No. 5 Penn State men’s hockey (10-5-0, 3-4-0 Big Ten) was upset by Minnesota (6-8-1, 3-2-0 Big Ten) on Friday night at 3M Arena in Minneapolis by a score of 3-2.

Penn State opened the game with two goals in the first period by Reese Laubach, but completely crumbled in the first half of the second, surrendering three goals in under seven minutes and failing to get one into the back of the net for the last 47 minutes of the game.

How It Happened

Josh Fleming got the start in net for the Nittany Lions and faced the first shot of the game from LJ Mooney in the first minute.

After an icing, Minnesota immediately re-entered the offensive zone and capitalized on multiple Penn State giveaways to get multiple high-danger chances. On one such chance, Fleming made an initial save on Jimmy Clark, but the puck bounced onto the stick of Beckett Hendrickson, who hit the post with a wide-open net. The Nittany Lions survived the ensuing scramble, but the Golden Gophers were buzzing early.

After Penn State iced the puck twice in a row, another turnover when trying to break out of the defensive zone set up an open shot for Brody Lamb, who shot it wide. It took over six minutes for the Nittany Lions to get a shot on net towards Nathan Airey, but their first one was dangerous as Dane Dowiak fed Reese Laubach for a quick snapshot that was stopped by Airey at 6:30.

The sloppiness continued, however, as an offensive zone giveaway sprung an odd-man rush that Mason Moe nearly converted into a goal, but it was blocked by Jarod Crespo. Another giveaway soon after was kept out by a poke check by Fleming.

Ultimately, all Penn State needed was one mistake to capitalize on. An errant backpass by Leo Gruba bounced off the back wall and right in front of the net, where Laubach picked it up and unleashed a wicked snapshot to score his third goal of the season at 9:30 to make it 1-0 Penn State.

Minnesota was able to re-establish pressure in the offensive zone, but kept missing the net. The one they got on net was a wraparound by Hendrickson that Fleming barely kept out with his skate.

After a long shot from Luke Misa was saved, Penn State won the ensuing faceoff, found Laubach, who skated back to the blue line and unleashed a long shot from the point that got through everyone, finding the back of the net for his second goal of the game at 13:03 to make it 2-0. Dowiak provided a screen in front of the net, but the lone assist went to Gavin McKenna.

The next few minutes would slow down, as Penn State stopped making crucial giveaways. The one odd-man rush Minnesota did have for the rest of the first period was broken up by a nice sliding block by Crespo. The Golden Gophers did get one more partial breakaway, when Tate Pritchard skated around Nick Fascia on the wall to get a clean 1-on-1 with Fleming, but the freshman smothered the shot for his best save of the period.

Despite a very sloppy period, Penn State went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

The opening minute of the second period saw the game’s first penalty, as Brodie Ziemer went off for high-sticking at 0:54. Penn State opened the power play by holding possession in the offensive zone for a majority of the first minute, but Minnesota kept them to the perimeter and kept the crease clean. Things fell apart from there, and Penn State did not get a shot on goal on the power play.

The missed opportunity proved costly, as it didn’t take long for the Golden Gophers to strike. Axel Begley ripped a shot from the point that deflected off a Nittany Lion and got past Fleming for his first collegiate goal, cutting the deficit to 2-1 at 3:38.

Just 11 seconds later, Minnesota’s Teddy Townsend took a boarding penalty to give Penn State another power play. After a sloppy start, Charlie Cerrato got a wide-open shot on a bad defensive zone giveaway by Minnesota, but it was stopped by Airey with the glove. McKenna and Shea Van Olm got chances later on, but both went wide.

After getting its first goal on a deflection, Minnesota started firing more deep shots in an attempt to beat Fleming similarly. While a whiffed one-timer and a few missed deflections kept Penn State in front, Jackson Smith went off for cross-checking at 7:23.

Despite an initial clear, Minnesota was able to set up, and Mooney was able to tee up Ziemer for a sharp one-timer for his seventh goal of the season to tie the game on the power play at 8:03.

