UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 13 Notre Dame tied the game late in the third with the extra-attacker and earned the, 5-4, victory on a Max Ellis rebound goal with just 0.2 seconds remaining in overtime in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions fall to 12-10-0 on the year and 3-9-0-1-1-0 in Big Ten play while the Irish improve to 15-6-0 overall and 8-4-0-3-1-0 in conference action with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Notre Dame once again opened the scoring this time early in the first period as Solag Bakich deposited a rebound at the far post for the 1-0 edge at 1:35 of the first period.
- Penn State evened the score taking advantage of a failed clearing attempt by the Irish as junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) tipped the puck past Matthew Galajda off a feed from senior Ben Copeland (Edina, Minn.) for the 1-1 score at 8:16 of the opening stanza.
- The Nittany Lions then grabbed the lead as sophomore Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) circled the net and slipped the puck off a defenseman's skate and inside the far post for the 2-1 advantage at the 13:41 mark of the first period.
- Penn State extended the lead early in second period with its first powerplay goal in six games as Dowd Jr. blasted a shot from the high slot that beat Galajda over the blocker for the 3-1 score at 1:30 of the middle frame.
- With the Nittany Lions controlling the pace, Notre Dame scored against the run of play as Jack Adams finished off a rebound at the near post for the 3-2 deficit at 11:54 of the second period.
- The Irish evened the score later in the period as Nick Leivermann sent a no-angle shot on net that somehow got over the shoulder of PSU senior net-minder Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) for the 3-3 score at the 16:05 mark.
- Penn State responded late in the frame as senior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) finished off a pass from Copeland for the 4-3 edge at the 18:20 mark.
- Notre Dame controlled most of the action in the third period and found the equalizer with the goalie pulled as Cam Burke slammed the puck home for the 4-4 score at the 17:47 mark.
- Then in overtime the Irish completed the comeback as Max Ellis slapped home a rebound with just 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock for the 5-4 victory.
GOALTENDING
Autio falls to 9-8-0 on the year after making 34 saves in the defeat while Galajda improves to 9-3-0 after stopping 35-of-39 shots in the win.
GADOWSKY POSTGAME
Opening Statement:
That's one of the tougher losses we had here [at Pegula Ice Arena]. It's a tough way to lose, it's tough to lose after how competitive we played and it's tough to lose [when you consider that] the students aren't here yet you look in the stands and the student section's jammed with the [local] community in such great support. It was a really good hockey game, but a really, really tough game to lose. I guess I'd say for those of you that have been around [to] remember the game back against Minnesota in 2016-17, back when we had never beaten them. I think it was [a very similar loss]. The team took it the right way. We absolutely took it as a learning opportunity. We did and we have to do the exact same thing [here]. Q: On a more positive note, you guys didn't commit a penalty all night. [It's the] first time this season. What do you take away from that?
A: You're right. That is very positive. Obviously, it played a big role in the performance that we had. I think what the takeaway is, is that we can do it. We've been struggling all year to win the power play opportunity battle. Honestly, I can't remember the last time we did it. So, the takeaway is that we can absolutely do it. We took three offensive zone penalties yesterday and that played a big part in our loss. The mentality that the guys had, they learned from that. Hopefully we can keep that going because that's obviously extremely important.
Q: Jimmy Dowd Jr. gets the two goals and he's in the spotlight, he had a great game. But I thought Christian [Berger] had a really great game as well, more on the defensive side, he had an assist as well. What do you think about his game?
A: You know, I think that Christian put a lot of pressure on himself to make big jumps this year. And I think that he was a guy that really was a very consistent improver last year. I think he put some pressure on himself early on in the year and was playing outside of himself. I think he took a good look at it in the break on what he had to do. And I think if the early games out of the break are any indication, he's obviously an extremely intelligent guy, and an excellent team guy. And I think after the break, I think he's been playing very well, and it's very consistent compared to the start of the year I think he's been growing a lot as well. NOTES
- Penn State is now just 1-7-0 this season when allowing the first goal of the game.
- Both teams fired 39 shots on net while Penn State went 1-for-4 on the powerplay and didn't commit a single penalty of their own for the first time this season and first time in almost two years dating back to a 3-3 tie against Minnesota on February 21, 2020.
- Senior Adam Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) sees his career-best three-game point streak come to a close as he was held off the statsheet.
- With his first period assist, Paquette now has a three-game point-streak going and is just one game shy of his career-long achieved earlier this season.
- The multi-goal game for Dowd Jr. is the first of his Nittany Lion career marking his fourth multi-point effort this season and the sixth of his career.
- With a pair of assists, Copeland secures his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 16th of his career.
- Wall collected his fifth multi-point game of the season with one goal and one assist marking the 12th of his career.
- MacEachern runs his point streak to four games following his second period assist to tie his career-long. Both he and Wall are now tied for the team lead with 20 points on the season.
- This marks just the second loss of the season in 13 chances for Penn State when leading after two periods.
NEXT UP
Penn State hits the road for a two-game series next weekend at Yost Ice Arena against No. 6 Michigan.
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.