In its final road series of the regular season, Penn State paid Notre Dame a visit and left with three of six possible points after an evenly matched pair of games.
The Nittany Lions downed the Fighting Irish in a shootout on Friday night before falling 4-3 in overtime on Saturday, heading back to Happy Valley with a series split.
Game 1: Penn State 3, Notre Dame 3
The Nittany Lions continued a trend of sluggish opening periods Friday night, falling behind 1-0 just over five minutes into the game. They killed off a 5-on-3 penalty before allowing a pair of Notre Dame goals, continuing a disastrous start to the game.
With less than two minutes in the frame, Shea Van Olm scored to chip into the deficit before the first intermission.
After missed chances on both sides, Aiden Fink rifled the puck past netminder Nicholas Kempf to make it a one goal game with under a minute in the second period, sending the team into the tunnel with some momentum.
In the third period, Fink struck again with another perfectly placed shot, tying things up and forcing overtime. After five scoreless minutes of three-on-three play — including several breakaway looks for both sides — the shootout commenced.
Gavin McKenna scored on the opening shot, which ended up being the only goal by either side, giving Penn State two points in the conference standings, though the game officially counts as a tie.
Game 2: Notre Dame 4, Penn State 3 (OT)
The Nittany Lions got off to a better start Saturday, claiming an early lead when Casey Aman scored from the low post off a feed from Gavin McKenna behind the net.
The Fighting Irish didn’t register their first shots on goal until 10 minutes in, when netminder Josh Fleming came up with a pair of critical saves to maintain the lead. It looked like Penn State would take a lead into the break, but an ill-timed turnover in the defensive zone led to a goal from Maddox Fleming.
Defenseman Jackson Smith, who had left the previous game with injury, took a penalty late in the frame, allowing Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson a power-play goal with just six seconds until the first intermission.
Trailing 2-1, Penn State killed off a penalty before Cade Christenson rebounded his own loose puck to score from the doorstep for the tie, the only goal of the second period.
After matching penalties, Danny Nelson snuck the puck inside the post to give the Fighting Irish a 3-2 lead midway through the third period.
Both teams had premium chances to add to their totals, but it was Luke Misa who finally found the net after redirecting Mac Gadowsky’s shot with under 2:30 in regulation to tie it up.
Just seconds into the overtime period, Lev Katzin misplayed the puck and turned it over right in front of the crease, allowing Alex Kumlin to slot the golden goal for the Fighting Irish.
