No. 18 Penn State men’s hockey dismantled No. 8 Minnesota on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. Five different skaters scored goals for the Nittany Lions, who improved to 15-13-8 in the 2017-18 season.

James Robinson, Trevor Hamilton, Liam Folkes, Evan Barratt, and Alex Limoges scored goals for the Nittany Lions, who can clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Big Ten tournament with a victory on Saturday night. Can Penn State cap off the sweep on Senior Night, or will Minnesota spoil the party and clinch a first-round home series in the Big Ten tournament?

Adjustments: Penn State

Should I even waste my time nitpicking Penn State’s effort on Friday night? Guy Gadowsky called Friday night’s game the most complete effort of the season. Penn State completely dominated every facet of the action, posting 61 shots on goal while limiting the Golden Gophers to just 15. Alex Limoges’ celebration of Penn State’s fifth and final goal of the game is a pretty good microcosm of the evening.

The only flaw I could see in Penn State’s game was the amount of odd-man rushes Minnesota had. The Golden Gophers found themselves with a few 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 situations throughout the evening, but could not capitalize on any of them. If Peyton Jones didn’t make a save on the play, a Penn State back-checker broke up a pass or checked Minnesota’s skater off the puck.

Adjustments: Minnesota

Minnesota got smoked on Friday night. The Golden Gophers didn’t stand a chance; even when they tied the game at one midway through the first, it seemed like they were completely out of the game. There are tons of adjustments needed for Minnesota to take game two of the series.

First of all, the team’s defense left star goalie Mat Robson out to dry. Robson played extremely well, making 55 saves on 59 shots before mercifully being pulled from the game midway through the third period. He was a brick wall through the first two periods, but fatigue caught up to him in the third. He was beaten at his near post on Liam Folkes’ goal and Evan Barratt’s 45-foot shot beat him clean and chased him out of the net.

Robson wouldn’t have been this fatigued if Minnesota’s defense limited Penn State’s scoring chances, but the unit was completely overwhelmed by Penn State’s offense. Robson was struggling to track pucks because of the traffic in front of his goal, was left completely out to dry on several breakaways and odd-man rushes, and couldn’t handle Penn State’s attack by himself.

The Golden Gophers’ defense was frustrated and lost its discipline, a fact that directly caused the fourth goal of the game. Ryan Lindgren took a stupid roughing penalty with his team down 3-1, but also baited Evan Barratt into slashing him on the same play. Barratt flattened Lindgren after the two exited the penalty box, then scored his eighth goal of the year seconds later.

The disciplinary issues even cost Minnesota a massive opportunity to tie the game. Andrew Sturtz was ejected for head contact 14 seconds into the third period, but Minnesota lost the right to a five-minute power play because Jack Sadek retaliated and took a roughing penalty. The Golden Gophers only got a three minute power play as a result, giving the Nittany Lions a much more manageable penalty kill that ended up changing the tide of the game.

Stat Of The Day

Freshmen forwards Evan Barratt and Alex Limoges scored the final two goals of tonight’s game, marking the first time that the duo each scored at least one goal in the same game. Barratt leads all first-year players with eight goals this year, while Limoges leads the freshman class with 15 points on the season.

Prediction

There’s no way that Minnesota beats this Penn State team after the effort it put forth on Friday; the Golden Gophers were clearly outmatched in every part of the ice and never had a chance of winning. I think they’ll make some adjustments and put together a better effort, but Penn State will come away with the sweep and clinch a home Big Ten playoff series.