No. 8 Penn State returned to Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday night to close out a five-game homestand and two-game series against Notre Dame.
After dismantling the Fighting Irish 4-1 in a chippy battle the previous night, the Nittany Lions were without six skaters (Casey Aman, Mac Gadowsky, Keaton Peters, Charlie Cerrato, Braedon Ford and Shea Van Olm) for the rematch.
There was no love lost between the schools, which continued to match each other’s physicality with a combined 15 penalties, but it was Penn State which prevailed by a 6-3 final margin.
How it happened
It took all of 17 seconds for Penn State to mount a lead, with JJ Wiebusch breaking away for a backhand goal on the first shot of the game.
Minutes later, Jackson Smith scored his sixth of the season off assists from Jarod Crespo and Aiden Fink to make it a 2-0 lead before Notre Dame even registered two shots.
After a penalty-fest the night prior, Lev Katzin became the first player convicted, picking up a minor for holding, which the team killed off with little issue.
Carter Schade was called for hooking to put the Fighting Irish back on the power play. The playing field was quickly evened when Henry Nelson was called for interference, resulting in 1:43 of 4-on-4 action which yielded no scoring.
Notre Dame got on the board off the stick of Brennan Ali, who snuck one over the stick-side shoulder of goaltender Kevin Reidler. Cole Knuble then evened the score 16 seconds later on a D-zone turnover to make it 2-2 headed into the first intermission.
“One is a bit of a miscommunication in defending the rush, but the other is something — you always get good information, whether you win or lose,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game. “We happened to win, but we have really good information (on how to fix it).”
Gavin McKenna broke the stalemate with his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Smith and Fink, sending The Roar Zone into a frenzy midway through the second frame.
Smith and Knuble traded penalties after some extra-curriculars, setting up more 4-on-4 action, which turned into 4-on-3 play after an interference call on Fighting Irish defenseman Jaedon Kerr. Sutter Muzzatti found a crease and, despite playing down a man, evened the score once more with an unassisted goal.
Reese Laubach laid a thunderous hit along the boards to the approval of the fans, but disapproval of the refs who sent him to the penalty box for boarding. On the penalty kill unit, Nic Chin-Degraves found daylight and darted into the attack zone before being hooked from behind by Muzzatti, setting up 4-on-4 play.
Just before Penn State got Laubach back, Notre Dame’s Michael Mastrodomenico was called for interference, setting up a brief 5-on-3 situation.
“We didn’t want it to be a chaotic, physical battle, obviously, because of being down two players, but at the same time, you can’t control that. You have to be ready for it and I thought our guys were ready,” Gadowsky said.
Matt DiMarsico, coming off a hat trick the night before, made them pay by tucking in a rebound, assisted by Wiebusch and Fink, to take a 4-3 advantage.
The whistles sounded once more, sending Ben Schoen to the sin bin for the final two minutes of the period. Reidler was tested with several point-blank shots but bowed up to protect the lead.
“He was awesome … we let up grade-A chances and he was awesome. He was really ready to go,” Gadowsky said.
It didn’t take long for Wiebusch to pick up a penalty to open the third period, though he and the fans heavily protested the call. Notre Dame mustered just two shots before a return to even strength on another strong penalty kill.
Penn State got its turn on the man advantage after the Fighting Irish’s sixth penalty, a hooking call on Kerr, but Smith was hit with two minutes for cross checking, balancing the scales for 42 seconds before a Notre Dame power play.
Nick Chin-Degraves was the victim of a violent check behind the net, eerily similar to a boarding called against the Nittany Lions earlier, but for once there was no whistle, sparking “ref you suck” chants from a packed crowd, followed by “you still suck” chants a minute later.
Despite receiving no power play, McKenna still found the back of the net moments later for his second of the game to make it a 5-3 lead, assisted by Luke Misa and Fink — his fourth assist of the night.
“(McKenna) would much rather set up a teammate for a goal and get one himself, but it was nice to see him get a little hungry to shoot the puck and I think that’s part of the success,” Gadowsky said.
With under four minutes to play, Notre Dame’s Maddox Fleming was called for high sticking, keeping the Fighting Irish from pulling netminder Nicholas Kempf for an extra skater for two minutes.
Shortly after, Wiebusch was called for boarding and Kempf came out to make it a 6-on-4 for the final 1:26. It backfired when Dane Dowiak scored an empty-netter, making it 6-3 to cap off the sweep.
Team leaders:
Goals: Gavin McKenna, 2
Assists: Aiden Fink, 4
Saves: Kevin Reidler, 27/30
Up next: Penn State will hit the road for a series against No. 2 Wisconsin next weekend, with games scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24.