At this point, the momentum had completely swung in the other direction. After Penn State briefly controlled it in the offensive zone, Minnesota converted a great outlet pass that set up Moe for a clean look at Fleming, who made the save but couldn’t control the rebound. The ensuing scramble saw Fleming struggle to get back in position, and Moe eventually picked the puck up and scored the go-ahead goal at 10:08.

The next five minutes saw a break from the relentless back-and-forth action. Airey had settled in after a rough start and stopped a few shots. The next big chance from either side came at the 15-minute mark, when Fascia mishandled the puck and Hendrickson picked it up in front of the net, but didn’t have a lot of room and was smothered by Fleming.

Misa and Mac Gadowsky peppered shots on net in the next few minutes, but Penn State wasn’t able to scoop up rebounds or capitalize on loose pucks. The Nittany Lions spent the better part of three minutes in the Minnesota end, but Airey kept every shot out of the net.

Fleming had to make a pair of saves late in the period, but Penn State would finish the period shorthanded, as Smith fanned on a shot at the point and committed a high-sticking penalty on the follow-through with 30 seconds left.

Minnesota finished off its power play to start the third period, only getting a singular shot on net on a long shot by Mooney at 1:05. The Golden Gophers spent the next few minutes playing a conservative style of defense, taking three icings in 90 seconds.

Despite this, Penn State turned up the pressure in the offensive zone, threatening multiple times, including on a Laubach slapshot that went wide and nearly trickled into the crease for a big rebound. The sustained pressure didn’t result in anything, as Fascia took a slashing penalty at 6:57 to give Minnesota another power play.

This penalty kill was a lot better for Penn State, as they produced two of the best chances in those two minutes shorthanded, but one was partially blocked, and the other went wide. At the ten-minute mark, both teams got big chances in close, but both Hendrickson and Misa were stopped in close range.

Penn State got a golden opportunity to tie it when Smith was tripped up by Mooney at 11:35 to generate another power play, but the Nittany Lions once again struggled to get anything going. Immediately after the penalty expired, Mooney got the puck on a breakaway, but was stopped by Fleming.

Minnesota spent the next few minutes in the offensive zone, threatening similarly to the opening ten minutes of the game. With less than five minutes to go, Penn State generated a few more chances, including an odd-man rush that saw Matt DiMarsico’s shot get saved.

Guy Gadowsky pulled Fleming with 2:25 to go, and, for the most part, Penn State held possession in the offensive zone and threatened Airey. Despite a few shots towards the net, Minnesota cleared and nearly put it into the empty net, but the shot by Ziemer hit off the crossbar.

After a defensive zone faceoff forced Fleming back into the net, he was pulled again with 35 seconds left. The Nittany Lions got two more chances, including a stuff-in attempt by Mac Gadowsky in the crease in the dying seconds, but the Golden Gophers held on. The net popped off as the horn sounded, and a scrum ensued between several players on both teams.

Takeaways

• Josh Fleming, who’s mostly started on Saturdays in the team’s goaltending platoon, got his first series-opening start on Friday and played fine, stopping 26 shots and allowing all three goals in a span of 6:33. One area of concern: rebound control. The third goal was scored on a puck that Fleming couldn’t fully corral, and Minnesota had a few more rebound opportunities throughout the game.
• The success of Penn State and the lack thereof for Minnesota has been defined by its special teams units. Penn State entered with one of the nation’s best penalty kills and a great power play, while Minnesota entered with one of the nation’s worst penalty kills and a mediocre power play. Of course, Minnesota went 1-for-3 on the man-advantage and Penn State went 0-for-3.
• Speaking of the power play, since scoring a season-high three power play goals the day after Aiden Fink’s injury, Penn State is 0-for-19 in its last five games. It’s one thing if these power plays just aren’t converting; they look entirely discombobulated.
• The 2-0 lead remains the most dangerous in sports. Through 15 games, Penn State has already been involved with five blown 2-0 leads, although the first four were deficits that the Nittany Lions overcame. This was the first loss of the season in which Penn State scored first; they were previously 6-0-0.
• 3M Arena remains a house of horrors for the Nittany Lions, as they’ve now lost seven straight on the road against the Golden Gophers and 11 of their last 13 dating back to 2020-21.

Up Next

The men’s hockey team stays in town to play their final game before holiday break, taking on Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 22. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.