Penn State men’s hockey (9-10-1, 2-9-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 1 Michigan State (18-2-2, 9-1-2 Big Ten) in round four of the shootout in the final game in its series against the Spartans.

The Nittany Lions got off to a quick start courtesy of Aiden Fink, but Michigan State quickly regrouped to dominate much of the middle part of the contest. Penn State battled back in the final period of regulation, where Ben Schoen sent the game to overtime and Dylan Lugris secured the extra point for Penn State in the shootout.

How It Happened

Like in game one against the Spartans, Penn State got out to another fast start on Saturday as Aiden Fink opened the scoring just four minutes into the opening period. The forward rushed up the left side of the ice on a two-on-one and fired a wrist shot past the glove of Trey Augustine, with Jimmy Dowd Jr. picking up the lone assist.

ONE-EIGHT gets us off and running again!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/u8H16CChp7

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 11, 2025

Minutes later, Fink attempted to pick up a pass in the middle of the offensive zone, but David Gucciardi laid a big hit as Fink reached out for the puck with his glove and knocked the forward to the ice. Fink immediately went into the locker room upon exiting the ice but would return later in the period.

Just before the halfway point in the period, Michigan State headed to the power play for the first time as Casey Aman sat for a two-minute holding penalty. Forty seconds into the Michigan State man advantage, Fink was sprung on a two-on-one with Charlie Cerrato, where the forward opted for a wrist shot but was robbed by Augustine. After the Fink scoring chance, Penn State killed the remainder of Aman’s penalty, and the teams returned to full strength.

The Spartans continued to control play after its failed power play and were rewarded for their continued strong effort with another power play. Dane Dowiak took a defensive zone-tripping penalty with five minutes remaining, and Penn State delivered a second successful penalty kill to keep its lead at one goal thanks to a handful of saves from Arsenii Sergeev.

With just over one minute left in the opening period, it was Penn State that headed to the power play as Tiernan Shoudy took a roughing penalty in his defensive zone. Twenty-one seconds into the Nittany Lions power play, Michigan State took a second penalty, giving Penn State a five-on-three power play.

Thanks to key blocks from Michigan State skaters, they escaped the period without allowing a goal and left Penn State with just 23 seconds of carry-over time on its two-man advantage.

After it won the opening draw of the second period, Penn State entered the offensive zone with some time left on its power play but could not capitalize, and both Michigan State players exited the box.

The Nittany Lions immediately headed back to the man advantage after Vladislav Lukashevich sat for interference. Once again, Penn State held the puck in its offensive zone, but Michigan State continued to clog all shooting lanes and held the Nittany Lions off of the scoreboard.

After his four-goal night in game one, Isaac Howard struck again just under five minutes into the period. He took a pass off of the boards and skated into the left face-off circle unopposed, where the forward fired a snap shot past Sergeev.

Penn State headed to its fourth power play of the night after Nathan Mackie hooked Matt DiMarscio as the forward cut toward the net with the puck and drew the penalty. The Spartans delivered yet another strong penalty kill as Augustine faced just one shot on goal, and the teams returned to full strength.

After its successful penalty kill, Michigan State again found the back of the net. Maxim Strbak fired a wrist shot from the point that Sergeev saved, but the rebound kicked out to Patrick Geary, who took the puck and skated behind the net. The defenseman then delivered a pass to Joey Larson, who was parked in the slot and one-timed a shot past Sergeev to put the Spartans ahead by one goal.

Looking for insurance, Michigan State nearly doubled its lead after an initial scoring chance on a two-on-one where Sergeev made a sliding pad save to keep the Spartans off the board. The goaltender then made a pair of saves on the follow-up shot attempts, where play was mercifully stopped because of a hand pass.

Augustine robbed Danny Dzhaniyev in front of the net before the final horn of the middle period sounded, and the teams headed to the locker room with the Spartans ahead by one goal.

The start of the final period of regulation was far better for Penn State, as it had its first period of extended offensive zone time since the first period, Still, Augustine made every save asked of him to keep Michigan State in the lead.

Penn State challenged a hit on Nick Fascia at center ice, alleging a major penalty should be addressed. After a brief review, the situation room and on-ice referees determined the hit was not worth a major penalty, and the Nittany Lions lost their timeout for the unsuccessful challenge.

With 13 minutes remaining, Fink was sprung on a breakaway where the forward drew a penalty and was awarded a penalty shot. Fink opted for a wrist shot from the lower slot, but Augustine was not fooled, as the goaltender made a glove save and turned away the shot attempt.

The Spartans went back on the power play after Aman took a defensive-zone slashing penalty. Another strong kill by Penn State kept the Michigan State lead at just one goal with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

Shortly after its successful penalty kill, Penn State headed to its fifth power play of the night as Charlie Stramel sat for tripping. The Nittany Lions never held the offensive zone with the man advantage, as the Spartans secured the easy penalty kill.

Schoen was hit up high by Geary in the Penn State offensive zone, and the referees awarded Penn State its sixth power play of the night with under three minutes to go. Before the start of the power play, Guy Gadowsky opted to pull Sergeev for an extra skater and a six-on-four advantage.

Over one minute into its power play, Penn State finally converted on the power play and sent Pegula Ice Arena into a frenzy. Dowd Jr. fired a snap shot from the point that was deflected by Ben Schoen, and the puck found its way past Augustine to tie the game with under two minutes to play.

PEGULA IS ROCKING!! pic.twitter.com/GHeXjUFYNr

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 12, 2025

Michigan State unsuccessfully challenged the goal for incidental contact, and Penn State headed back to the power play as Mackie sat for unsportsmanlike conduct. Penn State could not convert before the final horn of regulation and had 16 seconds of carry-over power play time to open overtime.

Penn State did not convert on its carry-over time, and overtime began with even play. After Augustine and Sergeev traded saves throughout, overtime ended as it began and the game headed to a shootout to determine who secured the extra point.

Karsen Dorwart and Dzhaniyev were denied in round one, with Daniel Russell and Cerrato also denied in round two. Sergeev finally denied Howard in round three, and Augustine matched him with a pad save on Fink.

Sergeev made a nice poke check to begin round four, and Dylan Lugris undressed Augustine with an impressive move on his backhand to secure the win for the Nittany Lions.

Takeaways

• Through two periods, it seemed like Michigan State was primed to blow the Nittany Lions out of the arena. The Spartans scored two goals in the period and had dominated play since the start of the first period. Penn State battled back in the third period, however, and were rewarded for their play when Schoen scored with under two minutes remaining to send the game to overtime.
• One area of strength for Penn State in this game was its penalty kill, as this unit delivered against the best power play in the Big Ten by a significant margin. Penn State killed all four of the Spartans’ power play attempts and allowed just four shots on goal during its penalty kill opportunities.
• After a subpar game one by his standards, Sergeev rebounded with a valiant effort in game two. The goaltender made 35 saves on 37 shots and kept Penn State in the game.

What’s Next?

Penn State men’s hockey continues its extended homestand as Canisius travels to Happy Valley for a two-game weekend series. Game one is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, January 17.