UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) factored in all three goals for No. 17 Penn State with one goal and a pair of assists for a career-best three points, but it was not enough as the Nittany Lions skated to a 3-3 tie against Notre Dame in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday night.
The Irish earned the extra point in the Big Ten standings with the 1-0 shootout victory moving to 4-3-1 on the year and 0-0-1-0-0-1 in conference action while the Nittany Lions now sit at 5-2-1 overall and 0-0-1-0-0-0 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Notre Dame wasted little time opening the scoring as Brennan Ali roofed a shot from in tight over the blocker of Nittany Lion sophomore net-minder Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) for the 1-0 edge just 95 ticks in.
- Penn State pulled the game even late in the first period as junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) redirected a point shot from graduate student Tanner Palocsik (Aliquippa, Pa.) past Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel for the 1-1 score at the 17:50 mark.
- The Irish regained the lead with a powerplay tally in the second period as Trevor Janicke finished in front for the 2-1 lead at the 6:38 mark.
- The Nittany Lions brought things back even again with a man-advantage tally of their own as junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished into a yawning net at the far post after Palocsik's initial bid bounced hard off the end glass and right on his stick at the 13:00 mark of the middle frame.
- Penn State grabbed its first lead of the game late in the second period as a strong forecheck along the near half wall by Dzhaniyev produced a turnover and Lamppa collected the puck and skated through the net mouth with a nifty backhand-forehand finish past the right pad of Bischel for the 3-2 advantage at the 16:50 mark.
- Notre Dame pulled the score even midway through the third period with the help of a 5-on-3 powerplay as Maddox Fleming picked the corner over the glove of Grannan for the 3-3 score at the 10:58 mark.
- The teams skated through a scoreless five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime and in the final round of a three-round shootout Notre Dame's Cole Knuble converted while Bischel stoned Lugris and the Irish secured the extra point in the Big Ten standings.
GOALTENDING
Grannan moves to 1-1-1 on the year after making 26 saves while Bischel moves to 4-3-1 after stopping 28-of-31 shots on the night.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 31-29 edge in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 with the man-advantage. Notre Dame was 2-for-7 on the powerplay as they skated with a pair of 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 advantages throughout the course of the evening.
- The Nittany Lions are now 6-4-1 all-time in Big Ten openers and 3-1-1 when opening Big Ten play at home.
- Saturday's attendance of 6,499 was the fourth largest crowd in the history of Pegula Ice Arena.
- The Irish scored the opening goal marking just the third time in eight games this season that Penn State has failed to score first. The Nittany Lions are now 1-1-1 in such games.
- With his first period goal, Dzhaniyev has now scored in four-straight games extending his career-best and has now tied his career-long point streak at four games. After adding a second period assist, Dzhaniyev collects his third multi-point effort of the season and the 11th of his career.
- Palocsik collected a pair of assists to register his first multi-point game as a Nittany Lion and the 16th of his career.
- With one goal and a pair of assists Lamppa registered a career-best three points while tying his career-high with those two assists. It marks his second multi-point effort of the season and the sixth of his career.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow afternoon to close out the weekend series with. 4:30 p.m. puck drop in Hockey Valley. The game will be broadcast across the country on the B1G Network.
For more information on the 2023-24 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.