Men's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State in Shootout ThrillerMen's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State in Shootout Thriller

Men's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State in Shootout Thriller

Behind a pair of goals from sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) and a late game-tying tally by senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Penn State came erased a three-goal deficit to tie No. 9/8 Ohio State, 6-6, before winning the shootout, 1-0, in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Behind a pair of goals from sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) and a late game-tying tally by senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Penn State came erased a three-goal deficit to tie No. 9/8 Ohio State, 6-6, before winning the shootout, 1-0, in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening.

The Nittany Lions are now unbeaten in seven of their last eight games moving to 10-10-3 on the year and after collecting two crucial Big Ten points are now 1-9-3-0-1-2 in league play while the Buckeyes are 15-6-2 overall and 8-4-1-2-1-0 in conference action.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Ohio State opened the scoring late in the first period as Nathan McBrayer skated down the slot from the blueline and ripped a shot far-side for the 1-0 edge at the 16:27 mark.
  • The Buckeyes doubled the lead early in the middle frame as Max Montes fed Thomas Weis atop the goal crease and he didn’t miss from point-blank range for the 2-0 advantage at the 5:40 mark.
  • James Hong pushed the visitors lead to 3-0 midway through the second stanza as he ripped a backhander from between the rings past the blocker of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) at the 11:54 mark.
  • Penn State cut into the deficit with grit and determination as Fink fanned on a shot, but stayed with the puck shooting it off the back of Buckeye goaltender Kristoffer Eberly and in from below the goal line for the 3-1 score at 13:24 of the second period.
  • Another bout of perseverance resulted in the 3-2 score as sophomore Matt DiMarisco (Wexford, Pa.) had his initial shot blocked, but stayed with the bouncing puck corralling it at the near post before spinning around 360 degrees and roofing the puck over the glove of Eberly and inside the near post at 17:26 of the second frame.
  • The Nittany Lions kept the momentum and tied the contest early in the third frame as sophomore Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) slipped the puck into a yawning net after a beautiful behind-the-back feed from senior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) for the 3-3 score at the 1:52 mark.
  • Ohio State responded quickly regaining the lead, 4-3, on a goal from Sam Deckhut at 3:05 of the third period.
  • Penn State refused to let that disrupt its momentum as the hosts once again tied the contest just 60 ticks later as freshman JJ Wiebusch skated up the near wall and flicked a backhanded shot on net before being taken out by a Buckeye defender and a trio of players crashed into Eberly causing the puck to cross the line resulting in the 4-4 tie at the 4:05 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions secured their first lead of the game with a powerplay tally midway through the final frame as Fink ripped a wrister from the far dot shortside, off the post and in past Eberly for the 5-4 edge at the 9:16 mark.
  • The Buckeyes evened the contest again in a back-and-forth third period as Patrick Guzzo slotted home a rebound at the 12:14 mark and then less than two minutes later the visitors regained the lead as Patrick Guzzo snuck a shot through Sergeev for the 6-5 score at the 14:07 mark.
  • With the net empty and extra attacker on, Penn State sent Pegula Ice Arena into a frenzy as Dzhaniyev went full on superman sprawling forward to knock home a rebound at the far post for the 6-6 tie with just 12.5 seconds remaining.
  • After a scoreless overtime period, it was Lugris once again netting his second-straight shootout winner as he got Eberly down and roofed a backhander into the yawning net for the lone goal in the second round of the shootout.

GOALTENDING

Sergeev moves to 7-5-3 on the year after making 27 saves along with an additional three in the shootout while Eberly moves to 11-2-1 after stopping 33 shots.

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NOTES

  • Penn State held the 39-33 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
  • Friday night’s crowd of 6,569 is the second biggest this season and tied for the fourth largest in Pegula Ice Arena history.
  • The Nittany Lions are now 2-1-0 in shootouts on the year and Sergeev has stopped 13-of-15 attempts including seven-straight in the two victories.
  • With two goals and one assist, Fink secures his ninth multi-point effort of the season and the 18th of his career while collecting his third multi-goal game this season and the sixth of his career.
  • Senior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) notched the secondary assist on Fink’s second goal giving him a career-high 17 points on the season while his 52 career points are now tied with Vince Pedrie for eighth on the all-time Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen. His 43 assists are also tied with a pair of former blue-liners for sixth.
  • With one goal and one assist each, Dzhaniyev and Dowiak secure multi-point games five and two of the season and 21 and three for their careers, respectively.
  • Wiebusch added one goal and one assist to collect the fourth multi-point effort of his career.
  • Sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) returned from injury and collected a pair of helpers on each of Fink’s goals to secure his fourth multi-point game of the season and the ninth of his career.

NEXT UP

Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow to close out the season series with a 5 p.m. puck drop in Hockey Valley.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.