Penn State, Notre Dame finish 3-3 in B1G opener
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The No. 17-ranked Penn State men’s hockey program tied their Big Ten opener with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 3-3. The Irish won the shootout 1-0 after Cole Knuble netted the lone score of the shootout in the third round.
The Irish earned the extra point in the shootout. The Nittany Lions move to 5-2-1 in the season, and 0-0-1 in Big Ten play.
A night of threes
In the tie, both teams were even at a total of three goals a piece, but that was not the only three in this game. Dylan Lugris tied the game up in the second period, with his third goal of the season.
In the third period, down 3-2, Notre Dame was on the man advantage after a Reese Laubach cross-check, but before the play even started, another Nittany Lion goal came after Chase McLane was called for a faceoff violation.
Because of the penalties, the Nittany Lions had three skaters on the ice when Maddox Fleming tied the game up for the Irish.
Nittany Lion alternate captain Xander Lamppa made himself at home in the penalty box in Saturday night’s contest, committing three penalties, including a boarding call in the overtime period.
That was not the only three on the stats sheet for Lamppa. He also tallied three points of his own, including his goal in the second period to give Penn State their first lead of the game, and assists on Danny Dzhaniyev’s score, as well as Lugris’.
Grannan Shines Again
In just his second start of the season, Noah Grannan nearly matched the performance of unanimous preseason All-Big Ten first-team goaltender Ryan Bischel.
Grannan earned the start due to the want for internal competition within the Nittany Lion program.
The sophomore netminder tallied 26 saves on 29 shots in the game, including a crucial stand in the winding seconds of the overtime period while Notre Dame held a 4-on-3 advantage.
Injury Struggles
The Nittany Lions were without two key contributors Saturday night, Christian Sarlo and Jacques Bouquot. They also lost standout sophomore defenseman Carter Schade in the second period due to injury.
Head Coach Guy Gadowsky said in the post-game press conference that “he is not going to be playing for a while.” He also added that they did not know much about Bouquot’s injury to give a timetable.
He didn’t provide an update on Schade.
While the team suffered some big losses, they did get senior defenseman Jimmy Dowd Jr. back for Saturday’s contest. He did not tally a point, but played a crucial role in the overtime period, helping settle the offensive attack.
What’s Next for Penn State
The Nittany Lions will take on Notre Dame in the series finale on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena.
