After securing their first shutout of the season last night, Penn State men’s hockey got a taste of of their own medicine, getting shutout 4-0 tonight in the second game of their series against Alaska-Fairbanks at Pegula Ice Arena.

Despite outshooting the Nanooks 35-23, Penn State was dominated in every other aspect of the game. Alaska-Fairbanks’ aggressive style kept Penn State’s offense from getting any kind of momentum going.

Oskar Autio’s season debut in net for the Nittany Lions could have gone better, but he was also the victim of some impressive shooting and a lackluster defense.

How It Happened

The Nanooks entered the game with a chip on their shoulder after last night’s game, taking their physical brand of hockey up a notch for game two. A Penn State defensive turnover led to a goal by forward Colton Leiter less than two minutes into the first period.

Penn State spent the majority of the first period in their own zone, fending off brutal offensive attacks from Alaska-Fairbanks.

Although Autio allowed a goal less than two minutes into his debut, he maintained composure and did an otherwise stellar job in net for the remainder of the first period, making five saves.

While Penn State had far fewer scoring opportunities than they would have liked, they failed to convert on 13 shots, the closest opportunity being a Nate Sucese breakaway that saw him almost poke the puck through Alaska-Fairbanks goalie Anton Martinsson’s legs.

Alaska-Fairbanks started the second period strongly, taking a 2-0 lead 30 seconds in with a rebound goal from winger Justin Young.

The physicality in the game was taken up another notch during the second, with punishing hit after punishing hit flying in from both sides. The aggressive play culminated with Alaska-Fairbanks forward Steven Jandric receiving a game misconduct for elbowing Penn State defenseman Kris Myllari in the head.

Despite firing off almost triple the number of shots during the first two periods, Penn State’s offense was nowhere to be found. Alaska-Fairbanks’ punishing defense did a good job at keeping the puck out of their zone and preventing Penn State from getting scoring opportunities close to the net.

Alaska-Fairbanks scored two more fairly easy goals to bring their lead to 4-0 in the third. Penn State’s frustration with its performance seemed to boil over late in the third, with Tyler Gratton and Alex Stevens committing fairly flagrant slashing penalties and 6’8 center Nikita Pavlychev receiving a penalty for leveling a Nanook in the crease.

Takeaways

• Guy Gadowsky loves to talk about playing “just good hockey” and sadly, there wasn’t a lot of “good hockey” on display at Pegula tonight. This game was a sobering moment for the No. 9 Nittany Lions, who, until tonight, looked elite. Chalk this up to the Lions thinking they were in for a nice easy win after last night’s 7-0 shutout.
• Penn State handled Alaska-Fairbanks’ aggressive and physical style of play well during their 7-0 victory last night, but the Nanooks turned the physicality to 11 for the second game, and although Penn State recorded some shots, they were bullied up and down the ice.
• Oskar Autio gave up two quick goals at the beginning of the first and second periods but otherwise looked solid until the third period. Peyton Jones’ absence was felt, but Autio showed a lot of promise and was the victim of a few wicked shots tonight. Hopefully, Autio doesn’t take this performance to heart and comes out fresh and confident whenever he plays next.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will face Robert Morris at 7 p.m. next Friday at Pegula Ice Arena.