Penn State pours on the offense to drop Michigan State

The Penn State offense got on a roll again Friday night.

The No. 16 Nittany Lion men’s hockey team got goals from six different players to stuff Michigan State 6-1 at Munn Ice Arena.

Vince Pedrie, Tommy Olczyk, Eric Scheid, Andrew Sturtz, David Goodwin and Zach Saar all had goals for Penn State (18-8-3, 8-5 Big Ten) as the team matched its win total from last season — the most in program history.

“This really was just a total team win,” head coach Guy Gadowsky told Penn State Sports Information after the win. “There wasn’t one area that really out-shone another, and there really wasn’t an area that needed work.”

Matthew Skoff made 28 saves for his first win since Jan. 22, keeping the team six points behind conference-leader Minnesota.

“He was really big on the power play for us, made some big stops,” Gadowsky said of the senior netminder.

Cody Milan was the only Spartan to beat Skoff while Jake Hildebrand was under fire in net, making 43 saves.

The Nittany Lions outshot the Spartans 49-29, the 18th time they have uncorked at least 40 shots. They also have outscored Michigan State 16-4 this season.

Penn State scored a pair of first-period goals to help the team improve to 14-0-1 this season when scoring first.

Pedrie put Penn State ahead 7:46 into the game, netting a power play score with a rocket from the right circle. It was the freshman defenseman’s seventh goal of the season.

Later in the first Alec Marsh, who picked up a turnover at center ice, lobbed in a long shot from near the blue line that Hildebrand blocked, but the puck popped high in the air and the senior goalie couldn’t find the rebound. Olczyk pounced on the puck for his ninth score of the season — a career high for a season for the fifth-year senior.

Milan cut the lead in half seconds after the Lions had killed off a power play, finishing a long possession in the Penn State end. Less than a minute earlier the Nittany Lions were denied a goal by Hildebrand, stuffing an attempt by Goodwin on a shorthanded 2-on-none break with Scheid.

But Penn State did get a goal 55 seconds after the Spartan score, with Scheid netting his ninth goal of the season, poking in a rebound of a Chase Berger attempt from the high slot.

“It’s great they were able to do that,” Gadowsky said. “They’ve always sort of had pride in trying to bounce back. It always doesn’t work that way but I like what we’re doing.”

Sturtz extended the lead when he swiped the puck in the neutral zone and broke in to beat Hildebrand, giving the freshman his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

The Spartans (7-20-2, 3-10) thought they had a second goal with about a minute left in the second in a pile of bodies in front of the net, but the officials waved off the tally after a review.

Another rebound brought another goal early in the third, with Goodwin scoring his eighth of the season by knocking in an initial attempt from Pedrie.

Saar capped the scoring, racing up the left side near end-to-end and finding a sliver of space over Hildebrand’s shoulder with just under four minutes left.

“It was 20 guys playing very well,” said Gadowsky, whose team skated with just 11 healthy forwards for the third straight game and will look to finish a sweep of the season series when they meet at 7 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Penn State pours on the offense to drop Michigan State."