Sport
An ice hockey player in a maroon and gold uniform skates toward a goalie in a blue and white uniform who is in a crouch, with a referee observing nearby.An ice hockey player in a maroon and gold uniform skates toward a goalie in a blue and white uniform who is in a crouch, with a referee observing nearby.
Brady Paitrick

Fleming Strong as Men's Hockey Earns Shootout Victory Over No. 18 Minnesota in B1G Opener

Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Dane Dowiak tallied the shootout winner in the fifth round while Josh Fleming made 35 saves as Penn State takes two points from No. 18 Minnesota with a shootout win following a 1-1 tie in each team’s Big Ten Conference opener at 3M Arena on Friday night.

The Nittany Lions run their unbeaten streak to three games moving to 2-4-1 on the year and 0-0-1 in Big Ten play while the Gophers now stand at 2-3-2 on the year and 0-0-1 in conference action following the tie.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After early chances at both ends of the ice the Gophers opened the scoring as a blocked shot in the slot found the stick of Javon Moore as he skated through the crease and he redirected it through a sprawled-out Josh Fleming for the 1-0 edge at 7:33 of the first period.
  • The Nittany Lions evened the score near the midpoint of the third period as a strong keep in the offensive zone from freshman Justin Larose led to a shortside snipe from sophomore Justin Poirier from the left dot for the 1-1 tie at the 9:03 mark.
  • Senior Reese Laubach opened the shootout with a goal before LJ Mooney tied things in the bottom of the third round setting up Dowiak’s heroics as he pulled the puck past the pad of Gopher net-minder Luca Di Pasquo as he went for a poke check and lifted it over his pad for the shootout winner in the fifth round

GOALTENDING

Fleming moves to 1-2-1 on the year after stopping 35-of-36 shots on the night including 4-of-5 in the shootout while Di Pasquo collected 28 saves and now stands at 1-3-2 on the year.

NOTES

  • Minnesota held the 36-29 edge in shots on goal including a 5-0 clip in overtime.
  • Penn State went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the powerplay in the game.
  • Sophomore Jackson Smith sees his career-long point streak end at five games as he was held off the statsheet.
  • Poirier extends his point streak to four games as he now has points in all but one game so far this season.
  • The Nittany Lions are now 7-5-2 all-time in Big Ten openers and 4-4-1 on the road.
  • Friday night marked the second time Penn State’s conference opener has gone to a shootout and the first time the Nittany Lions won that shootout after dropping the extra point to Notre Dame to open the 2023-24 league slate.
  • Fleming is now 2-1 in shootouts after going 1-1 last season as he has stopped 8-of-10 chances all-time.

NEXT UP

The two teams return to Mariucci tomorrow night to conclude the weekend series with a Halloween tilt with puck drop slated for 6 p.m. CT.

For more information on the 2026-27 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.