A rough regular season for Penn State hockey has come to an end as the Nittany Lions traveled to Michigan State over the weekend, splitting a pair with the Spartans.
Things started out about as well as you can ask for on Friday as a four-goal third period lifted Penn State to a 5-3 win.
Through two periods, it was all Michigan State, minus Tyler Gratton’s goal to open the scoring for the Nittany Lions midway through the first.
The Spartans quickly answered back with three goals, including one with just 6.4 seconds remaining on the clock in the second period. Riding home momentum, the game looked all but put away for Michigan State.
However, Adam Pilewicz changed that with a goal 50 seconds into the third for Penn State, followed by an unassisted, even-strength goal from Paul DeNaples at the 3:35 mark that tied the score at 3-3, sucking the energy out of Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.
Penn State found itself on three power plays in the third and made the most out of the last as Connor MacEachern scored 29 seconds into it to give the Nittany Lions a 4-3 lead, icing the game for good after Ben Copeland netted an empty-netter with less than a minute left in regulation.
Copeland, Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Ben Schoen led the Nittany Lions with two points each in the win.
Saturday’s game didn’t feature the final period madness that we saw on Friday as all three goals in the game were scored in the first period, two of which in the final minute of the first.
Michigan State’s Adam Goodsir scored the eventual game-winning goal at the 19:51 mark of the first and the Spartans went on to win, 2-1.
With the weekend split, the Nittany Lions sit at 15-18-1 to end the year and a 6-17-1 record in conference play. Penn State will take on Ohio State in Columbus in the Big Ten Tournament, starting on Friday at 7 PM EST.
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