No. 19 Penn State men’s hockey (7-4-3) bested Lindenwood (3-7-2) at home, cruising to a 9-3 final.

Jumping out to an early lead on goals from Aiden Fink and Ryan Kirwan, the Nittany Lions completely controlled the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the tunnel. A rollercoaster second period saw the score balloon to 6-2 as five different players tallied goals for Penn State. Jacques Bouquot called game in the third period, earning two gritty goals en route to his first career hat-trick and the Nittany Lions’ second in as many games.

How It Happened

Head coach Guy Gadowsky showed “The Kid Line” some love and put it on the ice to start the contest, as the freshmen forward trio Fink, Reese Laubach, and Matt DiMarsico took the opening face-off. Behind them stood Dylan Gratton and Simon Mack on defense and Liam Souliere in cage. Lindenwood’s junior goaltender Trent Burnham made his thirteenth consecutive start in net for the Lions.

Lindenwood got off to a quick start, firing the first three shots of the contest toward Souliere and keeping Penn State on the back foot early. The Nittany Lions truly entered the tilt in the fifth minute when Ryan Kirwan and Danny Dzhaniyev peppered the Lions’ net with consecutive high-probability shots.

Penn State earned its first sustained offensive possession on the second cycle through its lines. Fink, DiMarsico, and Gratton spread the Lions out with speedy perimeter puck movements before firing it on cage. Burnham made the initial stop but Fink poached the rebound for his sixth goal in four games.

Four-straight games with a goal for Finker!! pic.twitter.com/gEFa1TcfRI

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

The Nittany Lions doubled down later in the first period on a quick buildup rush that absolutely dismantled Lindenwood’s forecheck. Xander Lamppa and Dzhaniyev laddered the puck up and into the zone where a streaking Kirwan took a pass in the slot, burned a defender, and cashed in up close.

Kirby is officially off the schneid!! pic.twitter.com/OeNzRrXLI4

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

The rest of the first period was all Penn State as its offense went to work establishing a mountainous shot total, tallying 27 to Lindenwood’s 10 by the end of the frame. The score stood 2-0 at the first intermission.

The start of the second period was much more balanced than the first, both sides managed six shots each in the first six minutes of play. Mirroring the first period, though, the freshmen forwards broke the ice and opened the scoring again. This time, Fink and Mack set up in the mid-slot, forcing the defensive pairing to skate up and meet them. Laubach saw the space created underneath and zipped up to fill it, tapping home a rebound uncontested on the doorstep to extend the Nittany Lions lead to 3-0.

The Kid Line continues to impress!! pic.twitter.com/WbA6Jwfaja

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

The power play didn’t wait long to strike. Lamppa won the offensive zone face-off and Kirwan and Dzhaniyev went give-and-go to find space on the right circle where Kirwan fired the puck past Burnham just 11 seconds after starting the advantage. The Nittany Lions then led 4-0.

Far post and in and that's two for Kirwan!! pic.twitter.com/vVOxecdkJH

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

Lamppa was sent to the box for cross-checking the following play, setting up Lindwood’s third power play of the game. The Lions got their first on the advantage, the goal from Jaeden Mercier.

Penn State responded in a hurry, getting some help from the Lion defense as Bouquot tried to center the puck from the corner. He ended up getting a friendly bounce off a central defender that Burnham had no chance to keep out of the net, extending the score to 5-1.

Whoopsies pic.twitter.com/VSY5PryxaS

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

Three minutes later, Lindenwood earned a three-on-one rush and sped into the zone. Crashing the crease, Adam Conquest muscled the puck past Souliere to claw the score back to 5-2.

Emotions erupted in front of Lindenwood’s cage as Bouquot got too close to Burnham for the Lion defenders’ liking. After getting a face-wash by Joe Prouty and returning some blows of his own, both players were escorted from the ice, Buquot with a minor unsportsmanlike penalty and Prouty with a major face masking infraction.

While four-on-four, Simon Mack won a contested puck in the high slot where he dished to Matt DiMarsico, who buried the puck in close with no doubt to extend the Nittany Lion lead to 6-2 with 4:25 to play in the second frame.

Here's the goal we missed due to the chaos, a beauty from Matt DiMarsico!! pic.twitter.com/yZm1JInuWN

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

Penn State returned for the third period just as strong as it left the second, immediately tilting the ice toward the Lindenwood zone. Dane Dowiak managed to dispossess a Lion defender as the black and gold looked to clear its zone, turning the play back and gaining an ocean of space at the right circle. He loaded up and fired, just beating backup Matt Syverson on his blocker side to push the lead to 7-2.

Been a minute since we had an ICE TUDDY!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/7z8Ku5X8TX

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

The Nittany Lions kept the pressure up through the middle of the frame, refusing to play in their own end as a possession-focused offense and oppressive forecheck kept the puck pinned in the Lindenwood zone.

After 12 straight shots on goal, Penn State was handed its sixth power play of the game, the penalty on Kabore Dunn for slashing. The power play unit worked along the blue line, with Bouquot deciding to unload from the high point as a heavy screen formed in front of Syverson. He had no chance to stop the puck as it snuck through for the first two-goal game of Bouquot’s five-year career.

8-2. pic.twitter.com/Q036NrBCWl

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

The Nittany Lions managed to get one back before the end of the game, Mercier grabbing his second goal of the tilt with a nifty deflection right in front of Souliere to set the score back to 8-3.

The Nittany Lions weren’t finished with a minute and a half left on the clock. Bouquot wanted one more and he got it delivered on a platter by Casey Aman, hammering home the feed from the low slot for the hat trick. Aman recorded his first collegiate point on the play, too.

Back-to-back Nittany Lion HAT-TRICK'S!! pic.twitter.com/PxyaaPnM7K

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) November 24, 2023

At the final buzzer, the score stood 9-3 for Penn State.

Takeaways:

• The kids are alright! Combining for ten points, the freshmen are contributing en masse to the Nittany Lions’ recent success. Tonight, Fink extended his goal streak to four games, DiMarsico tallied four points, Dowiak and Laubauch each scored, and Aman recorded his first assist.
• Kirwan is back in the goal column. After starting the season with four goals in four games, the junior winger hit a nine-game dry spell. He returned with a vengeance tonight with two timely goals.
• The Nittany Lions owned the third period tonight. While usually strong to close out games, they might as well have been the only team on the ice for the final frame, controlling the puck the entire time as evidenced by a 17-4 shot differential.

What’s Next?

Penn State will return to Pegula Ice Arena Saturday afternoon for the conclusion of its series with Lindenwood. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.