Penn State men’s hockey (10-10-3, 2-8-3 Big Ten) dropped its first game of the series against Notre Dame (12-11-2, 6-7-2 Big Ten) 4-1 Friday night in South Bend.

Noah Grannan got the start between the pipes and struggled early, saving two of his first four shots faced as the Nittany Lions went down 2-0 in the first period. Dylan Lugris was the lone goal scorer for the Nittany Lions in their third straight loss.

How It Happened

Guy Gadowsky went back to Grannan in goal after the sophomore didn’t see the ice against Michigan State the week before.

Penn State controlled the ice for the first two minutes of the game and generated six shots early against Notre Dame’s two. Grannan was finally tested six minutes into the game when Justin Janicke crashed the net but wasn’t able to get the puck past the Penn State netminder. Lightning wouldn’t strike twice for Grannan, though, when a long rebound was picked up by Danny Nelson and put in the net three minutes later.

Extracurriculars after the Notre Dame goal created four-on-four action for the next two minutes. The extra space didn’t generate any chances and the teams returned to full strength with 11 minutes remaining in the opening frame.

With just under 10 minutes left in the game, Grant Silianoff was called for boarding, and Penn State went to its first power play of the game. Despite five quality looks at the net, the Nittany Lions couldn’t break through and the Irish killed the penalty.

The next few minutes were largely back-and-forth with Notre Dame holding the puck but struggling to create any chances with the Nittany Lions on their heels. Penn State went back on the power play with less than two minutes remaining when Henry Nelson was called for a hook.

The Nittany Lions kept the puck in the offensive before a rebound left the zone and found its way to Trevor Janicke’s stick alone in front of Grannan with 0.6 seconds left. Penn State had given up a shorthanded goal and went to the locker room trailing 2-0. Despite the scoreline, Penn State outshot the Irish 17-4 and Grannan left for intermission sporting a .500 save percentage on his four shots faced.

The remaining 18 seconds of the power play were killed by Notre Dame without a chance from the Nittany Lions. From there, the Irish fired two shots at Grannan that were both blocked before reaching goal.

Penn State sent Notre Dame to the power play with 16 minutes remaining in the second period when Tyler Paquette was called for a hook. Penn State locked down the front of the net as the Irish continued passing the puck around the perimeter to no avail. No good chances materialized for Notre Dame and Penn State went back to full strength with 14 minutes left trailing 2-0.

Notre Dame continued to put pressure on Grannan with the Nittany Lion offense only able to provide momentary relief on shift changes that never amounted to offensive chances. The second period drug on with increasing physicality as both teams struggled to find the net.

Penn State won a scrum along the Nittany Lion bench and dumped the puck into their own zone where Alex Servagno’s rebound was collected by Dylan Lugris and put into the back of the net to bring the deficit to 2-1.

A few minutes later, a giveaway in the Nittany Lion defensive zone by Dane Dowiak found its way to the stick of Maddox Fleming who beat Grannan and put the Irish back up by two with five minutes remaining in the second period. The Irish momentum was magnified a minute later when Ryan Kirwan was called for tripping and sent Notre Dame to the power play once again. Penn State got the kill without allowing any meaningful chances from Notre Dame.

The teams played out the remaining minute of the second period and Penn State skated to the break down 3-1.

Penn State restarted its upward climb in the third period as the physicality between both teams continued. No team could establish an offensive presence before Aiden Fink was called for a cross check and Notre Dame went to its fourth power play of the night. Penn State’s penalty-killing unit delivered again, and the game wore on with just over 14 minutes left.

Two minutes later, Fleming delivered a huge hit on Fink that left the freshman down on the ice and sent the Nittany Lions to a big power play with time winding down. The puck was frozen for a substantial amount of time in the Irish offensive zone and Penn State’s power play never recovered. The power play struggles continued for Penn State and the Irish got the kill.

Grannan kept the Nittany Lions in the game over the next few minutes as the Irish generated multiple odd-man rushes that were stopped by the netminder.

Penn State nearly broke through with six minutes left as a shot from Jarod Crespo careened off the pipe and fooled the arena but was waved off. After the sequence, Janicke was called for cross-checking and Penn State went on another power play. Gadowsky pulled Grannan for the last minute of the Penn State power play and Penn State skated six-on-four. Notre Dame killed the penalty and Grannan stayed on the bench with just under four minutes remaining.

Penn State retained possession for over a minute in the offensive zone before the puck was iced by the Irish before Notre Dame called timeout. Penn State got extremely lucky as the Irish missed an empty-net chance in close and the game rolled on with the Nittany Lions trailing by two.

The Irish finished the game off with a minute and 15 seconds left after capitalizing on an empty net and Penn State dropped its third straight game.

Takeaways

• Penn State went 0-5 on the power play Friday night and gave up a shorthanded goal with less than a second left in the first period. Penn State’s power play unit has been one of the top 20 in the nation but hasn’t been able to find success after the Christmas break.
• After the Nittany Lions’ comeback against Army, Gadowsky criticized goaltending. He started Liam Souliere for both games during Michigan State’s sweep of the Nittany Lions. Grannan got the start tonight and had a slow start, letting in two of the four shots he faced in the first period, a deficit the Nittany Lions couldn’t come back from.
• Penn State’s offense is struggling to finish. Unleashing a barrage of shots but not finding the back of the net has been the theme for the Nittany Lions this season, and Penn State outshot Notre Dame 39-25 Friday night.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will be back in action at 6 p.m. Saturday night, January 20, in South Bend. The game will be broadcast on Peacock.