Penn State men’s hockey (2-0-0) shut down Canisius (0-2-0) on Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena by a comfortable margin of 7-5.

The Nittany Lions had six different goal scorers on the night, as they controlled the game’s offense and energy en route to a series win.

How It Happened

With junior goaltender Liam Souliere out, freshman Noah Grannan made his first start for the Nittany Lions. Head coach Guy Gadowsky also rotated Penn State’s first line from the prior night’s victory win.

While Canisius started the game hot, Penn State got a lucky break with an early power play against the Golden Griffins Alton McDermott. Just seconds later, the Nittany Lions took advantage of the man advantage and went up 1-0 with a shot from Christian Berger just over 90 seconds into the game.

Berger’s goal gave Penn State a boost, as it kept the Golden Griffins away from putting together a consistent attack while the Nittany Lions peppered the opposition goal.

The Golden Griffins worked the game back after a few minutes, culminating in a silent goal from Nick Bowman just short of nine minutes into the first period.

However, it took Penn State less than 60 seconds to regain its lead as Ture Linden brought the crowd’s energy back. The Nittany Lions kept their energy up with a poke in from Ryan Kirwan to double the lead to 3-1 with five minutes remaining in the first period.

The first period ended with some pushing between the two sides, leading to penalties for Penn State’s Ben Schoen and Canisius’ Cody Schiavon. The second period continued the roughness, as Tyler Paquette went down due to injury just after Schoen and Schiavon returned.

Canisius suffered from another early penalty in the second period, giving Penn State a powerplay with an interference call against David Melaragni. However, Penn State wasn’t able to capitalize and moments later, it was Ashton Calder in the box after a push on a Canisius player away from the play six minutes into the period.

The two sides continued to scrap, nearly getting into a fight a moment after Calder entered the box. After a review, a five-minute major penalty was awarded to Jarod Crespo for boarding. Canisius capitalized on the two-man advantage, scoring within seconds to bring the game within a goal.

After the goal, the Golden Griffins attacked the Penn State net, while Grannan and his defense put on a shot-stopping clinic. While they held no more than a few seconds of possession during Crespo’s penalty, the Nittany Lions managed to kill off the penalty and hang on to the lead.

Less than ten seconds after the penalty kill ended, Penn State’s offense exploded. Schoen took the puck down the ice, and after a pass to Tyler Gratton in front of the net, the score was 4-2 for the home side with eight minutes left in the second period.

The Nittany Lions held their own for the duration of the second period and looked comfortable going into the third.

Four minutes in, Kirwan seemed to seal the deal with a power play goal while sitting in front of Canisius’ goal. Two minutes later, Penn State ended any doubts that may have remained with a goal from Kevin Wall to make the score 6-2 with 14 minutes left.

Canisius responded immediately with a goal of its own after fewer than 30 seconds, however, the Golden Griffins failed to generate any immediate further pressure. Instead, Calder brought back Penn State’s four-goal lead with under eight minutes remaining as he tucked the puck into the top of the net.

Canisius was able to work two last goals back in the last three minutes but weren’t able to do enough to make a dent in Penn State’s lead as the Nittany Lions stayed undefeated in Happy Valley.

Takeaways

• Quick goals create momentum. Penn State scored its first two goals within a minute and a half of the prior faceoff. The mental boost from both goals was palpable.
• It was an excellent night on the ice for Linden, who set the tone with involvement in each of Penn State’s first three goals. Wall also put together a good showing with four points contributed to the Penn State offense.
• Penn State was hurt by its penalties. The Nittany Lions spent a collective 15 minutes in the box, giving up two goals in that time. While the five-minute major in the second period may have helped the vibes, it wasn’t great when the team allowed a goal to bring the Golden Griffins back in striking distance.

What’s Next

Penn State will stay home for the first game of its series against Mercyhurst next week. The Nittany Lions will take on the Lakers at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 13, at Pegula Ice Arena. The team will travel to Erie at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 14, for its second game.