No. 5 Penn State Hockey Needs Only Six Seconds Of Overtime To Beat No. 16 Michigan 7-6
No. 5 Penn State men’s hockey (9-1-1, 1-1-0 Big Ten) earned a split against No. 16 Michigan (6-4-1, 2-1-1 Big Ten) with a 7-6 overtime victory on Saturday night after the Wolverines’ four third-period goals powered them to a 6-4 upset last night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State enjoyed a steady flow of offense, led by a hat trick from Evan Barratt and points from 10 other Nittany Lions. This time, Michigan’s four goal third-period onslaught was only enough to force overtime, and they got it done in the extra frame to secure their first conference win of the season.
Junior goalie Peyton Jones made 28 saves on 34 shots in the win.
How It Happened
The Nittany Lions came out of the gate firing and found themselves on the power play just 38 seconds into the game. Evan Barratt cashed in on the early man-advantage to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead just 1:20 into the first period. The goal was assisted by Liam Folkes and Alex Stevens.
Just two minutes later, Aarne Talvitie found the back of the net with a laser of a wrist shot. He was fed by Sam Sternschein and Nikita Pavlychev to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Wolverines finally woke up after the two quick Nittany Lion goals. Michigan corralled a loose puck to the left of Peyton Jones’ crease and snuck one past the Nittany Lions’ goaltender to cut their lead in half with 9:57 to play in the first period.
Penn State’s woes continued, as the Wolverines scored on a lucky deflection off of Cole Hults’ stick. That drew things even at 2-2 with 4:07 left in the frame.
Penn State and Michigan finished the first period even at 17-17 in shots and 2-2 on the score board, but the second period was all Nittany Lions Evan Barratt. The Chicago Blackhawks’ prospect scored twice in the period to earn himself a hat trick and give the Nittany Lions a 4-2 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
The Wolverines struck early in the third period, cutting the Nittany Lions lead to 4-3 with 16:55 left on the game clock.
Nate Sucese answered with an incredible deke through a defender’s legs and a beautiful backhand over the helpless Michigan netminder to make it 5-3. Kevin Kerr picked up the lone assist on the goal, which came with 14:05 remaining in the third.
Michigan’s Nick Pastujov put his second of the night past Peyton Jones to pull the Wolverines within one with 11:07 left to play. Brandon Biro retaliated, giving the Nittany Lions a two-goal lead again with 7:54 left to play. The insurance goal was assisted by Sucese and Kerr.
It proved significant, as the Wolverines scored yet again, leaving 3:27 on the clock for an equalizer. Desperate to tie things up, Michigan pulled its goalie. The decision to go with the extra skater paid off for the Wolverines, as Will Lockwood notched his second of the game to make things 6-6 before the end of regulation.
The Nittany Lions wasted absolutely no time in overtime, as Pavlychev took the puck straight off of the draw and found Sternschein for the overtime winner. Penn State won 7-6 after just six seconds of overtime was played.
Takeaways
- Evan Barratt is on fire right now. He extended his goal streak to six games with a first-period tally, and poured it on in the second period with a hat trick for good measure.
- The Nittany Lions spread the love on offense, as 11 different players tallied a point. Guy Gadowsky has said that his team strives to have a balanced attack, but that doesn’t always happen. It’s clearly working out so far this season.
- Penn State did it’s best to mitigate the Wolverines’ third-period resurgence. For the second night in a row, the Nittany Lions allowed four goals in the third, but managed to do enough on offense to give themselves a chance in overtime tonight.
What’s Next
The Nittany Lions go on the road to Columbus next Friday for a weekend series with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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