31-second swing proves the difference for Penn State men’s hockey in crucial victory over Minnesota
Penn State had its back against the wall in the final regular season game of the season.
A position, it seems, that the Nittany Lions find themselves in every year.
And once again Penn State was able to deliver, coming back from a 2-point deficit to beat Minnesota 3-2 on senior night Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena. With the win, Penn State picked up three crucial Big Ten points to at least clinch home ice advantage in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
The entire nature of the game, and possibly Penn State’s season, changed in a 31-second stretch, where Penn State scored the game-tying and winning goals.
Despite it being senior day, two freshmen led on both goals.
Freshman Tyler Gratton started the stretch by collecting the puck, moving into the Minnesota zone and patiently waiting for the play to develop before finding senior Nikita Pavlychev on a cross-ice pass. Pavlychev buried the puck, bringing Pegula to life.
This play by Gratton put the cap on a fantastic performance from the freshman.
“You can’t overlook a great play by Gratton,” Gadowsky said. “I was really impressed with specifically one shift in the third where I think it could’ve been easy for him put himself in a position to have a possible penalty taken on him, and he was really disciplined in making sure that didn’t happen. He also played really well in other areas.”
But Penn State didn’t wait long to strike again.
Pavlychev collected the puck behind the Minnesota net, wrapped his stick around the goal and found freshman Kevin Wall out front, and he didn’t miss.
“I’ve just tired to stay with my game and simplify as much as I can. And playing with a guy like Nikita Pavlychev, you just go to the net and the puck will be there,” Wall said. “So I am very fortunate to get that one tonight.”
It was only Wall’s second goal of the season, but it was one that could end up being remembered forever.
As if results go Penn State’s way next weekend, it could be the goal that wins the regular season Big Ten title for the Nittany Lions, a would-be first for the young program.
“I knew that it gave us the lead but that is about it,” Wall said. “Personally I think that would be pretty cool but again I don’t want to look at it as it was because of me, our whole team just played exceptionally well tonight.”
And just like with Gratton, Wall’s goal shows the freshman coming full circle for Gadowsky, it showed that his adjustment to the college game is nearly complete.
“He has been playing his best hockey as of late and obviously he is extremely talented,” Gadowsky said. “I think what happens with a lot of freshman that’ve had a lot of success in a junior league, that the step in tempo might take some time.
“But if you have a great attitude and work hard, things usually come around and that’s exactly what we are seeing with him. He’s always had a great attitude toward things and it is really nice to see his work paying off.”
The goal for Wall could also be the one that accomplishes one of Penn State’s goals this season, something that isn’t lost on Pavlychev and the rest of Penn State’s senior class.
“When we came in, one of them was to win the Big Ten championship, first place in the regular season, NCAA berth and Frozen Four,” Pavlychev said. “So we still have a few things that we haven’t accomplished and this could be huge for us.”
But it wasn’t a perfect 60 minutes of hockey for Penn State, in fact the opening period was far from it.
The Nittany Lions headed into the locker room at the first intermission with a two-goal deficit, but they never panicked and instead used the lessons they learned earlier in the season.
“Those were some lessons that we had to go through this year, but I don’t think we were playing poorly,” Gadowsky said. “I like the fact that they kept doing what they were doing. I don’t think we panicked and changed, I think we kept doing what we wanted to do and it’s nice to see that they eventually went in for us.”
And even after that 31-second period that changed everything, Penn State continued to fight and was able to hold on to the lead and secure the victory, something the Nittany Lions have struggled with this season.
Now, Penn State is forced to wait and watch to see if it will remain at the top of the Big Ten as it has a bye during the final week of the regular season.
That being said, however, Penn State doesn’t think whatever happenes next week changes anything.
“Nothing changes for us in regards to what we are doing next,” Pavlychev said. “Obviously we are probably going to sit down and watch the games, there is something on the line, but for us we are just going to have to go through this bye week preparing for whatever is next — whether it is two weeks or three weeks.”
