Penn State men’s ice hockey finds its ‘identity’ with upset of No. 7 Michigan in a 9-5 win
After five scoreless games, Penn State men’s hockey grabbed a hard-earned win.
The Nittany Lions beat No. 7 Michigan 9-5 Thursday night, starting off with a rocket from Finn Aarne Talvitie 47 seconds into the first period.
After sustaining a knee injury in the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships and enduring a family tragedy earlier this year, Talvitie had himself a comeback game.
“When it comes to me, personally, I feel like I’m pretty close to 100%, and I’m feeling really good on the ice,” Talvitie said.
Less than two minutes after Talvitie’s goal, freshman forward Jared Westcott scored his first goal as a Nittany Lion after a pass from fellow freshman teammate Xander Lamppa, giving Penn State a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the first period.
For the team, it wasn’t the early lead or even winning the game that made Thursday night’s game special. It was the fact that the team was playing “Penn State hockey.”
“As a coaching staff, we’re much more proud of (finding the ‘Penn State hockey’ identity) than the score and the goals,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “It was just the fact that we looked like us again. We had sustained pressure from hard work, and that’s what we do … for our coaching staff that’s what we’re most proud of tonight.
“This by far was the biggest identity game that we’ve had. We’ve seen it in spurts, we haven’t seen it for prolonged times.”
Just 20 seconds after Westcott’s goal, Michigan’s Nick Blankenburg got a goal in the back of Oskar Autio’s net, cutting the Nittany Lions’ lead in half. After a head penalty from Michigan’s Nolan Moyle, which resulted in a five-minute major and his ejection from the game, Penn State’s Evan Bell was called for interference with seven minutes left in the period. Blankenburg again whipped a shot past Autio and tied the game, making it 2-2.
The first period continued uneventfully, and the second started off with Michigan’s Cam York getting a backhanded shot past Autio 34 seconds into the period. After York’s goal, Penn State bounced back from the small slump they had. Michigan’s Nick Granowicz was sent to the penalty box for interference, and Talvitie, on a pass from Kevin Wall, capitalized on the power play to tie the game.
The back-and-forth continued, with Michigan’s Thomas Bordeleau getting a backhanded goal past Autio to give the Wolverines the lead again. Just two minutes later, Jimmy Dowd responded to Bordeleau’s shot, and got his first collegiate goal to tie the game 4-4.
The second period was a physical one, with both teams making hits and jabs at each other. Penn State style hockey came out this period, with aggressive plays and high energy from all Nittany Lions running rampant. With 11 minutes left in the period, Penn State went on the power play. Alex Limoges, on a pass from defenseman Clayton Phillips, put the puck behind Strauss Mann to give Penn State the lead. No more than 15 seconds later, New Jersey native Bobby Hampton got the puck in the back of the net off of an assist from Westcott to give Penn State a two-goal lead.
Michigan goalie Strauss Mann was pulled from between the pipes, and replaced by freshman Erik Portillo. Penn State went on yet another power play after Michigan was caught with too many men on the ice. Wasting no time, freshman Chase McLane got his first goal as a Nittany Lion on the power play. The fifth goal in the period, McLane’s goal tied the record for most goals in a period in program history.
At the end of the second, one could imagine the noise and energy that the Roar Zone would have brought to Pegula throughout the period, especially in what was then a 7-4 game.
“I think it’s mostly in the beginning of the game, you’re kind of not getting the energy from the crowd. But I feel like once the game goes on, you had to get used to it,” Talvitie said. “For me, I really don’t notice it when the game goes on, but definitely in the beginning and after big hits and goals, it’s pretty quiet out there.”
With goals from Dowd, Hampton, McLane, Limoges Talvitie, and Westcott, there were plenty of players who stood out for Penn State. Dowd, Hampton, McLane and Westcott all scored their first collegiate goals as Nittany Lions. To Gadowsky, though, Tyler Gratton stood out above the rest, in part because of the Penn State identity he brought to the team.
“And the reason he stood out is because of what we lacked last night — the identity. And we were waiting around, we weren’t dictating our game at all,” Gadowsky said. “And him, if you saw his first shift, he was the one that dictated ‘this is how we play.’ Not only the first shift of the game, but a huge first shift in the third period as well.”
The Nittany Lions started off the third period with a lot of energy. Two minutes into the period, Michigan’s Jack Summer was sent to the penalty box and Penn State got its fifth power play of the game. While no goals were scored, the team prevented Michigan from closing the three-goal gap, thanks to Autio’s work between the pipes.
Post power play, Michigan’s Brendan Brisson buried the puck behind Autio at 13:39. With the game winding down, Michigan began to pick up the pace of the game. With the game coming to a close, Michigan pulled Portillo. This gave Hampton the opportunity to score his second goal of the game, getting an empty net goal to widen Penn State’s lead back to three. With 40 seconds left in the game, Tim Doherty sealed the deal, making the final score 9-5.
“In this league, there’s no win that doesn’t feel great, because it’s against an absolute great hockey team and a great hockey program,” Gadowsky said. “So every win in the Big Ten feels fantastic, and certainly this is no other. But, because it’s our first one with a lot of new guys — and I think especially how it was done, I thought we came out with a ... sense of urgency and an intensity that we need to play well.
“And to see that in much more of a sustained period of time was really nice to see.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 11:21 PM.