Penn State Rallies for 5-3 Win

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State surrendered four unanswered goals in the third period to fall 5-3 to visiting Penn State on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena.

The Spartans (11-21-1, 5-18-0 B1G) got a goal with just over six seconds remaining in the second period from junior Erik Middendorf to take a 3-1 advantage into the locker room, but saw their visitors tie things up in the first 3:35 of the third and take the lead for good at 15:29 on a Connor MacEachern goal. An empty netter sealed the win for Penn State, which also locked down sixth place in the Big Ten standings.

Josh Nodler had a goal and an assist, while David Gucciardi scored his fifth marker of the season to break a 1-1 tie early in the second. Pierce Charleson made 36 saves for MSU.

Ben Copeland scored the empty net tally and had a goal and an assist for the Nittany Lions (15-17-1, 6-16-1 B1G), who snapped a six-game winless streak. Jimmy Dowd Jr. added a pair of assists and Tyler Gratton, Adam Pilewicz, and Paul DeNaples had the other goals for PSU, and goalie Liam Souliere made 27 saves.

The Spartans take on Penn State in the final game of the regular season on Saturday night at 6 pm at Munn Ice Arena. Michigan State will honor its seven seniors at the conclusion of the contest.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Josh Nodler had a goal and assist
David Gucciardi potted his fifth goal of the season early in the second period.
Erik Middendorf had a goal for the third straight game.
Pierce Charleson made his second start against Penn State this season, stopping 36 shots.

NOTABLES AND STORYLINES

MSU scored a power play goal for the fifth consecutive game, its longest streak of the season. Each team had a power play goal in four chances in the game.
The Spartans surrendered four goals in the third period, tying the most goals allowed in a period this season.
MSU's winless streak has reached 13 games.
Josh Nodler and David Gucciardi both had long scoreless streaks snapped – the last goal for either player had come against Michigan Tech on Dec. 30.
AJ Hodges had his first point since the Dec. 4 game at Penn State.
Erik Middendorf had a goal in his third straight game, his longest goal-scoring streak of the season. He has four points in that stretch.

GAME SYNOPSIS

FIRST PERIOD: MSU hoped to set the tone right out of the chute, as AJ Hodges had a chance right in front before the game was 90 seconds old. The teams traded penalties, with the Spartans whistled first – and Adam Goodsir had a shorthanded breakaway and hit the post. PSU drew a penalty on the play, which led to the Spartans' first man advantage, but both teams came away empty on the power play. Just after the teams returned to full strength, the Nittany Lions got on the board with a goal by Tyler Gratton, as he took a drop pass from Danny Dzhaniyev on the rush and scored his ninth of the season at 10:30. The Spartans got the goal back less than five minutes later, when Middendorf corralled his own rebound and made a cross-slot pass to Nodler in the left circle, and the junior scored his sixth goal of the season. MSU held a 13-8 edge in shots on net in the period.

SECOND PERIOD: David Gucciardi scored at 1:09 of the period, as his blast from the left point found its way through traffic and past Souliere for the blueliner's fifth goal of the season. MSU held a 21-15 edge in shots on goal at the media time out, and the visitors turned up the heat at that point, getting pucks to Charleson and earning a couple of odd-man rushes that Charleson stood his ground and made the save.

THIRD PERIOD: Penn State quickly erased the deficit in the third, tying the game up by the 3:35 mark of the frame. PSU pulled within a goal just 50 seconds into the third, when Adam Pilewicz's shot from the left point found its way past Charleson, and a bad turnover while the teams were skating four-on-four led to a Paul DeNaples goal from the hash marks. Skating on the power play with 4:31 to go in the game, Penn State got the go-ahead goal from Connor Maceachern, a wrist shot from the left point that beat Charleson high glove-side. Copeland iced the game for the Nittany Lions with the empty netter. Penn State outshot its hosts 18-4 in the final frame.

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Team Stats

Erik Middendorf

Josh Nodler

Jesse Tucker

David Gucciardi

Players Mentioned

Pierce Charleson

Adam Goodsir

David Gucciardi

Erik Middendorf

Josh Nodler

Players Mentioned

Pierce Charleson

Adam Goodsir

David Gucciardi

Erik Middendorf

Josh Nodler