UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions shut out the No. 1 team in the nation, the Michigan Wolverines, in front of a packed crowd in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
The win was the first for the Nittany Lions against a No. 1 ranked team in program history as they improve to 9-0-0 to start the year and 3-0-0 in conference action with the victory while the Wolverines fall to 7-2-0 overall and 0-1-0 in Big Ten play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a scoreless first period, Penn State opened the scoring as junior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) sent a beautiful backdoor feed through traffic to senior Ture Linden (Great Falls, Va.) and he didn't miss the yawning net for the 1-0 edge at 7:18 of the middle frame.
- The Nittany Lions doubled their lead just over five minutes later as another beautiful passing display from senior classmates Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) and Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) left senior Ashton Calder (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) wide open at the near post and he tapped it in for the 2-0 advantage at 12:38 of the second period.
- Junior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) fired the final nail into an empty net at 17:11 of the third period to account for the 3-0 final.
GOALTENDING
- Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) notched his second-consecutive shutout to improve to 7-0-0 on the year after stopping all 17 shots he faced.
- Souliere hasn't allowed a goal in the last 176:19 of game action marking the longest shutout streak in Penn State history surpassing the 167:09 achieved by Oskar Autio '22 during the 2019-20 season.
- Michigan net-minder Noah West stood tall with 46 saves but drops to 0-1-0 on the year in the defeat.
NOTES
- Friday night's attendance of 6,445 is the second largest crowd in Pegula Ice Arena history.
- The scoreless first period for Penn State marks the first time this season the Nittany Lions have failed to score a goal over the opening 20 minutes of play.
- The back-to-back shutouts for Penn State marks the first time in program history the Nittany Lions have had two-straight shutouts.
- Penn State held the commanding 49-17 edge in shots on goal including a 16-4 margin in the first period and a 15-3 advantage in the third period.
- Penn State went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage, but were a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and have now killed off 10-straight opponent powerplays.
- The 9-0-0 start for the Nittany Lions increases its best start to a season in program history
- With his empty-net goal, Lamppa extends his career-best point streak to three games.
POSTGAME QUOTABLES
Q: How does it feel to beat No. 1 Michigan?
A: I think you asked a question earlier in the week about how we judge our start to the season. We look at the tangible, quantitative things that you mentioned, so we'll still look at the game from that perspective and I'm sure there's going to be things that we want to do better. I did think the team was consistent tonight.
Q: Coach, Michigan's head coach really emphasized that you guys won several times, mentioned races and battles tonight. Do you think that those were something that played a big part in your win?
A: I think in hockey, it always does. I'm not sure if you can contribute that every day. They want to lock themselves with a very fast team. Great, timely goaltending. When we needed him, he was fantastic, and that absolutely helps. I thought Souliere, and specifically our D, we were able to manage the momentum well. Races and battles are a part of that, but I think timely goaltending helped us win.
Q: You talked a little bit about the decision behind starting Lamppa's line against Michigan and just talk a little bit about how Xander Lamppa and that line can play so well.
A: As a line, they were our best. I think Ashton Calder was probably our best player, but as a line they were our best line and created the most chances as a line. Xander's a smart guy, he's a smart hockey player. He's tough to play against and we thought that his attributes, and I think the line has those same attributes, and I thought they were a good match. I thought they played well.
Q: Going back to Calder, you had two transfers that scored goals tonight. How would you say these transfers impact the team so far?
A: The reason that we got them specifically is we weren't going to do it unless they fit both criteria of helping us with our culture off the ice, and then fit certain roles on the ice. I think that based off what you saw on the ice they've been consistent with what they bring, but I can tell you that their impact on the team created the offense that you saw on the ice for sure. It's not just the goals. I think number one, they're both a great fit for Penn State, and that's probably the most important reason.
Q: I don't see him every day on the ice, but Liam Souliere has just gotten better and better as the season has progressed. How do you talk about that maturity that he's going through, being a better hockey player?
A: I think goalies really ride on that. Especially when you have a big jump from junior hockey to Big Ten, it's a huge jump. I think goaltenders really relish and can soak in every experience they get. Souliere, through no fault of his own, had limited experiences for a few years due to playing behind veterans, etc. Then what happened at the end of last season, when he won the job, you saw him get better and better. I think it's obvious, right? The more you do something, the more comfortable you get. I think that's exactly what you're seeing now. He doesn't really act differently, whether we win or lose, and I think because of that, he's able to take his experiences from starting and build off each and every one. That's what we saw last year, that's what we're seeing now.
NEXT UP
The two teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to close out the weekend series with a 7:30 p.m. contest.
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.