Saturday, January 11
University Park, PA
6 PM
Michigan State University
2
at
2
Penn State
MSU Skates to 2-2 Tie, Falls in Shootout at Penn State
1/11/2025 9:25:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
State College, Pa. . – Top-ranked Michigan State skated to a 2-2 tie at Penn State on Saturday evening, but fell in the shootout to lose the extra point in the Big Ten standings. The Spartans' unbeaten streak does stay alive at nine games (7-0-2) as the Spartans take four out of six points in the weekend set, and are now 18-2-2 overall and 9-1-2 in Big Ten play.
Penn State rallied to tie the game at 2-2 at 18:16 of the third period, skating on the power play with its goalie on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. The Nittany Lions put on a furious effort in the final period, outshooting MSU 14-5 and getting a Ben Schoen tip in front of Trey Augustine to knot the score. The teams skated through a scoreless overtime. Arsenil Sergeev (35 saves) made four shootout saves and Augustine three, until Dylan Lugris became the only shootout scorer (in the fourth, sudden-death round) to award the home team the extra point.
Aiden Fink scored the game's opening goal 3:55 into the game, and MSU scored twice in the second to go up 2-1. Isaac Howard tied the game less than five minutes into the second period, burying a two-on-one break set up by Patrick Geary. Geary set up the second goal as well at 13:52 in the second, as the defenseman circled behind the net with a rebound off a Maxim Štrbák shot. Geary found Joey Larson in front for his seventh of the season.
Sergeev made 13 first period saves and 14 more in the second to keep his team in the one-goal game, and his team rewarded him with the equalizer. He made three OT saves for a game total of 35 and then four in the shootout. Augustine was sharp throughout as well – he made 32 saves and stopped a third period penalty shot attempt. He made 13 stops in the third period and three in OT.
MSU wraps up a stretch of road games with a contest at Michigan next Friday, and then will play at home against the Wolverines on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: As he did on Friday, Aiden Fink got his team on the board early in the first period. The Spartans had set up in their offensive zone but the puck went over the stick of a defender at the right point. Fink stole the puck and rushed up the left side and sniped his 11th goal of the season at 3:55. MSU had a pair of power play opportunities – the first at the media time out and the second with five minutes to play in the frame. The Spartans were buzzing in the offensive zone and put up eight shot attempts after the break, but PSU got two saves from Sergeev and a pair of blocked shots to keep MSU off the board. The final two minutes of the period saw MSU take a pair of penalties 21 seconds apart, making MSU kill off 1:13 of a five-on-three before the final horn sounded. MSU had a 13-8 edge in shots in the period, and Penn State blocked an additional nine Spartan attempts.
Second Period: MSU extinguished the carryover penalties, limiting the Nittany Lions to just two shots on net while skating up two men. Isaac Howard tied the game at 1-1 at 4:41, Geary sent a pass to Howard out of the defensive zone, and Howard and Russell broke in on a two-on-one. Howard took the shot, beating Sergeev for his fifth goal of the weekend. MSU doubled its lead at 13:52. With Dorwart winning the offensive-zone faceoff back to Maxim Štrbák, he launched a shot on net, and the rebound came out to Geary in the left circle. Geary circled behind the net and passed out in front to Joey Larson, who buried it for a 2-1 MSU lead.
Third Period: Augustine was challenged with making a series of quality saves in the first half of the third period – three on a PSU flurry in the offensive zone, and he also turned away Aiden Fink's penalty shot attempt at 6:29 to preserve a 2-1 game. The home team was pressing for a goal in the final minutes – and Augustine kept turning away shots as Penn State moved to a 10-5 edge in shots on goal with five minutes remaining in the period. With under three minutes remaining in regulation and the Nittany Lions trailing by a goal, Geary was sent off for cross-checking, and PSU put Sergeev on the bench in favor of a 6x4 manpower advantage to try to gain an equalizer. That paid off with a tally by Ben Schoen, who tipped a shot from the high slot by Jimmy Dowd Jr. with 1:45 remaining in regulation to make it a 2-2 game.
Overtime: MSU started overtime down a man due to a late call in the third period, which gave them a brief 4-on-3 advantage to start the frame. Each team had three shots in the period, which were all stopped by their netminder. Both goalies were up tp the task in the shootout, stopping each of the first three shootout attempts they saw before Dylan Lugris finally put one on the board to take the extra Big Ten point.
Shootout Results
MSU - Dorwart - Saved
PSU - Dzhaniyev – Saved
MSU - Russell – Saved
PSU - Cerrato – Saved
MSU - Howard – Saved
PSU - Fink – Saved
MSU - Kelly – Saved
PSU Lugris – Goal (sudden death shootout)
Penn State rallied to tie the game at 2-2 at 18:16 of the third period, skating on the power play with its goalie on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. The Nittany Lions put on a furious effort in the final period, outshooting MSU 14-5 and getting a Ben Schoen tip in front of Trey Augustine to knot the score. The teams skated through a scoreless overtime. Arsenil Sergeev (35 saves) made four shootout saves and Augustine three, until Dylan Lugris became the only shootout scorer (in the fourth, sudden-death round) to award the home team the extra point.
Aiden Fink scored the game's opening goal 3:55 into the game, and MSU scored twice in the second to go up 2-1. Isaac Howard tied the game less than five minutes into the second period, burying a two-on-one break set up by Patrick Geary. Geary set up the second goal as well at 13:52 in the second, as the defenseman circled behind the net with a rebound off a Maxim Štrbák shot. Geary found Joey Larson in front for his seventh of the season.
