UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State rallied from a two-goal deficit but surrendered two third period goals late to fall to No. 13 Notre Dame, 4-2, in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions fall to 12-9-0 on the year and 3-8-0-1-0-0 in Big Ten play while the Irish improve to 14-6-0 overall and 7-4-0-2-1-0 in conference action with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a scoreless first period the Irish struck first early in the second frame as Max Ellis finished off a crisp passing play at the far post for the 1-0 edge just 37 ticks in.
- Grant Silianoff doubled the Notre Dame lead just over two minutes later with a powerplay goal as he deposited a feed from Jesse Lansdell at the far post for the 2-0 advantage at the 3:01 mark.
- Penn State responded cutting the deficit in half as senior Adam Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) ripped a one-timer from the near point and it ramped off a Notre Dame stick and into the far corner of the net over the blocker of Irish net-minder Ryan Bischel for the 2-1 score at 4:23 of the second period.
- The Nittany Lions evened the contest in the final minute of the second stanza as sophomore Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) collected a loose puck in the offensive zone off a failed Notre Dame clearing attempt and he picked the near corner over the shoulder of Bischel with a great screen out front from junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) for the 2-2 score with just 40.4 ticks remaining in the period.
- Notre Dame regained the lead in the third period on a controversial goal as the puck was deflected off the protective netting, but no whistle blew, the Irish retrieved the puck and Landon Slaggert finished at the near post off a pass from the far point by Adam Karashik for the 3-2 edge at the 13:02 mark.
- Max Ellis then hit the empty net at 18:09 to account for the final score.
GOALTENDING
Senior Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) falls to 9-7-0 on the year after making 30 saves in the defeat while Bischel improves to 6-3-0 after stopping 38-of-40 shots in the win.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Q: What did you see on that play for the goal that led you to challenge?
A: The puck hit the net. It's unfortunate because Oskar saw it pretty clean, but you should still play to the whistle. It hit the net, but hockey is a fast game. The officials aren't going to catch everything, Unfortunately, they didn't see that and the angles on the replay were tough to see. It is what it is. The lesson is it doesn't matter, you play to the whistle.
Q: Why do you think Adam [Pilewicz] has been so successful lately?
A: Well, he shoots the puck. I mean both goals were scored with him shooting the puck. It's something that he's practiced over and over and over and over again. I mean, he had a pretty good shot coming in. But he's the type of guy that if he thinks he has to get faster he does everything in his power to get faster, whether it's on the ice or off. If he feels that he has to get a better shot, he'll shoot pucks and shoot pucks and shoot pucks. And it's paying off. He is a guy that does what's right. He plays within what we do. He's very easy to read because he does what you should do. He's shooting the puck well, but on both goals, I think you have guys going to the net really well, also. The reason he has success, is he is shooting the puck and we're getting to the net.
Q: You guys had a lot of chances in front of the net, whether it was deflections or tips. Was net presence something you emphasized this week?
A: It's been something that we need to do better on. We have a lot of indications with what we have to improve on and that was one. Recently we've been doing a better job and that started at Wisconsin prior to the break. That was probably our best weekend of that, up to that point. It's nice to see it continue. Hockey is an interesting sport where you can do everything right, but it doesn't mean the puck is going to go in the net. We did a lot of things right today against a very good team, a very good defensive team. It just didn't quite go in every time. But I liked how we played. I think if we continue to do that, in a lot of games, we'll have better success.
NOTES
- Penn State surrendered the first goal of the game for just the seventh time this season falling to 1-6-0 in such contests.
- The Nittany Lions held the 40-34 lead in shots on goal but went 0-for-3 on the man-advantage and are now 0-for-12 over their last five games on the powerplay. Notre Dame went 1-for-2 on the powerplay.
- Penn State won the face-off battle winning 41-of-75 draws (54.7 percent) led by junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) who went 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) and sophomore Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) who was 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) including an impressive 9-for-10 in the first period.
- The second period goal for Pilewicz extends his career-best point streak to three games and marks the first time in his career he has scored a goal in back-to-back games. Pilewicz now has points in five of his last seven games and his five points this season are a new career-high.
- Paquette has now scored a goal in back-to-back games for the second time in his career and second time this season.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow evening to wrap up the weekend series with a 5:00 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.