UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 18 Penn State scored four goals in the second period including three in a span of 66 seconds en route to a 6-4 victory over St. Thomas in non-conference action on Thursday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the fifth-straight game to open the season Penn State (5-0-0) got on the board first as a strong fore-check behind the net from freshman Alex Servagno (Gibsonia, Pa.) caused a turnover and senior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) found classmate Ture Linden (Great Falls, Va.) alone in the slot for the one-time score and 1-0 lead at the 15:32 mark of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions erupted early in the second period pushing the lead to 4-0 with three goals in the span of 66 seconds as sophomore Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) fired through traffic for his first collegiate goal at the 5:46 mark before senior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) and sophomore Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) potted goals just 40 seconds apart at 6:12 and 6:52, respectively.
- Sophomore Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) later laced a one-timer from the left dot off a feed from junior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) for the 5-0 margin at 11:04 of the second period.
- The Tommies (1-4-0) got on the board with just 0.4 seconds remaining as Ethan Gauer finished at the doorstep off a pass from Luc Laylin for the 5-1n deficit.
- St. Thomas continued to cut into the deficit just after a powerplay expired as Lucas Wahlin was left open at the far post and he fired it past the blocker of Nittany Lion junior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 5-2 score at 10:21 of the third period.
- Penn State pushed back with a goal in transition as Schoen and classmate Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) played a game of give-and-go with the former finding the latter at the near post for the easy finish and the 6-0 lead at the 12:03 mark.
GOALTENDING
Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) ran his record to 4-0-0 on the year after stopping 19-of-21 shots while his counterpart, Aaron Trotter, collected 45 saves in the defeat.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 51-21 edge in shots on goal while going 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, however, the Nittany Lions were 0-for-2 with the man-advantage themselves.
- The Nittany Lions are now 5-0-0 to start the season for just the second time in program history dating back to a 6-0-0 start to the 2018-19 season.
- With his first period goal, Linden now has points in each of his first five games as a Nittany Lion to tie his career-best point streak of five games and with at least one assist in each game this season he extends his career-long assist streak to five games. Linden collected his fourth multi-point effort this season with his one goal and one assist marking the 18th of his career.
- Tyler Gratton along with Dowd Jr. each collected a pair of assists for their second multi-point games this season. For Gratton it marks the second of his career and for Dowd Jr. his 10th. Tyler Gratton also now has points in four-straight games for the first time in his career along with a career-long three-game assist streak.
- Schoen and Dzhaniyev rounded out the five Nittany Lions who had multi-point evenings with one goal and one assist each. For both players it marks their second multi-point efforts this season and the eighth and sixth of their respective careers.
- Schoen also extends his career-best point streak, which has carried over from the end of last season, to eight games.
- Servagno notched his first collegiate point with the secondary assist on Linden's first period goal.
- Senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) saw his career-long goal scoring streak of four games snapped as he was held off the stat sheet for the first time this season.
- Penn State is now 3-0-0 all-time against St. Thomas while improving to 44-14-4 in the month of October.
POSTGAME QUOTABLES
Opening statement: I thought we played really, well today. A couple of really important moments. One was after we went up 3-0. We got two quick goals in the second. We relaxed and gave up a great opportunity right in the slot, and Liam Souliere made a huge, huge save. If that went in, this game would have been completely different. And then, the other thing is the performances by Ture Linden and Xander Lamppa in the face-off circle, that was monstrous. It was really important, specifically with how we play. So, I thought that was extremely important. And obviously, Simon Mack got rewarded for playing a great, great game. It was one of the best games that he's played, all around. You know, the hockey gods seem to reward great all-round play and I think that's what you saw this time.
Q: Guy, you talked about Simon. Can you go into depth a little bit more about what he brings to the team?
A: He's an elite skater. He's always been really effective because of his feet both offensively and defensively. But I think he showed a lot more initiative shooting the puck and jumping in tonight. He has in the past, but hasn't really had that killer instinct, offensively. I thought you saw it today on a few plays. Great to see him cash in, but it was his all-around play. He was solid.
Q: Alex Servagno got his first collegiate point tonight. What did he show in the couple of plays he had tonight?
A: Big Al's got the THOR hammer tonight because of exactly what you said. I mean, the team was really pumped for him. He really was a catalyst to start off. Unbelievable forecheck on that first goal. And then, he got a couple of big blocks and a couple of big back checks. And the team really, really appreciated that. And you can see that by the ovation he got in the lockerroom.
Q: Going into the depth, you talked about how your team has had more depth than in the previous years. Twelve different players registering points tonight. Does tonight kind of reinforce the depth that this team has?
A: Those are nice numbers for us because it's very conscious that we've always felt that for us to be successful, the way we do things, and the way we play, we've never been a one-trick pony. We need production and depth up and down the lineup. And we rely on scoring from all lines, we rely on puck movers and offense created from the back from all the pairs. So yes, this feels a lot more like the blueprint of what Penn State hockey is.
Q: Going back to Dylan Gratton, how has he been developing and getting better as a hockey player?
A: He's very well-rounded. Like he's a rookie, but there's nothing he is not good at yet. There are guys that do certain things really, really, really well. He's someone that does everything. I think he's probably underrated in terms of how he thinks about the game. He doesn't do things by accident. Everything he does, he has a reason. He's not a chance player and he really thinks things through. And I think that's what's going to allow him to be a consistent player for us for hopefully many years.
NEXT UP
The two teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to close out the season series with another 7 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on the 2022-23 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.