Levshunov Paces MSU to Sweep at Penn State

State College, Pa. – Paced by a four-point effort by freshman defenseman Artyom Levshunov, No 8/8 Michigan State completed the weekend sweep of No. 20/19 Penn State on Saturday, skating away with a 7-3 Saturday victory.

The Spartans, now 15-4-3 overall and 9-1-2 in Big Ten play, have retaken the lead in the Big Ten Conference standings (31 points), as Wisconsin played a non-conference set against Lindenwood this weekend.

MSU had seven different goal scorers in the game, scoring three times in each of the first two periods. In addition to Levshunov, MSU got a goal and an assist from Red Savage, Gavin O'Connell and Reed Lebster, and two-assist efforts from Patrick Geary and Nicolas Müller.

Trey Augustine finished with 27 saves – he was once again strong throughout the weekend with three goals against and 58 saves on 61 chances against.

MSU turns its attention to rivalry week, as it has Michigan for a home-and-home series next weekend. The teams will face off on Friday at 7 pm at Munn Ice Arena before a return date at Yost on Saturday at 7 pm.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

The Spartans earned their first weekend sweep of Penn State since February of 2015 (3-0, 3-2), which came at Munn Ice Arena. This is the first-ever sweep at Pegula Ice Arena.
MSU is 5-1-2 against Penn State in Adam Nightingale's two years behind the bench.
This is the fourth sweep of a Conference opponent for the Spartans this season, which is the most of any year since the start of the Big Ten. Two of MSU's four sweeps have been on the road (previously at Ohio State in November).
MSU is unbeaten in its last six games, dating back to an overtime loss at Minnesota on Nov. 27. That is only loss for the Spartans in Big Ten play.
MSU has scored five goals or more in three of the four meetings with Penn State this season. The Spartans have scored five or more 11 times this year, and five times in Big Ten play.
MSU got its seven goals from seven different players, but six players had multiple-point games, led by freshman Artyom Levshunov (1-3-4)
Levshunov pushed his scoring one to 6-18-24 in 22 games. This is his fifth multiple-point effort of the season.
The O'Connell-Savage-Larson line combined for a 10-point weekend and had a combined three goals and two assists in the Saturday tilt.
Four of Gavin O'Connell's 10 goals this season have come against the Nittany Lions.
Larson had a combined three goals and an assist on the weekend, and his scoring line is now 13-13-26 – one point shy of his freshman season line of 13-14-27 at Northern Michigan. He leads the Big Ten in power-play goals (7)
Reed Lebster had a goal and an assist on the night, and a 2-1-3 scoring line on the weekend.
Nash Nienhiuis had his seventh goal of the season, his career best.
Defenseman Patrick Geary had a pair of assists, his second career multiple-point game.
Senior Nicolas Muller had a pair of assists in the game and three on the weekend.

First Period: Penn State scored its first goal of the series on the power play at 4:22. Tanner Palocsik had the puck inside the blue line and dished off to Aiden Fink, who took two strides inside the right circle and slapped it home for his 12^th goal of the season. MSU countered with a pair of tallys in the next 10 minutes – the first a crafty goal by Karsen Dorwart, who collected a rebound and went between his legs to score his ninth goal of the season. Three minutes later, Joey Larson scored on the power play, converting a one-timer from the left dot off a pass from Muller. Red Savage pumped the lead to 3-1 – he crashed the net and Gavin O'Connell put a perfect pass on his stick for the junior's eighth goal of the season. The Spartans held the 3-1 lead going into the first intermission, with a 17-9 edge in shots on net.

Hey ESPN #SCTop10, you watchin?👀

Karsen Dorwart, between the legs, five-hole.

We'll give you three looks at it. pic.twitter.com/eHKImXi1W1
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 13, 2024

Second Period: MSU scored twice in a 90-second span early in the second period to inflate the lead to 5-1. The first goal came on an impressive snipe by Levshunov, who's shot from the right circle for his fifth goal of the season. Jeremy Davidson fed him the puck as he entered the offensive zone, giving him and Reed Lebster the assist. Gavin O'Connell's 10^th goal of the season came off a feed from Savage, returning the favor from the freshman's first-period setup. Lebster's goal was a capper at 18:12, as Levshunov showed patience as he collected the puck as it ricocheted off a defender, skated around the blueliner, and went into the left circle. He showed that he may shoot, but dished it down below the left circle for Lebster for the senior's second goal of the weekend.

Perfect pass by O'Connell for a streaking Red Savage. Fifth goal of the weekend for this line. pic.twitter.com/pOMknXo6BA
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 13, 2024

Third Period: Penn State got on the board again early in the third period , as Christian Berger scored 1:53 in to make it a 6-3 game. Nash Nienhuis got the goal back at 14:35, when he and D-partner Levshunov passed back and forth inside the blue line, setting up Nienhuis at the right point for his seventh goal of the season. Penn State had an 8-5 edge in shots on net as it tried to get back into the game, but Augustine shut the Nittany Lions down for the final 18 minutes of the game.

Players Mentioned

Trey Augustine

Jeremy Davidson

Karsen Dorwart

Patrick Geary

Joey Larson

Reed Lebster

Artyom Levshunov

Nash Nienhuis

Gavin O'Connell

Red Savage