No. 13 Penn State hockey beat the University of Ottawa 5-0 in its only exhibition tune-up prior to the start of the 2019-20 season.

Junior blueliner Evan Bell scored a pair of goals for the Nittany Lions while senior captain Brandon Biro, star center Evan Barratt, and sophomore wing Max Sauvé also added goals for the Nittany Lions. Goaltenders Peyton Jones and Oskar Autio pitched a combined 25-save shutout.

Penn State dominated the ice during the first period, keeping the puck in Ottawa’s zone for the majority of the period and holding the Gee-Gees to only four shots on goal throughout the first 20 minutes.

The period was highlighted by two Penn State goals within the first eight minutes of the game. Penn State’s first goal was a rebound goal with 9:38 remaining in the period by junior defenseman Evan Bell, with assists by Tyler Gratton and Connor MacEachern. Two-and-a-half minutes later, senior captain Brandon Biro got on the board with a wicked wrister to give the Lions a 2-0 lead.

Penn State added two more goals in the second period. The first was a beautiful top-shelf wrister by junior center Evan Barratt just 48 seconds into the period after a 2-on-1 rush with Liam Folkes. Bell scored his second goal of the day with a well-placed wrist shot from the high slot.

After making 10 saves on 10 shots and defending a much more up-tempo Ottawa offensive effort at the beginning of the 2nd period, goalie Peyton Jones was replaced by sophomore Oskar Autio with 9:56 remaining in the 2nd period. Autio stepped into the game and made 11 saves to preserve the shutout.

Max Sauvé tipped in a shot from freshman defenseman Kenny Johnson early in the third period to extend his team’s lead to 5-0, and the remainder of the third period was much more physical than the rest of the game. Evan Bell and Nate Sucese took penalties for interference and cross-checking, respectively, and a scrum broke out after an Ottawa forward lightly shoved Oskar Autio.

In other news, Evan Barratt and Aarne Talvitie were back on the ice after not skating at their respective NHL organizations’ development camps. Talvitie skated in his first game action since tearing his ACL at the 2019 U-20 World Junior Championships, and Barratt was back on the ice after undergoing hip surgery in the offseason.