Penn State hockey earned a 3-1 victory against Michigan on the road last weekend in a game that meant something extra to the Nittany Lions.

Penn State improved to 7-3 in conference play and stayed on top of the Big Ten’s standings with 21 points thanks to the win. But perhaps more importantly, it was the program’s first victory at Yost Ice Arena since November 21, 2014.

Nate Sucese and Evan Barratt scored a pair of goals in fewer than two minutes to give Penn State a 2-0 advantage entering the first intermission, but Michigan’s Luke Morgan halved the Nittany Lions’ advantage 29 seconds into the second period. The remaining 40 minutes of the contest featured a hard-fought, defensive struggle, and Denis Smirnov’s empty-netter with 53 seconds to play secured the 3-1 win for Gadowsky’s program.

Peyton Jones was a rock in goal as he picked up his 69th collegiate victory. The senior made a season-high 42 saves to keep the Wolverines’ offense at bay, and had tons of support from an overall strong defensive effort from his teammates in front of him.

“I would say it was a relief. It was a long time coming,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said of the victory. “The way it happened, I think we really liked in terms of how it was a really hard-fought, 2-1 game — I know there was an empty-netter — but to see them come out on top in a 2-1 game was a relief and really nice.”

Saturday night’s effort was a far cry from the 4-1 defeat Penn State suffered against the Wolverines on Friday — in terms of the end result and Penn State’s overall performance.

“The first night, the result was poor and the performance was very poor — and I think, in some areas, the effort, too,” Gadowsky said. “That was a really disappointing game for us. The biggest [difference between the games] was in the odd-man rushes we gave up. I think we gave up 11 on Friday night, which is way too many. The way they happened, too — they were well in our control. We were turning the puck over high.”

Winning at Yost Ice Arena was a new experience for Penn State’s entire group of players. None of the 21 skaters and goaltenders who dressed on Saturday night were on the team when the Nittany Lions last won in Ann Arbor in 2014.

Yost Ice Arena is a hockey cathedral. It opened in 1923 and has served as the home rink for scores of eventual NHLers, so snapping a nine-game skid at the rink was that much sweeter for the Nittany Lions.

“It was a great feeling. The seniors haven’t won there, I haven’t won there — it was a lot of fun,” junior wing Alex Limoges said. “Very tough place to play, but finally, we got some bounces and won a close game.”

“It was cool. Obviously, it’s a very historic building that’s had a lot of great teams that have been there long before I was ever here,” alternate captain Kris Myllari added. “It was nice to win, but it was really nice to see the way we won the game. Peyton [Jones] was fantastic, and we played a great playoff brand of hockey.”