No. 17 Penn State Defeats Michigan State, 5-3, Splitting the Season Series
For Immediate Press Release – Saturday, February 16, 2019
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Junior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) collected three points while icing the game with an empty net goal as No. 17 Penn State defeated Michigan State, 5-3, Saturday evening in Big Ten Conference action from Munn Ice Arena.
Penn State splits the season series with MSU while improving to 17-11-2 on the year and 9-10-1-1 in conference action while the Spartans fall to 11-16-5 overall and 7-11-4-2 in Big Ten play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions opened the scoring early as senior Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) intercepted a drop pass in the defensive zone and sprung junior Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alberta) up the far half-wall and he ripped a shot off the far post and in for the 1-0 lead at 4:11 of the first period.
- Berger thought he made the game 2-0 at 8:37 of the first period as the puck deflected off his body and into the net near the far post, but after a lengthy review the call was overturned and just under two minutes later Adam Goodsir ripped a wristshot over the blocker of junior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) for the 1-1 score.
- Penn State then used the power-play to its advantage just a few minutes later to regain the lead as senior Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) banged in a loose puck in the crease for the 2-1 edge at 13:03 of the opening frame.
- Cody Milan once again tied the game for Michigan State as he fired an uncontested shot over the glove of Jones during the power-play for the 2-2 score at 5:06 of the second period.
- The Nittany Lions responded to regain the lead as freshman Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) fired a shot from the near half-wall into a yawning net for his first collegiate goal and the 3-2 lead at 8:05 of the middle stanza.
- Junior Kris Myllari (Kanata, Ontario) also benefitted from a yawning net and a terrific feed from sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) for the 4-2 margin at 13:27 of the frame.
- Jerad Rosburg cut the deficit in half with a third period power-play tally making the score 4-3 at 14:05 as he ripped a shot through traffic from the point.
- Sucese then hit the empty net with just 23 seconds remaining to ice the contest.
GOALTENDING
Jones improves to 13-8-2 following a 27 save performance while Spartan goaltender John Lethemon falls to 8-9-0 on the year after stopping 42 shots.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions held the commanding 47-30 lead in shots while going 1-for-3 on the power-play. Penn State has now scored on six of its last 13 power-play chances and have converted 6-of-15 against the Spartans in four games this season. MSU went 2-for-3 with the man-advantage tonight.
- With his second period goal, Myllari is now the all-time leading goal scorer for defensemen in Penn State history with 17 breaking a tie he previously held with Vince Pedrie.
- Sucese extended his point streak to five games and with a pair of assists collects his seventh multi-point effort this season and the 21st of his career.
- Also adding a pair of helpers, Limoges collected his 12th multi-point game this season and the 15th of his career.
- Penn State improves to 11-2-0 when scoring the first goal of the game and 14-2-1 when leading after two periods.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home next weekend to close out its regular season home slate with a pair of Big Ten contests against Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday evening.