×

Penn State ends calendar year with home victory

UNIVERSITY PARK — The Nittany Lions ended their 2017 calendar year with a 7-4 victory over Robert Morris as they extended their win streak to eight games, having won their last four series.

For the second straight game, the Colonials struck first, this time in just 27 seconds, courtesy of Spencer Dorowicz. Luke Lynch put the puck off the board from center ice and Michael Louria was the first to get to it before finding Dorowicz for the top shelf back handed goal on the game’s first shot.

Penn State got back into the game via power play as Robert Morris’ Elias Ghantous was called for cross checking. Cole Hults found Denis Smirnov on the left side of the ice as Smirnov sniped a wrist-shot past Andrew Pikul to tie the game.

That goal got the Lions going as minutes later Nate Sucese won a faceoff in Robert Morris territory and Trevor Hamilton fired the puck toward then net. Smirnov batted the puck out of mid-air and into the back of the net for his second score of the night, giving the Lions a 2-1 lead.

“He adds a lot offense and creativity to us that’s for sure, I’d like to think we’re a pretty deep team,” said Gadowsky. “And its next man up mentality but his vision and creativity is tough to replace and it’s fun to watch.”

Less than two minutes later, it was once again the Smirnov-Sucese-Biro line doing the damage. It was Sucese’s turn to score as he beat Pikul’s glove as the shot went off the post and doubled the Lions lead. Hults was credited with his second assist of the game. Smirnov finished the game with two goals and two assists, Sucese had two goals and one assist, while Biro added two assists.

“It’s easy to play with them, they have great hockey IQs, they’re passing the puck quick,” said Smirnov.

With the Lions on the power play, Smirnov made a crucial mistake late in the first period as he lost the puck to Brady Ferguson, who found Timmy Moore and played the puck back to Ferguson who had scored a wide-open goal to cut the lead to 3-2 with 8.1 seconds remaining in the first period.

Penn State restored its two-goal lead on the power play just five minutes into the second. Trevor Hamilton rebounded Derian Hamilton’s shot to beat Marotte and give Penn State a 4-2 lead.

The Colonials almost got back in the game within one on a power play of their own, as Michael Louria hit the crossbar with the net wide open with under 10 minutes left in the second.

Louria would redeem himself after the puck rolled to him in the middle of the ice to make it 4-3 Lions heading into the third.

Andrew Sturtz was called for high-sticking just 14 seconds into the final period as the Colonials continued to pressure the Lions. With a man advantage, Timmy Moore hit the post but the Lions were able to kill off the penalty.

Robert Morris continued the pressure, killing off two power plays including a 5-3. Eric Israel almost tied the game but his shot hit the pipe with almost 11 minutes left in regulation.

Penn State would punish Robert Morris for not finishing its chance as Kris Myllari crashed the net and knocked in Nitika’s Pavlychev deflected shot, increasing the lead to 5-3 with 7:40 remaining.

Robert Morris would answer back less than 90 seconds later through Spencer Dorowicz’s second goal of the night, making the score 5-4 Penn State.

Peyton Jones stood his ground as he defended his goal from a flurry of Robert Morris shots, as the Colonials were desperately seeking an equalizer with an empty net.

The Lions would put the game away as Denis Smirnov would find Nate Sucese who scored his second goal of the night on an empty-netter with 54.4 seconds left. Chase Berger would get in on the action as he scored the Lions’ final goal of 2017 on the power play with 7.8 seconds left in regulation, earning Penn State a 7-4 victory.

With the victory, Peyton Jones became the new all-time wins leader for a Penn State goaltender with 33, passing Matthew Skoff ’16.

“It means a ton, but I couldn’t do it without my teammates. Every night they battle for me, back check, block shots, just put their bodies on the line for me.”

During the unbeaten streak, the Lions have had to grind out a few of the games to earn the results they’ve gotten, something which Andrew Sturtz feels is crucial as the team heads further into Big Ten play and the Big Ten tournament.

“It makes you a lot more mentality tough going into third periods,” said Sturtz. “We knew going into that third period we had to be 100% perfect in all areas of our game. I think the way we handle through the game of that game was really good.”

Penn State will have about a month-long layoff before returning to action when it hosts Wisconsin on January 5th at Pegula Ice Arena.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today