Penn State opens Notre Dame series with 5-2 win

The No. 5-ranked Penn State men’s hockey program took down No. 19-ranked Notre Dame, 5-2, Friday night at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. With the win, Penn State moves to 15-4 on the year and 7-4 in Big Ten play. 

Here’s a look at how the Nittany Lions did it:

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first period was fast and physical. Both teams came out of the gates full of life and energy. 

In a period with lots of shots, the first near score came with a little less than nine minutes to play in the period when Xander Lampa made a beautiful wrap-around shot, which was saved by the blade of Notre Dame goalie Ryan Bischel’s skate. 

After a quick review, it was a confirmed no goal. 

With 6:32 to go in the period, Jesse Lansdell put the Irish on the board first with his goal assisted by Trevor Janicke and Jake Boltmann. 

The Penn State equalizer came four minutes later when Connor McMenamin buried an unassisted goal with 2:30 to play in the period. 

A little more than a minute later, Paul DeNaples buried a deep slapshot from the blue line, assisted by Tyler Paquette and Christian Berger to give Penn State a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission. 

The second period was much slower than the first. Teams came out with energy, but there was much less action. 

There were many good chances for both sides, but the only one to find the back of the net was Ryder Rolston of the Fighting Irish. With 1:52 to play in the period, some flashy passing set the Irish up for an equalizing power play goal. This one was assisted by Nick Lievermann and Chase Blackmun. 

The Nittany Lions were close to regaining the lead with six seconds to play as McMenamin centered a pass for Connor MacEachern which would’ve left him for a wide-open score, but MacEachern could not gain control of the puck, and time expired before the Lions could get set up. 

This game was all tied up heading to the third. 

The third period started slow. Both teams were putting up a strong effort, however, the defensive units of both sides not letting up. 

It took until the 12th minute of the period for one side to give. The Irish defensive unit was the one to do so. MacEachern made up for his missed opportunity earlier in the game and scored the go-ahead goal for the Nittany Lions with 7:43 to play in the game. His goal was assisted by Kevin Wall and McMenamin. 

The game remained a close, hard-fought effort up until late. With 2:10 to play in the period, Dylan Gratton hit a long, empty-net goal from the Lions’ defensive zone. It put the Nittany Lions up 4-2. This one was assisted by Ryan Kirwan and Lampa. 

This was not the only empty net goal the Lions scored. Paul DeNaples joined the empty net party with his unassisted dagger with 1:31 to play. It gave the Nittany Lions a 5-2 lead which they held on to until the final horn. 

TAKEAWAYS

• Each period of this game was dominated by one team. The first and third by the Nittany Lions, and the second by the Fighting Irish. 

• With Penn State’s struggles in the second game of the series, they’ll need to be in control, or at least make it a close contest, in all three periods tomorrow to complete the sweep. 

• Liam Souliere looked fantastic yet again. His play in goal is a crucial part of the Nittany Lion’s success this season. 

• The Nittany Lions need to take advantage of the power play tomorrow. Notre Dame’s penalty-kill unit is in the bottom half of all of college hockey. With the Nittany Lions finding their power play groove, they need to take advantage of every opportunity they get against the Irish penalty kill unit. The Nittany Lions went 0-for-3 tonight. 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR PENN STATE

The Nittany Lions will look to complete their first Big Ten sweep Saturday at 6:00 pm.