Penn State Hockey: Nittany Lions Roll 8-0 In Exhibition Game

Penn State hockey introduced 10 freshman to Pegula Ice Arena and eight goals to the back of Queen’s Universities’ net on Sunday afternoon as the Nittany Lions won their exhibition contest just days prior to the 2016 season opener.

The early stages of Sunday’s contest were full of new faces as freshman forward Denis Smirnov netted the first of his two goals on the day 9:27 into the opening period. Penn State goalie Peyton Jones made several tricky stops in the first period including a toe save midway through the frame.

Liam Folkes slotted home the second tally of the day on a two-on-one taking the puck from Brandon Biro. David Goodwin finished off the first period scoring with his first goal as captain of the Nittany Lions.

The second period was more of the same with 14 shots on goal for Penn State as Andrew Sturtz handled the puck past Queen’s goalie Kevin Bailie for his first of the game just 1:46 into the period. Vince Pedrie added his own tally a few minutes later as the defenseman found the back of the net with one of his six shots on the day. Sturtz picked up the assists on Pedrie’s power play goal.

It was Smirnov again just 1:25 into the third period for his second of the day. Penn State scored four straight goals with the man advantage. Sturtz and Biro adding two more goals in the final seven minutes of play. The Nittany Lions switched to Chris Funkey in net for the final 28:20 of play. Funkey made just five saves over that span as Penn State dominated play in the offensive end of the ice.

In total Penn State outshot Queens 50-19 going 4-for-10 on the man advantage.

The Nittany Lions will host No. 16 St Lawrence on Thursday and Friday for the first series of the regular season. 

• Defenseman Kevin Kerr left the game with an apparent lower body injury following a crosschecking penalty, coach Guy Gadowsky was optimistic the standout sophomore would be okay for the season opener.  

• Gadowsky said Peyton Jones will start in goal Thursday.