No. 6 Penn State hockey (16-6-1, 8-5-1 Big Ten) avoided a sweep at the hands of Michigan (10-11-3, 5-7-2 Big Ten) with a 4-4 tie on Saturday night.

Evan Barratt scored his second of the game with 1:22 to play in the third period, and the goal tied the contest at 4-4. The two teams both earned a tie after a scoreless 5-on-5 overtime period, and Garrett van Wyhe’s snipe with 11.1 seconds to play in the 3-on-3 overtime period gave Michigan the extra point in the Big Ten standings.

Sophomore goalie Oskar Autio made 42 saves in the tie/defeat.

How It Happened

Both Michigan and Penn State went on the power play early after a Wolverine hooking penalty in the first minute and a Max Sauvé boarding penalty a few minutes later.

As soon as the Nittany Lions returned to full strength, they went on a ferocious offensive attack, which resulted in back-to-back Michigan penalties and a Penn State five-on-three man advantage.

Penn State capitalized on this opportunity with a Liam Folkes putback from an Evan Barratt shot that still gave the Nittany Lions a 1:08 minute five-on-four advantage. More importantly, Penn State took its first lead of the weekend midway through the opening frame.

Tensions from last night’s contest did not simmer down overnight, as the Nittany Lions partook in some of the scrappiest, most aggressive brand of hockey they’ve played all season. Whatever Guy Gadowsky instilled in this team after last night’s shellacking lit a fire under them, and they established early that game two of this series wasn’t going to be a repeat of game one.

While the first period was mainly dominated by Penn State, Michigan surged late in the period with a few quick scoring chances to give them a one-shot lead entering the second.

Five minutes into the second, a Kris Myllari shot led Wolverine goalie Strauss Mann out of the net just in time for Nate Sucese to swoop in and tap the puck in. However, the goal was initially called off due to a crease violation on Alex Limoges, who was actually inside of the net at the time the puck went in.

After a lengthy deliberation period, the referees determined Limoges was pushed into the crease and that Sucese’s shot was a good goal, and the Nittany Lions went up 2-0.

Michigan responded rather quickly, striking back with a weak shot that somehow found its way through Oskar Autio’s legs to cut the lead in half and end Autio’s lengthy shutout streak.

On the following faceoff, Sam Sternschein got called for a tripping penalty, shifting the momentum 180 degrees into Michigan’s favor. Luckily for Guy Gadowsky’s squad, Penn State’s stellar penalty kill and Autio’s short memory successfully brought the Nittany Lions back to even strength with the lead still intact.

A few minutes later, Michigan tied the game on a nifty tip-in that Autio seemingly just lost sight of, and the game became all knotted up at 2-2 with 8:43 left in the second period.

After failing to re-take the lead after going on the power play, Penn State went on the penalty kill following a Clayton Phillips slashing penalty on a Michigan breakaway that luckily didn’t result in a penalty shot.

Penn State finally was able to make the score 3-2 with 3 minutes left in the second after Evan Barratt successfully crashed the net and tapped in a rebound from a scorching Kris Myllari clapper from the blue line.

Once again, Michigan started turning up the offensive ferocity in the waning minutes of the period with multiple close scoring chances, including a wide-open breakaway that was miraculously shut down by Autio and then cleared out by Cole Hults.

In an already intense game, the intensity was doubled as soon as the puck dropped to start the third. Michigan began the period with a bunch of scoring chances, and many blows were exchanged between the blue and white and the maize and blue.

Michigan tied things back up six minutes into the period with a scorching wrister from point-blank range by winger Jacob Hayhurst. Things went from bad to worse for Penn State after Michigan took the lead on another point-blank shot by freshman wing Nick Granowicz.

Right after the goal, Nate Sucese took an egregious high-sticking penalty that sent Penn State to the penalty kill down one with eight minutes left.

With 1:22 left in the third, when all seemed lost, Evan Barratt tied it up with a backhander in the slot. His second of the game sent Pegula Ice Arena into a frenzy and, more importantly, the contest into overtime.

Around halfway through the five-minute overtime, the Wolverines started running the clock out by repeatedly tossing the puck in the air. Alex Limoges put a stop to that by catching it at the Michigan blue line and passing it to Liam Folkes, who then hit the post with a stinging wrist shot.

The puck bounced off the post and all the way down the other end of the ice for a Michigan breakaway, which was once again shut down by Autio with an incredibly clutch save to keep the game tied.

After some frenetic 3-on-3 action, Michigan’s Garrett van Wyhe ended the game with 11.1 seconds on the clock. He buried a wrist shot into the top corner of Autio’s goal to give Michigan the extra point in the Big Ten standings.

Takeaways

• 3-on-3 overtime: Catch the fever.
• Oskar Autio entered the Penn State hockey history books by accumulating a record 160:35 consecutive scoreless minutes in goal. While he’s only played in five games and started four this year, Peyton Jones’ possible successor has shown a ton of promise and has given fans something to look forward to next season.
• Guy Gadowsky drastic line shifts before this game turned out to massively benefit Penn State as a whole. The move seemed to succeed at throwing Michigan off during the first two periods, but they ended up figuring Penn State out in the third, reverting to Gadowsky calling for the BFL line late in the third as a last ditch effort to tie the game.
• Kris Myllari was the heart and soul of Penn State’s defense on Saturday night. The alternate captain laid a few huge hits and blocked a seemingly endless amount of Wolverine shots throughout the contest.

What’s Next

Penn State will be on the road next week for a two-game series at Michigan State. The puck will drop on that series at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 21.