MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Minnesota used three unanswered goals cancelling out a pair from junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) to skate away with a 3-2 victory in Big Ten Conference action at 3M Arena on Friday evening.
The Nittany Lions drop to 10-5-0 overall and 3-4-0 in conference action with the loss with the Gophers improve to 6-8-1 on the year and 3-2-0 in Big Ten play following the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring taking advantage of a Gopher turnover behind their net as a loose puck off the endwall bounced right into the slot to Laubach uncontested and he laced a wrist shot over the glove of Minnesota net-minder Nathan Airey for the 1-0 edge at 9:31 of the first period.
- Laubach doubled the margin with a shot from the point through traffic that Airey never saw as it passed his blocker with a screen out front from junior Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) for the 2-0 advantage at 13:03 of the first period.
- Minnesota cut the deficit in half early in the second period as a harmless flick of the wrist from the point by Axel Begley snuck through traffic deflecting off a Nittany Lion and into the back of the net for the 2-1 score at the 3:38 mark.
- The Gophers then evened the score before the midway point of the frame with a powerplay goal as Brodie Ziemer one-timed the puck from the left dot past the out-stretched blocker of Penn State freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) for the 2-2 score at the 8:03 mark.
- The hosts then took the lead just a few minutes later as a loose puck off the endwall sprung Fleming out of position and Mason Moe corralled it above the crease before slipping it into the yawning net for the 3-2 advantage at 10:08 of the middle stanza.
GOALTENDING
Fleming drops to 5-2-0 on the year after stopping 26 shots in the defeat while Airey moves to 3-4-1 on the year after making 27 saves in the victory.
NOTES
- Both teams had 29 shots on goal while Minnesota went 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and Penn State went 0-for-3.
- Laubach notched his first multi-goal game of the season and the fifth of his career and he has now scored in back-to-back games just one game shy of his career-best goal streak. The multi-point effort is also the first of the season for Laubach and the 15th of his career.
- The Nittany Lions have now lost eight-straight games against the Gophers at 3M Arena.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Mariucci tomorrow evening to conclude the weekend series as Penn State finishes its first half of action with another 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT puck drop.
For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.