Bad bounces define Penn State men’s hockey’s tie, shootout loss to Notre Dame
Notre Dame goalie Cale Morris raced to the bench and the extra skater hopped on the ice for the Fighting Irish, rushing into the Penn State zone.
Peyton Jones stood tall in the butterfly as Michael Graham tried to control the puck in front of the Nittany Lions net, and after a deflection and a weird bounce, the puck went into the net with 1:49 left in regulation to tie the game.
The tie would last until the seventh round of a shootout, when the Fighting Irish took the extra point in the Big Ten in a 3-3 tie against Penn State.
But despite the tie and eventual shootout loss, Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky can’t fault one singular issue with his team on Friday night, sometimes these results just happen.
Gadowsky specifically mentioned how he can’t fault effort or a missed assignment on Friday night, something that has plagued his team in other games this season.
“I thought our effort was excellent. I thought we did a lot of great things. I liked a lot of our game,” Gadowsky said. “We played very well, they played very well. Both teams had goaltending, had good offense and Notre Dame ended up getting it done at the end.”
Penn State looked like the team it want to be, playing very loose and fast on the offensive side of the ice, posting 48 shots. The Nittany Lions also worked hard to crowd the net and make sure that the veteran Morris didn’t get a clean look at the puck.
“I think that did loosen us up a little bit and do I like our offense,” Gadowsky said. “I don’t think we tried to do anything different. I think we kept to our game plan much of the night, but in the end they got one at the very end.”
The Nittany Lions dictated the pace of the game and yet they didn’t win.
“That’s been a thing we’ve been talking about a lot about, going back to our roots, and we did it last weekend against Michigan State,” said freshman Connor McMenamin. “And I think we carried it on tonight for the most part, so tomorrow we are looking to just carry that on and play our game.”
For Penn State defenseman Kris Myllari, the bad bounces are an opportunity for this team to learn and be more consistent overall.
“I think it is tough but I think that great teams learn that bounces are an accumulation of your consistency,” Myllari said. “I think that if we continue to win battles and win faceoffs and continue to execute at a high level, generally the hockey gods reward you and you get good bounces.
“That’s not to say we played poorly at all tonight. But give them credit that they did great things on the forecheck and on the cycle, and they got rewarded with a fluky bounce that pops out and they get one.”
Penn State earned one of three possible Big Ten points on Friday night, which placed them in first in the Big Ten standings with Michigan State having off this weekend. But the Nittany Lions need every possible point.
That’s a lesson that they learned the hard way last season, being one of the first teams left out of the NCAA Tournament.
“Unless you win you feel like you let one get away because of the knowledge that we have, the experience that we have being so close last year and not getting there. Every point, every game is so important,” Gadowsky said. “We very know what can happen when you don’t take advantage of every point and that’s probably how they feel.”
The good news for Penn State is that it has another chance on Saturday night to get three more Big Ten points and an all-important victory for the PairWise rankings.
The Nittany Lions aren’t searching for an identity, either. In fact, the Nittany Lions know that they just have to play similar game Friday night, and eventually those bad bounces will turn into good bounces.
“Overall, we had a lot of good things in our game today and we’re trying to translate that and bring a little more intensity tomorrow with a great crowd, and we will see what happens,” Myllari said.
