No. 9 Penn State men’s hockey (13-6-0, 5-4-0 Big Ten) shut out Minnesota (8-11-1, 4-5-0 Big Ten) at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night, 3-0.

Josh Fleming was stellar again in net, making 27 saves and getting the second shutout of his young, collegiate career. Luke Misa additionally produced his first collegiate multi-point game.

How It Happened

Fleming got the start in net for the Nittany Lions in the series opener for the second consecutive weekend.

Play was generally even for the first five minutes until Carter Schade dangled past a defender from the blue line and had his shot deflected into the back of the net by Luke Misa for his third goal of the season at 5:15. Casey Aman picked up a secondary assist, as Penn State went up 1-0 early.

Misa with the tip out front on what we all thought was Carter Schade's first career goal….it's coming Schader!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/nYbEGBkoMl

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 9, 2026

Fleming would be tested a few minutes later on a shot in front of the net by Brodie Ziemer, but he kept it out of the net. Penn State began to tip the ice after that, dominating the majority of the first period.

The sustained pressure eventually generated a second goal, as Misa picked up his second point of the game by teeing up Cade Christenson for a deep slapshot at 12:28 to make it 2-0. Mac Gadowsky started the play by getting the puck at the red line and sending a crisp pass to Misa at the blue line.

Hell of a quick transition by Gadowsky and a snipe from Christenson!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/fDkwrE1oun

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 9, 2026

The Nittany Lions nearly stretched the lead to three in the final minute of the period, as Misa dinged the post on a shot before it trickled underneath Luca Di Pasquo and hit the post a second time as he scrambled to find the puck before knocking it behind the net. The period ended at 2-0, but Penn State had 19 shots on net.

Minnesota started hot in the second period, springing a 2-on-1 in the first minute, but alternate captain Jarod Crespo broke it up on a fantastic play with his stick to strip LJ Mooney. Just 20 seconds later, a deep drive to the net by Brody Lamb was stopped by Fleming as the Golden Gophers gained momentum.

They almost pounced again on a whiffed clear attempt behind the net by Aiden Fink that trickled into the crease in front of Fleming at the four-minute mark, but Ziemer’s shot was smothered by the Montreal native.

The two sides went back-and-forth for the next several minutes, with the next big chance coming when Gavin McKenna tried to hit Fink in the slot with a slap pass, but it hit off the pad of Di Pasquo and trickled away. Two minutes after that, Beckett Hendrickson got a golden opportunity in front of the net on a rebound with Mac Gadowsky falling into Fleming, but he sent it wide of the net.

Minnesota got its first partial breakaway of the game at 18:30 of the second, but Tanner Ludtke was stonewalled by Fleming. A minute later, Penn State capitalized on a broken play to go up 3-0, as Matt DiMarsico dangled around a pair of defenders and dished to JJ Wiebusch, who sent a pass from behind the net to Reese Laubach.

Laubach let one rip from the endboards, and it trickled through the legs of Di Pasquo and onto the stick of a rotating DiMarsico, who put home his ninth goal of the season with just six seconds left in the period.

Cleaning up the garbage in the goal crease!!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/L5KhND5rUv

— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) January 10, 2026

Holding a 3-0 lead into the third period, the Nittany Lions looked to play conservatively and not make mistakes to give the Golden Gophers any big chances, but both teams played sloppily in the opening minutes with defensive zone giveaways. Fortunately, both goaltenders bailed out their defensemen.

Fleming stuffed Leo Gruba in the crease at 4:30, while Di Pasquo returned the favor on Dane Dowiak a bit over three minutes later. With nine minutes to play in the period, Misa hit his second post of the day, coming close to adding onto his multi-point performance.

After 52 minutes of clean hockey, Wiebusch picked up the game’s first penalty at the 12:30 mark, receiving a game misconduct that saw him hit the showers early. Shortly after that, Hendrickson had multiple chances all alone against Fleming, but the freshman was able to sprawl onto his stomach to make multiple saves.

With the clock dwindling under seven minutes, Penn State played a safe, conservative style of hockey that continued to flummox Minnesota. The Golden Gophers finally got their first power play at 15:20, when Lev Katzin was sent off for roughing after a whistle. They got three shots on net in the next two minutes, but failed to score.

Di Pasquo was briefly pulled inside of two minutes, but lasted only 19 seconds on the bench before Ludtke decked Schade away from the puck and took a penalty for interference. A scrum ensued following the unnecessary hit, resulting in a dueling minor being assessed to Nolan Collins and both Collins and Ludtke heading to the locker room early with game misconducts with 1:03 to go.

Neither team attempted a shot in the final minute, closing out the shutout for Fleming.

Takeaways

• Most fans and hockey people would agree that the effort Penn State displayed in the pre-Thanksgiving series on the road against these same Golden Gophers wasn’t up to par. Despite splitting that series, it was a disappointing series against a floundering Minnesota team. Today was more like it, as the Nittany Lions were buzzing from the opening faceoff.
• Josh Fleming continues to be stellar in net and improves his case to finally break the platoon he has with Kevin Reidler, making 27 saves and improving his save percentage to .938 in nine starts. His goals against average is down to 1.91.
• Cade Christenson’s return seems to have reestablished the physical identity of this team from last season. While also displaying their offensive firepower, Penn State played a very physical game, not being afraid to throw a thunderous hit.
• That was Luke Misa’s best game as a Nittany Lion. A goal, an assist, two posts hit, and some loud hits. If he can get rolling in the second half offensively, Penn State will be hard to beat.

Up Next

The men’s hockey team wraps up the series against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 10. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.