Penn State men’s hockey (7-9, 0-8 Big Ten) defeated Army (5-11, 5-7 AHA) 4-1 in the 2024 Capital Hockey Classic.

After its disappointing trip to Columbus, Penn State rebounded with a solid effort in the stand-alone game against the Black Knights. John Seifarth stole the show as he recorded 30 saves in the win, with Jimmy Dowd Jr., Dylan Lugris, and Reese Laubach all recording goals.

How It Happened

Penn State needed to start fast, and it did just that. Dowd fired a slap shot from the point that got behind a screened JJ Cataldo to put the Nittany Lions ahead 1-0 just two minutes into play.

PUCKS ON NET!! pic.twitter.com/Pbms4GrBcR

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 13, 2024

Seifarth made his first pair of saves on the night after a turnover by Penn State allowed Nik Hong to be sprung on a breakaway. Seifarth stopped the initial backhanded shot attempt by Hong and padded away the follow-up to keep the Nittany Lions ahead by a goal.

After yet another turnover by the Nittany Lions, Army nearly evened the score with under nine minutes to go in the opening period. Joey Baez fired a wrist shot that beat Seifarth up high, but the puck rang off the post, and Penn State cleared the zone.

The Black Knights had their second breakaway opportunity of the period after a takeaway in the Penn State offensive zone, but Stephen Willey fired the puck over the net where it carried out of the zone, and Penn State again escaped disaster.

Seifarth made a nice save with his blocker to stop another Army scoring chance as the period came to a close, and Penn State headed to the locker room still up by one goal.

Mac Gadowsky had the lone scoring chance of the opening five minutes of play in the second period as he dangled past a pair of Penn State defenders to get into the slot. The ensuing backhanded shot was gloved by Seifarth, and the Nittany Lions cleared the zone.

Seifarth continued to impress as the period raged on, as he thwarted multiple Army scoring chances in front of the net to keep Penn State ahead by one goal with just over 10 minutes remaining in the period.

The Black Knights continued to control play as the second period raged on, with Seifarth coming up with additional big saves, punctuated by a pad save on Joey Dosan, who was all alone in front of the net.

In a period devoid of scoring chances for the Nittany Lions, Lugris took advantage of one of the few. The forward skated into the Army zone and unleashed a wicked wrist shot from the left circle over the blocker of Cataldo to extend Penn State’s lead to two goals. Ben Schoen and Simon Mack recorded the assists on Lugris’ goal at 13:08.

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— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 13, 2024

Army headed to the first power play of the night after Nick Fascia was sent to the box for holding at 16:50. With just under one minute remaining in the penalty to Fascia, Aiden Fink stole the puck from Cataldo and dished a pass to Laubach. The forward then fired the puck into the back of the net to notch Penn State’s short-handed tally and extend its lead to three.

We'll take that thank you very much!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/HiywqvIVAZ

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 13, 2024

Just five seconds after their power play expired, the Black Knights responded. Baez fired the puck past Seifarth to cut the Army deficit to two goals. Brent Keefer recorded the lone assist on the goal at 18:20.

Penn State recorded a flurry of activity in Army’s zone in the final minute of the second period, but the Black Knights defense held, and the teams returned to the locker room with Penn State leading 3-1.

Just one minute into the final period of regulation, the Black Knights took a bench minor for too many men on the ice, sending Penn State to its first power play of the game. The Army penalty kill delivered a strong defensive effort as it clogged the middle of the ice and forced Penn State to operate from the perimeter while blocking multiple shot opportunities en route to the successful kill.

After its failed power play, Penn State controlled play as the teams approached the halfway point in the third period. The Nittany Lions peppered Cataldo with shot attempts, but the Army goalie made the necessary saves to keep the score the same.

The Black Knights were sprung on yet another odd-man rush with just under 10 minutes remaining, with Barron Woodring leading the charge. Woodring opted to shoot instead of passing to the second Army forward, and Seifarth came up with a big pad save to keep Penn State ahead by two goals.

As Army continued to apply pressure on the Nittany Lions, Seifarth continued his strong play in the net. The Black Knights had numerous scoring opportunities as the period dragged on, and Seifarth came up with huge saves on each.

Brian Riley opted to pull his goalie for an extra skater at 17:12 as Army tried to mount a comeback, but Laubach scored the empty-netter just seconds after Cataldo returned to the bench to put the Nittany Lions ahead 4-1 with under three minutes to play.

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— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) December 13, 2024

With the game on ice, Penn State returned to the power play as Easton Zueger was sent to the box for tripping at 17:59. Nothing came of the power play, and the final horn sounded just one second after the penalty to Zueger expired.

Takeaways

• Seifarth continued his solid play in place of the injured Arsenii Sergeev in tonight’s game, as the goalie recorded 30 saves on the 31 shots he faced. Additionally, he bailed out the Penn State defense on multiple occasions by thwarting a pair of breakaways and multiple odd-man rushes from the Black Knights.
• For one of the few times all season, Penn State was outshot by the opposing team while experiencing multiple defensive breakdowns in front of its goalie. Army did not capitalize on these scoring opportunities, but it was an all-around sloppy defensive effort by Penn State despite the win.
• The Nittany Lions’ penalty kill had struggled heading into the matchup against Army, but the unit rebounded. Penn State killed the lone Black Knights power-play opportunity and notched a shorthanded goal thanks to strong penalty killing from Fink and Laubach.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions have a long layoff before traveling to Chicago for a matchup at Wrigley Field against Notre Dame. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. on Friday, January 3.