late in the game, anytime you get a powerplay and you are able to take advantage of it, it gives you a little momentum in every aspect.
NOTES
- With the opening goal, Penn State has now scored first in 12 of its 16 games this season improving to 9-3-0 when doing so.
- Kirwan extended his career-long point streak to six games with his second period goal and with the secondary assist on that goal, Copeland runs his career-best point streak to seven games and has now registered at least one point in 11 of his last 12 games.
- Junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) was held off the statsheet and sees his career-best five-game point streak snapped.
- With an assist on the opening goal of the game, senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) now has 30 points for his career moving him into solo position of ninth-place all-time among Penn State defensemen breaking a tie with Nate Jenson. He is now just one point shy of Connor Varley for eighth.
- MacEachern has now registered at least one point in four of his last five games including three-straight to tie his career-long point streak.
- After collecting an assist on the empty net goal, sophomore Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) has now registered a point in three-straight games to extend his career-best point streak.
- Penn State improves to 9-2-0 on the year when scoring a powerplay goal and the Nittany Lions are now 9-1-0 when leading entering the third period.
- Penn State held the 39-33 edge in shots on goal while going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to conclude the weekend series with a 5 p.m. puck drop.
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.