UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Michigan State used a pair of third period goals in just over two minutes to defeat Penn State, 4-3, and earn a series split in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions fall to 10-7-0 on the year and 2-6-0 in the Big Ten while the Spartans improve to 9-6-1 overall and 4-4-0 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Michigan State opened the scoring as Jeremy Davidson collected a loose puck in the slot and beat PSU senior net-minder Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) past the glove and inside the near post for the 1-0 edge at 3:31 of the first period.
- Penn State responded as senior Adam Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) sent the puck to sophomore Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) at the blue line and the sophomore skated up the near side flicking a backhanded attempt toward the crease that MSU goaltender Pierce Charleson couldn't handle as it trickled into the back of the net for the 1-1 score at 7:00 of the opening stanza.
- The Spartans took the lead back heading into the first intermission as Mitchell Lewandowski sent a cross-crease pass to Dennis Cesana for a backdoor finish and the 2-1 advantage at 16:06 of the first frame.
- The Nittany Lions found the equalizer midway through the second period as last night's hero junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) collected his own rebound after a failed wraparound attempt and laced it past the blocker of Charleson for the 2-2 score at the 9:57 mark.
- MSU regained the lead early in the third period with a powerplay tally as Lewandowski snuck in backdoor and roofed a cross-ice feed from Nash Nienhuis for the 3-2 score at the 4:10 mark.
- The Spartans increased the margin to 4-2 just over two minutes later as Kristoff Papp finished a feed from A.J. Hodges during an odd-man rush at 6:16 of the third period.
- Freshman Carson Dyck (Lethbridge, Alberta) cut the deficit in half with his first collegiate goal as he slapped a shot past the blocker of Charleson for the 4-3 score at 8:46 of the final frame, but Penn State was unable to grab the equalizer this time.
GOALTENDING
Autio falls to 7-5-0 on the year after making 25 saves in the defeat while Charleson improves to 3-2-0 this season after a career-high 50 saves.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement:
Obviously very disappointing to lose, but you have to give Michigan State some credit. Some really good things happened for us. If we continue to do it, we'll have success. The crowd was great all weekend. Tonight, was the first time that we've had 50 shots on goal and for some of you that have been around a while that's been more of an usual thing than not, so it's nice to see that we can do that. If you don't check that box, you have to continue to work at it. But again, if we get continue to get support like we had this weekend from the fans and supporters, our student section, we can play fast and continue to get chances at the net. We expect good things to happen in the future.
Q: What do you have to do to get more of those shots in the back of the net?
A: I think we're doing a good job of playing fast and getting opportunities, but we weren't doing a great job of getting to the net for the second and third opportunities. It's often not the first one that goes, it's the second or third. Our answer to that is that we have to be hungrier in the paint. It takes more than skill to do that and we have to do that consistently.
Q: Outside of hockey, tonight was a pretty special night to the fans. What does Teddy Bear Toss mean to you?
A: I remember watching a long time ago at the Hershey rink. So many teddy bears being thrown on the ice at Hershey for a great cause and it's awesome. I love that hockey does that and it's really nice to see Pegula Ice Arena do such a great job with it. It's a great cause and it's something that I associate with hockey, but I remember seeing it first from Hershey arena and it's really nice to see them do such a great job here.
Q: [Chase McLane] scored a goal, but he also had two penalties tonight. What can you say about the way he played?
A: I really liked the way Chase plays, I really do. He's not a guy that typically takes penalties but he's a guy that plays consistently hard. It's a very fine line to walk and I think he does a great job. He's a guy that plays hard in the right areas. When you do that, you're going to get some penalties no matter how disciplined you are. I think the world of the young man and he plays for the right reasons, and he plays well. I'm not concerned about him at all. I'd take 25 of him. The way he plays, he's a big strong guy, I don't have a problem with how Chase plays at all.
Q: What's your message after tonight? You feel good about the offense, you feel good about the defense. Do you feel good coming out of this?
A: We have work to do, and this is the message, and this is the exact message that we send in locker room: we do have work to do, but it's nice to see that when we when we do play fast, that we can get the identity that we're used to. We haven't seen it yet. This is really the first time. From a coaching standpoint, we feel pretty good about that. We knew it was in there, but we haven't seen it. We've seen it. It's a matter of now doing it consistently but not taking not risking anything on the back end. We look at it oppositely. We've had a good identity of playing fast and offensively what we want to do, and we've been trying to play much faster defensively without taking away any offense. I think tonight we actually saw that we could do both. The coaches are positive. Disappointed in the in the final score, but positive with many aspects of the game.
NOTES
- With Michigan State scoring the opening goal, it marks just the fifth game this season Penn State hasn't scored first. The Nittany Lions are now just 1-4-0 in such games. The Nittany Lions also suffered their first loss this season when a freshman scored a goal falling to 8-1-0 in those games.
- Penn State is now 19-13-4 all-time against Michigan State including an 11-4-3 mark at Pegula Ice Arena.
- With his second period goal, MacEachern has now registered at least one point in five of his last six games including a new career-best four-straight.
- With a pair of assists, sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) now has at least one point in five of his last six games as he collects his third multi-point game this season and the fifth of his career.
- After collecting an assist on Dyck's goal, sophomore Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) has now registered a point in four-straight games to extend his career-best point streak.
- Penn State held the commanding 53-29 edge in shots on goal including a 37-18 clip over the final two periods, however, the Nittany Lions were 0-for-3 on the man-advantage while Michigan State went 1-for-3 on the powerplay.
- The Nittany Lions also held the commanding advantage in the faceoff dot winning 42-of-70 draws (60 percent).
NEXT UP
Penn State closes out the fall semester of play with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin next weekend for a pair of games against the Badgers on Friday and Saturday evening.
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.