Kicking off postseason play, No. 3-seed Penn State welcomed No. 6-seed Minnesota to Pegula Ice Arena on Wednesday night for an elimination game in the Big Ten tournament.
The Nittany Lions controlled the contest from start to finish, scoring multiple goals in each period of a 6-2 victory over the Golden Gophers to advance to the semifinal round against Michigan on Saturday.
“That is a big, big, big win,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game. “I don’t think it gets written about enough, what a monster this conference is, and the teams.”
How it happened
Known for slow starts this season, the Nittany Lions worked to buck that trend on Wednesday. Moments after defenseman Jackson Smith found the crossbar, forward Charlie Cerrato rifled the puck past netminder Luca Di Pasquo, scoring on the team’s first shot on goal.
The onslaught continued, and forward Aiden Fink nearly doubled the lead on a three-on-one rush, but defenseman Luke Mittelstadt snuck his stick in for the deflection.
Goaltender Josh Fleming, who earned the nod for Penn State, got his first test midway through the opening frame on Minnesota’s first shot on net, which was saved with little trouble.
Penn State went up 2-0 on defenseman Mac Gadowsky’s first goal of the season, which he wristed in from the right faceoff dot after a great feed from forward Gavin McKenna.
“It was just a big goal for the team,” Guy Gadowsky said. “We needed a goal, it was a good one, like, let’s go to work …This is playoff hockey, and whether it’s him or his sister who scored, I couldn’t care less at that point.”
Forward Ben Schoen was awarded the game’s first penalty for tripping, allowing the Golden Gophers to generate a couple shots on net near the end of the period. After completing the kill, the Nittany Lions resumed their attack, coming up empty on a few final scoring chances before the break.
Penn State kept up the attack into the second period, but Di Pasquo stood tall in net, robbing forward Lev Katzin with the glove from point blank. It was only a matter of time until the Nittany Lions broke through the maroon-and-gold wall, and forward Matt DiMarsico was the skater to do it with his team-leading 18th goal of the season, giving him 100 career points.
Less than two minutes later, forward Reese Laubach extended the lead by firing in a rebound to beat Di Pasquo glove-side, making it 4-0.
Forward Javon Moore got Minnesota on the board late in the period, wristing the puck five-hole past Fleming, who was seemingly caught by surprise on the shot.
The opening minutes of the third period proved more evenly contested, as the Golden Gophers saw some of their best looks of the game. Defenseman Axel Begley nearly scored on the wraparound when Fleming was caught out of position, but his shot was contested and deflected out front, where defenseman Leo Gruba was unable to get a shot off before Fleming recovered.
“I thought he looked composed,” Gadowsky said. “I got to give him an A. I just, he obviously came up big when he had to, and he looked very much in control.”
Fink, who already had two assists on the night, regained Penn State’s four-goal lead when he fired the puck through traffic and into the far corner to make it 5-1. McKenna picked up his second assist on the score, reaching 50 points on the year.
“(McKenna) is a difference-maker,” Gadowsky said. “I hope you guys saw all that. He’s playing at a really high level. You saw the plays he made, but man did he play for the team tonight.”
Minnesota cut into the lead with under five minutes to play when defenseman Jacob Rombach scored his first goal of the season from the high slot.
With time running out, forward Shea Van Olm was sent to the penalty box for hooking with an additional game misconduct, sparking a power play for the visitors, who also pulled their goalie.
Despite a two-skater disadvantage, Cade Christenson buried an empty-netter to make it 6-2 before the final buzzer sounded.
Team leaders
Goals: Aiden Fink, Reese Laubach, Mac Gadowsky, Matt DiMarsico, Charlie Cerrato, Cade Christenson, 1
Assists: Aiden Fink, Gavin McKenna, Jarod Crespo, 2
Saves: Josh Fleming, 27/29
Up next: Penn State travels to Ann Arbor to face No. 2-seed Michigan, which downed Notre Dame 4-0 on Wednesday. The semifinal matchup starts at 5 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