Sergeev made 13 first period saves and 14 more in the second to keep his team in the one-goal game, and his team rewarded him with the equalizer. He made three OT saves for a game total of 35 and then four in the shootout. Augustine was sharp throughout as well – he made 32 saves and stopped a third period penalty shot attempt. He made 13 stops in the third period and three in OT.
MSU wraps up a stretch of road games with a contest at Michigan next Friday, and then will play at home against the Wolverines on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
STATISTICS OF NOTE
- MSU allowed the first goal of the game to Penn State's Aiden Fink for the second straight night. MSU is now 5-2-2 when allowing its opponent to score first this season.
- MSU is 3-0-2 in overtime games this season, with one shootout win and one shootout loss.
- The Spartans were 0-for-3 on the power play tonight and (2-for-8) on the weekend. The penalty kill extinguished six of seven PSU opportunities tonight, including a late-first period 5-on-3.
- Penn State blocked nine Spartan shots in the first period and 23 total in the game.
- Howard scored his 18th goal of the season in the second period. That ties Patrick Khodorenko's 18 in 2018-19 for the most since Mitchell Lewandowski had 19 in 2017-18. He now has goals in seven consecutive games. Howard had eight goals last year as a sophomore and entered the season with 14 career scores.
- Howard's 33 points is thee shy of his sophomore year total of 36 and has more than doubled his single-season best of eight g0that he scored as a sophomore. He finished the weekend with five goals and six points.
- Joey Larson scored his seventh goal of the season in the second period.
- Patrick Geary had two assists in the game after earning just three in the first 21 games of the season. It was his fourth career multiple-point effort.
- Augustine returned to the Spartan crease for the first time since Dec. 14. He made 32 saves in his return, and stopped a penalty shot at 6:29 of the third period to preserve a 2-1 lead. It was the first penalty shot save for Augustine in his career, and the first for MSU since Dylan St. Cyr stopped Carl Berglund in a 3-2 loss to UMass-Lowell in October of 2022.
- Both Augustine and Maxim Štrbák (one assist) played in their 50th career games on Saturday.
PERIOD RECAPS
First Period: As he did on Friday, Aiden Fink got his team on the board early in the first period. The Spartans had set up in their offensive zone but the puck went over the stick of a defender at the right point. Fink stole the puck and rushed up the left side and sniped his 11th goal of the season at 3:55. MSU had a pair of power play opportunities – the first at the media time out and the second with five minutes to play in the frame. The Spartans were buzzing in the offensive zone and put up eight shot attempts after the break, but PSU got two saves from Sergeev and a pair of blocked shots to keep MSU off the board. The final two minutes of the period saw MSU take a pair of penalties 21 seconds apart, making MSU kill off 1:13 of a five-on-three before the final horn sounded. MSU had a 13-8 edge in shots in the period, and Penn State blocked an additional nine Spartan attempts.
Second Period: MSU extinguished the carryover penalties, limiting the Nittany Lions to just two shots on net while skating up two men. Isaac Howard tied the game at 1-1 at 4:41, Geary sent a pass to Howard out of the defensive zone, and Howard and Russell broke in on a two-on-one. Howard took the shot, beating Sergeev for his fifth goal of the weekend. MSU doubled its lead at 13:52. With Dorwart winning the offensive-zone faceoff back to Maxim Štrbák, he launched a shot on net, and the rebound came out to Geary in the left circle. Geary circled behind the net and passed out in front to Joey Larson, who buried it for a 2-1 MSU lead.
Geary with the stretch pass sends Howard and Russell in on a two-on-one. 18th of the season for Ike, and fifth of the weekend. pic.twitter.com/eSNoCVWdAp
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 12, 2025
Third Period: Augustine was challenged with making a series of quality saves in the first half of the third period – three on a PSU flurry in the offensive zone, and he also turned away Aiden Fink's penalty shot attempt at 6:29 to preserve a 2-1 game. The home team was pressing for a goal in the final minutes – and Augustine kept turning away shots as Penn State moved to a 10-5 edge in shots on goal with five minutes remaining in the period. With under three minutes remaining in regulation and the Nittany Lions trailing by a goal, Geary was sent off for cross-checking, and PSU put Sergeev on the bench in favor of a 6x4 manpower advantage to try to gain an equalizer. That paid off with a tally by Ben Schoen, who tipped a shot from the high slot by Jimmy Dowd Jr. with 1:45 remaining in regulation to make it a 2-2 game.
Larson one-times this one for his seventh goal of the season and a 2-1 MSU lead! Apples to Geary (his second tonight) and Strbak. pic.twitter.com/MPM8TJXzR0
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 12, 2025
Overtime: MSU started overtime down a man due to a late call in the third period, which gave them a brief 4-on-3 advantage to start the frame. Each team had three shots in the period, which were all stopped by their netminder. Both goalies were up tp the task in the shootout, stopping each of the first three shootout attempts they saw before Dylan Lugris finally put one on the board to take the extra Big Ten point.
Calm, Cool and Collected - Augustine makes the penalty shot save on Aiden Fink to preserve the 2-1 lead. pic.twitter.com/GlmA8GpLvy
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 12, 2025
Shootout Results
MSU - Dorwart - Saved
PSU - Dzhaniyev – Saved
MSU - Russell – Saved
PSU - Cerrato – Saved
MSU - Howard – Saved
PSU - Fink – Saved
MSU - Kelly – Saved
PSU Lugris – Goal (sudden death shootout)
Players Mentioned
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