Penn State men’s hockey (4-3, 0-2 Big Ten) fell to Minnesota (7-1, 2-0 Big Ten) 1-0 in the second game of a weekend series in Minneapolis.

Minnesota scored with just 26 seconds remaining in regulation to break the stalemate, and former Penn State goalie Liam Souliere recorded a 28-save shutout en route to the victory. Arsenii Sergeev made 11 saves in the loss for Penn State.

How It Happened

After a flurry of activity from Penn State in the opening minutes of the game, Minnesota responded with a few nice scoring chances of its own as the first 10 minutes of play ticked away.

The Golden Gophers were awarded the first power play of the night at 11:52 after Charlie Cerrato was sent to the box for hooking. Jimmy Clark had a nice chance from the side of the net on a one-timer, but the puck deflected off of the heel of his stick and went just wide with Penn State killing the remainder of the power play shortly after.

As soon as Cerrato was out of the box, he found himself back in it as he was called for interference just 32 seconds after his first penalty expired. Once again, Minnesota has some nice chances towards the end of the power play but the Nittany Lions once again killed the Cerrato penalty.

With under five minutes to go in the period, Penn State forced a turnover in the Minnesota end, allowing Aiden Fink and Jason Gallucci to be sprung on a two-on-one. Fink elected to shoot and Souliere made a nice glove save to keep the game scoreless.

It appeared Penn State would head to the penalty kill for the third time, but Jimmy Snuggerud was sent to the box for roughing just two seconds into the Minnesota power play at 16:27 and the teams played four-on-four hockey. The Nittany Lions took advantage of the open ice and dominated play with a few scoring chances off the stick of Cerrato, but Souliere and the Golden Gophers weathered the storm and the teams returned to full strength.

With just 14 seconds left in the period, Snuggerud caught Nicholas DeGraves up high with an elbow on an attempted hit, with the referees determining the hit was worthy of a five-minute major penalty and a subsequent ejection of Snuggerud. DeGraves would be helped off the ice before heading to the locker room.

Minnesota held the Nittany Lions in the final seconds of the opening period, and Penn State would begin the second period with 4:46 remaining on its power play.

Nothing worked for Penn State on its power play, as Minnesota killed the remainder of the Snuggerud penalty without much resistance. The Nittany Lions had just two shots, with Brody Lamb having the best scoring chance shorthanded, as he was sprung on a breakaway where Sergeev made a lunging save.

A chaotic sequence followed the unsuccessful power play, with both teams having chances off of odd-man rushes. Perhaps the best opportunity came off the stick of Cade Christenson, who took a drop pass and fired a shot that Souliere saved.

Minnesota pressured the Nittany Lions for much of the middle half of the second period, but the Penn State defense held strong to continue blocking both shooting and passing lanes, keeping Minnesota from getting any real scoring chances.

After failing to score on the earlier major penalty, Penn State headed back to the power play as Beckett Hendrickson was sent to the box for tripping at 16:30. Much like its first opportunity on the power play, Penn State never got its legs with the man advantage and Minnesota killed the penalty.

The second period concluded shortly after the Golden Gophers killed the penalty, with the score remaining 0-0.

Lamb nearly opened the scoring with just under four minutes gone in the final period, as he beat Sergeev over the shoulder, but the puck went off the post and Penn State cleared. The Nittany Lions answered with a two-on-one of their own, but Souliere made a pad save on Ben Schoen to thwart the opportunity.

Penn State had yet another scoring opportunity as Nick Fascia fired a one-timer from the slot, but Souliere again made a fantastic sliding save to keep the Nittany Lions off the board.

Much of the middle part of the period was spent in the Minnesota end of the ice, with Penn State continuing to put pressure on the Golden Gophers. More key saves from Souliere kept the game scoreless.

The Golden Gophers showed signs of life in the final five minutes, spending extended shifts in the Penn State zone. Like they had all night, the Penn State defense clogged any open lanes and weathered the storm with multiple blocked passes and shots.

Luke Middlestadt fired a shot from the point that was deflected by Clark, and the puck snuck past Sergeev to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead with 26 seconds remaining.

Guy Gadowsky opted to pull Sergeev for the extra attacker, but Penn State was unable to get the tying goal and Minnesota came away with the series sweep.

Takeaways

• Penn State outplayed Minnesota for two periods, but couldn’t take advantage of key opportunities. Snuggerud, arguably the best player on Minnesota, was ejected at the end of the first period, with Penn State being awarded a five-minute power play but was unable to score.
• It was a tough night for the Nittany Lions’ power play, as they were 0-3 and mustered just 4 shots with over 10 minutes of power play time. Penn State is now 3-21 with the man advantage this season.
• A heartbreaking result for the Nittany Lions, as they were 26 seconds away from recording a point on the road against a top-five team in the nation. Penn State outshot Minnesota a whopping 28-12, but a familiar face in Souliere put on a show to record the shutout and rob the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions are on bye this upcoming weekend but will return to Pegula Ice Arena on Friday, November 15, for a matchup against Wisconsin. For those who cannot attend, it will be streamed on BTN+.