No. 8 Penn State hockey (17-9-2, 9-7-2 Big Ten) dropped its second game of the series against Notre Dame (12-11-5, 7-7-4-3 Big Ten) by a final score of 4-2 on Saturday night.

Graham Slaggert scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway with five minutes to play in the third period after Alex Limoges and Nikita Pavlychev’s tallies tied the game for Penn State. The game was watched by a crowd of 6,475, which set Pegula Ice Arena’s seven-year old attendance record.

Peyton Jones made 30 saves in the defeat.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions started the game out strong, successfully killing an Alex Stevens holding penalty a few minutes into the game, and getting a power play opportunity of their own shortly after.

Notre Dame got on the board first, scoring a shorthanded goal on a breakaway from Cam Morrison that managed to squeak through Peyton Jones’ five-hole. While possession time was pretty even throughout the first, the shot differential told a different story. Penn State only manage to muster three shots through the first 12 minutes of action.

With six-and-a-half-minutes left in the first, Jones suffered another five-hole breakaway goal after Irish captain managed to maneuver through all five Penn State skaters on a fast-break en route to the net.

Penn State’s offensive attack continued to be neutralized through the first half of the second period. Jones — always cool, calm, and collected in the face of unlucky goals — did a great job of keeping the Nittany Lions in the game with his trustworthy netminding.

The sticks were finally awoken halfway through the second when Alex Limoges, playing in his 100th game at Penn State, buried a point blank shot thanks to two quick feeds from his BFL line-mates Evan Barratt and Liam Folkes to cut the lead in half 2-1.

Alex "Trace McSorley" Limoges got the Nittany Lions on the board with a much-needed spark pic.twitter.com/1TVEn5Euba

— Onward State (@OnwardState) February 2, 2020

Then, a Notre Dame interference penalty shifted the momentum entirely in the Nittany Lions’ favor with an aggressive power play shift that just about evened the shot differential.

Following the interference penalty, the intensity in the arena seemed to dial up tenfold. A Peyton Jones glove snag to avoid a third breakway goal got the Roar Zone and the Pegula crowd as a whole on its feet and making noise at a deafening level.

This energy continued into the third, with the Nittany Lions going on their third power play of the game two minutes into the period. Once again, the Nittany Lions used their man advantaged to stage an offensive onslaught, but alas, they could not convert.

However, not long after, captain Brandon Biro, who played in his first game in over a month because of a nagging injury, set up an aggressive offensive shift that ended with Nikita Pavlychev burying a bouncing puck from an errant Paul DeNaples shot to tie things up at 2-2.

Boom. pic.twitter.com/1c8XiMmGFS

— Onward State (@OnwardState) February 2, 2020

Notre Dame responded with back to back offensive attacks, featuring yet another breakaway that was luckily prevented by an incredible Jones save. The hustle of Cole Hults, Kris Myllari, and the BFL line to get back on defensive and catch up with the breakaway also played a huge part in preventing the Irish from retaking the lead.

A couple shifts later, an Irish pass from their goal line found winger Graham Slaggert at the Penn State blue line to go on another breakaway and to take the lead 3-2 with five minutes left in the period. Tory Dello’s empty-netter with a minute to play sealed the result.

Takeaways

• The White Rush uniforms, which Penn State hockey announced back in October, did not disappoint. All white everything, black skates, no names, all game? Yes please.
• A hearty welcome back to captain Brandon Biro, who played in his first game since Niagara on January 4. Biro looked a tad rusty out there, but his presence on the ice was felt and welcome by his teammates. I personally hated seeing Biro spend the second half of his final season stuck in day-to-day limbo, so his return on a record-breaking attendance night was nothing short of special.
• Penn State was perhaps too fired up by the record crowd and raucous atmosphere early in the first period, and it showed with a sloppy performance. The team wasn’t necessarily lethargic, but Notre Dame was easily neutralizing anything and everything the Nittany Lions tried to generate on both ends of the ice.

What’s Next

Penn State will head to Columbus for a weekend set against No. 11 Ohio State. Puck drop for the series opener is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday.