The Fighting Irish started the game off strong, keeping the puck in the Nittany Lions’ offensive zone for the first couple shifts of the period. The pace of the game was similar to that of the previous night with very few stoppages occurring in the opening frame. Notre Dame struggled with the puck in the neutral zone and in its own defensive zone, as Penn State’s forecheck was relentless.

The Nittany Lions would be the first on the board in the game. Gratton caught the Irish sleeping on the forecheck, forced a turnover in front of the Irish net, and buried a shot past St. Cyr for his first goal of the season and the 1-0 lead at the 14:28 mark of the first period. That would be the only notable action of the period as Penn State went into the first intermission up 1-0. It also led in shots 9-7.

Tyler Gratton opens the scoring for the Nittany Lions pic.twitter.com/lHjXtE7Msk

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 29, 2021

It would take Notre Dame just over four minutes into the second frame to find the tying goal. A defensive breakdown from Penn State saw the puck fall to Steeves who was wide open in front of Autio. Despite Autio making a nice save on the first attempt, Notre Dame’s leading goalscorer swatted the rebound out of the air and into the back of the net to tie the game at one at the 4:06 mark of the second period.

Steeves’ goal was a big moment for Notre Dame as the ice began to tilt in its favor. The momentum would continue for the Irish when Clayton Phillips was sent to the box for tripping at the 9:46 mark of the period. The Nittany Lions’ penalty kill did a good job of limiting shots on goals and was able to kill off the penalty with no real threat. 

The Nittany Lions would see a player leave the game for the second straight night with an injury. Jimmy Dowd Jr. was hit high and hard behind the Irish net and stayed down. He was helped off the ice after receiving medical attention and did return to the game shortly after. That would be the only notable action of the period as both teams had one goal to their names entering the second intermission. Penn State led in shots 19-16.

It wouldn’t take long for the Nittany Lions to find the go-ahead goal to start the third. Tyler Paquette’s weird-angled shot rebounded off St. Cyr and found a wide-open Sternschein who put the puck past St. Cyr for the 2-1 lead only 1:42 into the final frame. It was the second goal of the game to come from Penn State’s bottom six.

Only a few minutes later, Penn State thought it had another goal after a goalmouth scramble, but St. Cyr appeared to make the save on his back. The no-goal was not reviewed. As the final media timeout approached, Autio stepped up big again for Penn State making a couple of big saves to help weather a Notre Dame offensive barrage.

Notre Dame would eventually find a way past Autio and the tying goal. Theisen made a great play, going coast to coast and finish a beautiful move past Autio to tie the game at two at the 11:34 mark of the third period. It was a deserving goal for Notre Dame, who dominated the few minutes leading up to the goal. The third period would end 2-2, and the two squads were headed to overtime for the second consecutive night.

The overtime period was chaotic and end-to-end. With 54 seconds left in the extra period, Stastney played hero for Notre Dame, putting a breakaway past Autio for the 3-2 overtime winner. Despite the loss, Penn State outshot the Irish 35-26 in the game.