A spirited third-period effort wasn’t enough to lift Penn State men’s hockey over No. 7 Michigan Wednesday night at Pegula Ice Arena.

The Wolverines defeated the Nittany Lions 3-1 thanks to 38 saves from goalie Strauss Mann. Evan Bell scored Penn State’s lone goal, while Oskar Autio put up 28 saves in a solid game.

How It Happened

Penn State started off slow once again. Michigan was effective early on, especially on the forecheck, limiting the Nittany Lions in transition and keeping the puck in Penn State’s defensive end.

Michigan punished the Nittany Lions when Nolan Moyle was left open in the slot and fired a shot past Autio for the 1-0 lead at the 4:10 mark of the first period. Autio was left helpless on the shot after another Penn State defensive breakdown.

After the goal, Penn State started to come into the game. Its first flurry of chances came in with 13:30 in the period. The team had some decent chances before forward Tyler Gratton was called for a slash and Michigan went to the power play.

Penn State came into the game with the worst penalty-killing unit in the Big Ten, and Michigan would’ve scored on the power play if not for a great save by Autio on an open Michigan forward down low.

Michigan continued to limit the Penn State offense throughout the period, especially in transition. The Wolverines defensemen constantly snuffed out Penn State’s attempts to break out of the defensive zone. The Nittany Lions were left to block a lot of shots in the first period, obstructing five shots compared to Michigan’s zero. Not much happened as the period wound down with Michigan leading 1-0 on the scoreboard in shots 9-8.

In what is becoming a very noticeable trend this season, Penn State started the period slowly. Michigan’s early period domination has highlighted by a great play by Moyle that was well-saved by Autio. Penn State started to generate chances about four minutes into the period, but none of them caused Mann any issues in the net.

Just after five minutes into the period, Tim Doherty was called for high sticking and Michigan got its second power play of the game. Doherty and another Michigan forward were both going at it, but Doherty was called for the penalty. The penalty kill was unconvincing from the start, and Michael Pastujov made the Nittany Lions pay toward the end of the power play. Pastujov was left wide open back door and deked Autio out of his skates before tucking home a nice goal for a 2-0 Michigan lead.

The goal gave Penn State some life, and the Nittany Lions earned a power play after Johnny Beecher was sent to the box for tripping. The Nittany Lions special teams continued to be an issue as the power play was unsuccessful. Penn State then went on the penalty kill again after Bell was called for a hook at the 4:47 mark. Alex Limoges did a good job on the forecheck during the penalty kill and forced Cam York to commit a hooking penalty, negating the power play just 13 seconds in.

The end of the period has back and forth. Both teams traded quality chances, but nothing came of it. Penn State’s best chance came with 1:20 left, but Mann stuffed a Penn State forward on the doorstep. After two, Michigan had a commanding 2-0 lead. Penn State led in shots 25-19.

The third period was arguably Penn State’s best hockey of the season. Both teams came out flying, trading chances on both sides of the ice. Paul DeNaples set the tone physically, laying two big hits early in the period. Clayton Philips would be called for tripping, sending Michigan to its fifth power play of the game. Outside of one high-quality chance, Penn State executing arguably its best penalty kill of the season.

That penalty kill gave the Nittany Lions some life, and with nine minutes left in the period, Aarne Talvitie was able to feed Even Bell on a beautiful backdoor pass, and Bell buried it to make it a 2-1 game. That goal was then followed up by two more great scoring chances for Penn State, but Mann was up to the task in goal.

Despite a strong showing in the final frame, the clock continued to tick down. Autio went to the bench with 1:45 left and Michigan scored an empty-netter to seal the game. Penn State had 39 shots in the game, but Mann was a brick wall in goal and helped Michigan hold on for the win.

Takeaways

• This should go without saying, but an empty Pegula Ice Arena sucks. It was cool to be at the game in person, but the electricity in the building wasn’t there. The traditions of the Roar Zone were missed dearly. It is 2020, though, and we should be grateful that hockey is even going on right now.
• Penn State reminds me a lot of the football team. The Nittany Lions get into a habit of starting off slow, conceding high-quality chances or goals, then waking up and slowly coming into the game. Penn State has played from behind in almost every game this season and if it keeps doing that, it will continue to struggle in the win column. If the team could play as it did in the third period more often, it may not be 0-5.
• Penn State looked sloppy, especially offensively. The passes weren’t crisp, and there were miscommunications when it had possession. It was easy to see the talent gap between the two teams because Michigan very rarely gave up the puck easily. Blankenburg’s puck handling particularly stood out. He was just one example of the skill that the Wolverines possess.
• Penn State may be 0-5, but the team has potential. This year was always going to be tough. As hard as it is, we’ll need to be patient moving forward.

What’s Next?

Penn State will face off against the Wolverines again Thursday night before facing Arizona State next week. The series finale against Michigan will start at 6 p.m. on BTN+.