No. 5 Penn State 3, Notre Dame 3 (SO): Survive and Advance

No. 5 Penn State fell behind 3-0 in the first period, but two goals by Aiden Fink and a heroic goaltending performance by Josh Fleming secured a 3-3 tie. The Nittany Lions earned the extra point in the shootout to secure no worse than third place in the Big Ten.

First Period

Notre Dame controlled possession early in the game and drew first blood when Dashel Oliver deflected Henry Nelson’s point shot past Josh Fleming.

Midway through the period, Ben Schoen took a tripping penalty to send the dangerous Notre Dame power play onto the ice. Shortly after, Jarod Crespo took another tripping penalty to give the Irish over a minute on a 5-on-3. Penn State did not allow a shot on goal while down two skaters, cleared the zone twice, and eventually killed off the remaining penalty.

Notre Dame blitzed Penn State for two goals in a 30-second span. William Belle walked in on a breakaway unassisted on the first goal to make it 2-0. Danny Nelson hit an open Cole Knuble with a cross-ice pass as he raced into the offensive zone, and Knuble easily buried one past Fleming to make it 3-0.

Penn State started to tilt the ice their way a little bit toward the end of the period. Mac Gadowsky forced a turnover near the blue line and batted the puck ahead to an open Shea Van Olm. SVO wristed it home blocker side high past Nicolas Kempf to get the Lions on the board:

Notre Dame led 3-1 at the first intermission.

Second Period

Penn State spent most of the first half of the middle frame on their heels, with Notre Dame continuing to smother the Lions with their attack. The Nittany Lions drew a power play midway through the period, but outside of an Aiden Fink wrist shot that hit the crossbar, Penn State could not get anything going with the man advantage.

Casey Aman made a Herculean save after a shot by Alex Kumlin hit the post with the game at 4-on-4 action. Shortly after, Aiden Fink scored on a beautiful wrist shot past Kempf to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 3-2 at the end of the 2nd period:

Third Period

Aiden Fink made a fantastic individual play when he forced a turnover near the Notre Dame blue line, leading to a 2-on-1 rush with Ben Schoen. Fink opted to shoot, and his wrist shot beat Kempf to tie the game at 3:

Penn State’s defense played with fire for stretches of the third, and Josh Fleming needed to make a few big saves to keep the game tied. Notre Dame pressured hard in the dying minutes, but the game went to overtime tied at 3.

Overtime

The 3-on-3 overtime was frenetic as it usually is, but neither team could capitalize. Aiden Fink hit the post late, but the game went to a shootout. The Nittany Lions outshot Notre Dame 7-0 in overtime but could not get one past Kempf.

Gavin McKenna scored the only goal of the shootout to secure the extra point for Penn State.

Scoring Summary

First Period

• ND: Dashel Oliver (2)- Henry Nelson (9)- 5v5- 5:02
• ND: William Belle (1)- Unassisted- 5v5- 13:54
• ND: Cole Knuble (8)- Danny Nelson (14), Brennan Ali (7)- 5v5- 14:22
• PSU: Shea Van Olm (7)- Mac Gadowsky (18)- 5v5- 18:34

Second Period

• PSU: Aiden Fink (7)- Gavin McKenna (31), Mac Gadowsky (14)- 4v4- 19:04

Third Period

• PSU: Aiden Fink (8)- Unassisted- 5v5- 5:23

Shots By Period

• PSU: 6-8-7-7-28
• ND: 16-11-9-0-36

Takeaways

• Slow Starts- Penn State is -12 in goal differential in first periods this season and fell behind 3-0 tonight. They have gotten away with it for most of the regular season, but they cannot fall behind 3-0 in an NCAA Tournament game against better teams.
• Josh Fleming- It was an ugly start for the freshman goaltender, but Fleming made a bevy of big saves to prevent Notre Dame from running away with this one.
• Front and Center- The lack of center depth really showed for Penn State in this one. Notre Dame controlled the faceoff circle and outshot the Lions all night.
• Jackson Smith- In yet another concerning development, Jackson Smith was not on the bench in the third period. The amount of injuries this team has is devastating. Hopefully he is back tomorrow, but it seems every injured player this year misses multiple games.
• Blueprint- Penn State has struggled all season against teams that use a heavy forecheck and control the neutral zone. Some of this is due to injury, but there is a blueprint to beat this Penn State team that will come back to bite this team in the NCAA Tournament if they cannot adjust.
• Braedon Ford- It was certainly nice to see Braedon Ford back in the lineup after a lengthy absence. One fewer injury we have to worry about.

Standings & Such

Penn State has secured no worse than third place in the Big Ten. The only pathway to second place is to win all three remaining games in regulation. Right now, the Nittany Lions are looking at a first round game against Minnesota at Pegula Ice Arena on March 11.

At the time of posting, Penn State remains at No. 5 in the NPI. Losses by Providence and Quinnipiac helped cushion the Nittany Lions from falling.

What’s Next

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night at Compton Family Ice Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm on Peacock.