EAST LANSING, Mich. – The fifth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions and the No. 17/16 Michigan State Spartans played to a 4-4 draw in a back-and-forth affair on Saturday evening in Big Ten action inside Munn Ice Arena. Michigan State earned the extra point in the Big Ten standings winning the shootout 3-1.
The Nittany Lions move to 17-6-1 overall and 7-6-1-0-2-0 in Big Ten play while Michigan State runs its record to 13-11-2 on the year and 7-7-2-1-0-2 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second-straight night Penn State opened the scoring as it was senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) winning a battle in the low slot for a loose puck and then using some nifty stick work to roof the puck over the blocker of Spartan goaltender Dylan St. Cyr for the 1-0 edge at 6:41 of the first frame.
- The Spartans evened the score early in the second period with a powerplay tally as Miroslav Mucha jammed in a rebound after David Gucciardi's point shot was turned aside for the 1-1 score at 3:23 of the middle stanza.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead with a man-advantage goal of their own as junior Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) jammed in a rebound at the far post off a point shot from freshman Carter Schade (Mars, Pa.) for the 2-1 edge at 4:45 of the second period.
- Penn State extended the lead to a pair as sophomore Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) used his speed up the far side leading to a late developing 3-on-1 rush and it was senior Ture Linden (Great Falls, Va.) feeding sophomore Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) at the near post for the 3-1 lead at the 7:58 mark.
- Michigan State cut the deficit to a single goal with another powerplay score late in the second stanza as Jagger Joshua was left alone at the backdoor and he deposited a pass from Karsen Dorwart for the 3-2 score at the 15:02 mark.
- Joshua then tied the game with less than a minute to go in the second period as he was again left all alone at the far post as he tapped another Dorwart feed into a yawning net for the 3-3 score with just 45.8 seconds left in the frame.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead early in the third period as senior Ashton Calder (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) sent an unreal pass from the far corner to find a wide open Dzhaniyev all the way across the ice for the tap in goal and 4-3 lead at 3:43 of the final frame.
- The Spartans wasted little time finding the equalizer as Joshua finished off the hat-trick for the 4-4 score at the 3:54 mark.
- After a scoreless overtime frame the Spartans won the shootout, 3-1, to secure the extra Big Ten point. Senior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) scored the lone shootout goal for the Nittany Lions.
GOALTENDING
Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) runs his record to 15-5-1 on the year after making 32 saves in tie while St. Cyr moves to 12-11-2 following a 35-save effort.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 39-36 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage. The Spartans were 2-for-4 with the man-advantage on Saturday night.
- Wall's first period tally marks the 18th time in 24 games that Penn State has scored first improving their record to 14-3-1 in such contests with the victory.
- With one goal and one assist, Dzhaniyev secures his third multi-point effort this season and the seventh of his career.
- The shootout was the first for Penn State since January 28, 2022, when Penn State defeated Ohio State 2-1. This marked the first shootout loss for the Nittany Lions since February 7, 2020, also against Ohio State, that game was also on the road.
- Jagger Joshua's hat-trick was the first for an opposing player against Penn State since Cole Caufield lit the lamp three times for Wisconsin back on November 24, 2020.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home next weekend to battle Notre Dame on Friday and Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena. Saturday's contest will serve as the annual Wear White game.
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.